YASHAR 57 (Jasher 57)

1 And it came to be after this that the sons of Ĕsaw fought with the sons of Ya’aqoḇ. And the sons of Ĕsaw fought with the sons of Ya’aqoḇ in Ḥeḇron, and Ĕsaw was still lying dead, and not buried. 2 And the battle was fierce between them, and the sons of Ĕsaw were smitten before the sons of Ya’aqoḇ, and the sons of Ya’aqoḇ slew eighty men of the sons of Ĕsaw, and not one died of the people of the sons of Ya’aqoḇ. And the hand of Yosĕph prevailed over all the people of the sons of Ĕsaw, and he took Tsepho, son of Eliphaz, son of Ĕsaw, and fifty of his men captive, and he bound them with chains of iron, and gave them into the hand of his servants to bring them to Mitsrayim. 3 And it came to be when the sons of Ya’aqoḇ had taken Tsepho and his people captive, all those that remained were greatly afraid for their lives from the house of Ĕsaw, lest they should also be taken captive, and they all fled with Eliphaz son of Ĕsaw and his people, with Ĕsaw's body, and they went on their way to Mount Sĕ’ir. 4 And they came to Mount Sĕ’ir and they buried Ĕsaw in Sĕ’ir, but they had not brought his head with them to Sĕ’ir, for it was buried in that place where the battle had been in Ḥeḇron. 5 And it came to be when the sons of Ĕsaw had fled from before the sons of Ya’aqoḇ, the sons of Ya’aqoḇ pursued them to the borders of Sĕ’ir. But they did not slay a single man from among them when they pursued them, for Ĕsaw’s body which they carried with them caused them confusion, so they fled and the sons of Ya’aqoḇ turned back from them and came up to the place where their brothers were in Ḥeḇron. And they remained there on that day, and on the next day until they rested from the battle. 6 And it came to be on the third day they assembled all the sons of Sĕ’ir the Ḥorite, and they assembled all the children of the East, a multitude of people like the sand of the sea, and they went and came down to Mitsrayim to fight against Yosĕph and his brothers, in order to deliver their brothers. 7 And Yosĕph and all the sons of Ya’aqoḇ heard that the sons of Ĕsaw and the children of the East had come upon them to battle in order to deliver their brothers. 8 And Yosĕph and his brothers and the strong men of Mitsrayim went forth and fought in the city of Ra'meses, and Yosĕph and his brothers delivered a mighty blow among the sons of Ĕsaw and the children of the East. 9 And they slew of them six hundred thousand men, and they slew among them all the mighty men of the children of Sĕ’ir the Ḥorite; there were only a few of them left. And they also slew a great many of the children of the East, and of the children of Ĕsaw, and Eliphaz son of Ĕsaw, and the children of the East all fled before Yosĕph and his brothers. 10 And Yosĕph and his brothers pursued them until they came to Sukkoth, and they further slew thirty men of them in Sukkoth, and the rest escaped and they each fled to his city. 11 And Yosĕph and his brothers and the mighty men of Mitsrayim turned back from them with joy and gladness of heart, for they had smitten all their enemies. 12 And Tsepho son of Eliphaz and his men were still slaves in Mitsrayim to the sons of Ya’aqoḇ, and their pains increased. 13 And when the sons of Ĕsaw and the sons of Sĕ’ir returned to their land, the sons of Sĕ’ir saw that they had all fallen into the hands of the sons of Ya’aqoḇ, and the people of Mitsrayim, because of the battle of the sons of Ĕsaw. 14 And the sons of Sĕ’ir said to the sons of Ĕsaw, \"You have seen and therefore you know that this army was for your sake, and not one mighty man or one skilled in battle remains. 15 \"Now therefore go out from our land, go from us to the land of Kena'an to the land of the dwelling of your fathers. Why shall your children inherit the possessions of our children in latter days?\" 16 And the children of Ĕsaw would not listen to the children of Sĕ’ir, and the children of Sĕ’ir thought to fight against them. 17 And the children of Ĕsaw sent secretly to Angĕas sovereign Aphrika, that is Dinhaḇah, saying, 18 \"Send to us some of your men and let them come to us, and we will fight together with the children of Sĕ’ir the Ḥorite, for they have resolved to fight against us to drive us away from the land.\" 19 And Angĕas sovereign of Dinhaḇah did so, for he was in those days friendly to the children of Ĕsaw. And Angĕas sent five hundred mighty foot soldiers to the children of Ĕsaw, and eight hundred cavalry. 20 And the children of Sĕ’ir sent to the children of the East and to the children of Miḏyan, saying, \"You have seen what the children of Ĕsaw have done to us, for whose sake we were almost all destroyed in their battle with the sons of Ya’aqoḇ. 21 \"Now therefore come to us and help us, and we will fight them together, and we will drive them from the land and be avenged of the cause of our brothers who died for their sakes in their battle with their brothers the sons of Ya’aqoḇ.\" 22 And all the children of the East listened to the children of Sĕ’ir, and they came to them - about eight hundred men with drawn swords - and the children of Ĕsaw fought with the children of Sĕ’ir at that time in the wilderness of Paran. 23 And the children of Sĕ’ir prevailed at that time over the sons of Ĕsaw, and on that day the children of Sĕ’ir slew about two hundred men of the people of Angĕas sovereign of Dinhaḇah of the children of Ĕsaw in the battle. 24 And on the second day the children of Ĕsaw came again to fight a second time with the children of Sĕ’ir, and the battle was hard on the children of Ĕsaw this second time, and it troubled them greatly for the sake of the children of Sĕ’ir. 25 And when the children of Ĕsaw saw that the children of Sĕ’ir were more powerful than they were, some men of the children of Ĕsaw turned and helped the children of Sĕ’ir their enemies. 26 And more of the children of Ĕsaw fell battle - fifty-eight men of the people of Angĕas sovereign of Dinhaḇah. 27 And on the third day the children of Ĕsaw heard that some of their brothers had turned from them to fight against them in the second battle, and the children of Ĕsaw mourned when they heard this word. 28 And they said, \"What shall we do to our brothers who turned from us to help the children of Sĕ’ir our enemies?\" and the children of Ĕsaw again sent to Angĕas sovereign of Dinhaḇah, saying, 29 \"Send to us again other men that with them we may fight against the children of Sĕ’ir, for they have already twice been greater than we were.\" 30 And Angĕas again sent about six hundred mighty men to the children of Ĕsaw, and they came to help the children of Ĕsaw. 31 And in ten days' time the children of Ĕsaw again fought with the children of Sĕ’ir in the wilderness of Paran, and the battle was very fierce upon the children of Sĕ’ir. And the children of Ĕsaw prevailed at this time over the children of Sĕ’ir, and the children of Sĕ’ir were smitten before the children of Ĕsaw, and the children of Ĕsaw slew from them about two thousand men. 32 And all the mighty men of the children of Sĕ’ir died in this battle, and there only remained their young children that were left in their cities. 33 And all Miḏyan and the children of the East took to flight from the battle, and they left the children of Sĕ’ir and fled when they saw that the battle was fierce upon them. And the children of Ĕsaw pursued all the children of the East until they reached their land. 34 And the children of Ĕsaw further slew of them about two hundred and fifty men, and from the people of the children of Ĕsaw there fell in that battle about thirty men. But this evil came upon them through their brothers turning from them to help the children of Sĕ’ir the Ḥorite, and the children of Ĕsaw again heard of the evil doings of their brothers, and they again mourned because of this matter. 35 And it came to be after the battle, the children of Ĕsaw turned back and came home to Sĕ’ir, and the children of Ĕsaw slew those who had remained in the land of the children of Sĕ’ir. They also slew their wives and little ones, they left not a being alive except fifty young men and maidens whom they allowed to live. And the children of Ĕsaw did not put them to death, but the young men became their slaves, and the maidens they took for wives. 36 And the children of Ĕsaw dwelt in Sĕ’ir in the place of the children of Sĕ’ir, and they inherited their land and took possession of it. 37 And the children of Ĕsaw took all belonging to the children of Sĕ’ir in the land, also their flocks, their oxen and their goods, and all belonging to the children of Sĕ’ir, the children of Ĕsaw took. And the children of Ĕsaw dwelt in Sĕ’ir in the place of the children of Sĕ’ir to this day. And the children of Ĕsaw divided the land into divisions to the five sons of Ĕsaw, according to their clans. 38 And it came to be in those days, that the children of Ĕsaw resolved to crown a sovereign over them in the land of which they came to possess. But they said to each other, \"Not so, for he shall reign over us in our land, and we shall be under his counsel and he shall fight our battles, against our enemies, and they did so.\" 39 And all the children of Ĕsaw swore, saying that none of their brothers should ever reign over them, but a strange man who is not of their brothers, for the beings of all the children of Ĕsaw were embittered every man against his son, brother and friend, because of the evil they sustained from their brothers when they fought with the children of Sĕ’ir. 40 Therefore the sons of Ĕsaw swore, saying from then onward, they would not choose a sovereign from their brothers, but one from a strange land unto this day. 41 And there was a man there from the people of Angĕas sovereign of Dinhaḇah - his name was Bela son of Be'or - who was a very mighty man, good-looking and handsome and wise in all wisdom, and a man of sense and counsel, and there was none of the people of Angĕas like him. 42 And all the children of Ĕsaw took him and anointed him and they crowned him as sovereign, and they bowed down to him, and they said to him, \"May the sovereign live, may the sovereign live!\" 43 And they spread out the sheet, and each man brought him earrings of gold and silver or rings or bracelets, and they made him very rich in silver and in gold, in shoham stones and bdellium. And they made him a royal throne, and they placed a royal crown on his head, and they built a palace for him and he dwelt in it, and he became sovereign over all the children of Ĕsaw. 44 And the people of Angĕas took their payment for their battle from the children of Ĕsaw, and they went and returned at that time to their master in Dinhaḇah. 45 And Bela reigned over the children of Ĕsaw thirty years, and the children of Ĕsaw dwelt in the land instead of the children of Sĕ’ir, and they dwelt safely in their place to this day.