Book of Jasher, Chapter 36 — Jacob at Bethel; Deborah and Rebecca Die; Rachel Dies Bearing Benjamin; the Birthright Divided; the Generations of Esau and Seir
1At that time the Lord appeared to Jacob, saying, Arise, go to Bethel and remain there, and make there an altar to the Lord who appears to you, who delivered you and your sons from affliction.
2And Jacob rose up with his sons and all belonging to him, and they went and came to Bethel according to the word of the Lord.
3And Jacob was ninety-nine years old when he went up to Bethel, and Jacob and his sons and all the people that were with him remained in Bethel, in Luz; and he there built an altar to the Lord who appeared to him, and Jacob and his sons remained in Bethel six months.
4At that time died Deborah the daughter of Uz, the nurse of Rebecca, who had been with Jacob; and Jacob buried her beneath Bethel, under an oak that was there.
5And Rebecca the daughter of Bethuel, the mother of Jacob, also died at that time in Hebron — the same is Kireath-arba — and she was buried in the cave of Machpelah, which Abraham had bought from the children of Heth.
6And the life of Rebecca was one hundred and thirty-three years, and she died; and when Jacob heard that his mother Rebecca was dead, he wept bitterly for his mother, and made a great mourning for her, and for Deborah her nurse beneath the oak, and he called the name of that place Allon-bachuth.
7And Laban the Syrian died in those days, for God struck him because he transgressed the covenant that existed between him and Jacob.
8And Jacob was a hundred years old when the Lord appeared to him, and blessed him, and called his name Israel; and Rachel the wife of Jacob conceived in those days.
9And at that time Jacob and all belonging to him journeyed from Bethel, to go to his father's house, to Hebron.
10And while they were going on the road, and there was yet but a little way to come to Ephrath, Rachel bore a son, and she had hard labor, and she died.
11And Jacob buried her on the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem, and he set a pillar upon her grave, which is there to this day; and the days of Rachel were forty-five years, and she died.
12And Jacob called the name of his son that was born to him, whom Rachel bore to him, Benjamin, for he was born to him in the land on the right hand.
13And it was after the death of Rachel that Jacob pitched his tent in the tent of her handmaid Bilhah.
14And Reuben was jealous for his mother Leah on account of this, and he was filled with anger, and he rose up in his anger and went and entered the tent of Bilhah, and he removed from there his father's bed.
15At that time the portion of birthright, together with the kingly and priestly offices, was removed from the sons of Reuben, for he had profaned his father's bed; and the birthright was given to Joseph, the kingly office to Judah, and the priesthood to Levi, because Reuben had defiled his father's bed.
16And these are the generations of Jacob who were born to him in Padan-aram, and the sons of Jacob were twelve.
17The sons of Leah were Reuben the firstborn, and Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and their sister Dinah; and the sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.
18The sons of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid, were Gad and Asher; and the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid, were Dan and Naphtali; these are the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Padan-aram.
19And Jacob and his sons and all belonging to him journeyed and came to Mamre, which is Kireath-arba, that is in Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned; and Jacob with his sons and all belonging to him dwelt with his father in Hebron.
20And his brother Esau and his sons and all belonging to him went to the land of Seir and dwelt there, and had possessions in the land of Seir; and the children of Esau were fruitful and multiplied exceedingly in the land of Seir.
21And these are the generations of Esau that were born to him in the land of Canaan, and the sons of Esau were five.
22And Adah bore to Esau his firstborn Eliphaz, and she also bore to him Reuel; and Ahlibamah bore to him Jeush, Yaalam, and Korah.
23These are the children of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan; and the sons of Eliphaz the son of Esau were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, Kenaz, and Amalek; and the sons of Reuel were Nachath, Zerach, Shamah, and Mizzah.
24And the sons of Jeush were Timnah, Alvah, Jetheth; and the sons of Yaalam were Alah, Phinor, and Kenaz.
25And the sons of Korah were Teman, Mibzar, Magdiel, and Eram; these are the families of the sons of Esau, according to their dukedoms in the land of Seir.
26And these are the names of the sons of Seir the Horite, inhabitants of the land of Seir: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishan, Ezer, and Dishon, being seven sons.
27And the children of Lotan were Hori, Heman, and their sister Timna — that is the Timna who came to Jacob and his sons, and they would not give ear to her, and she went and became a concubine to Eliphaz the son of Esau, and she bore to him Amalek.
28And the sons of Shobal were Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam; and the sons of Zibeon were Ajah and Anah — this was that Anah who found the Yemim in the wilderness, when he fed the donkeys of Zibeon his father.
29And while he was feeding his father's donkeys, he led them to the wilderness at different times to feed them.
30And there was a day that he brought them to one of the deserts on the seashore, opposite the wilderness of the people; and while he was feeding them, behold, a very heavy storm came from the other side of the sea and rested upon the donkeys that were feeding there, and they all stood still.
31And afterward about one hundred and twenty great and terrible animals came out from the wilderness at the other side of the sea, and they all came to the place where the donkeys were, and they placed themselves there.
32And those animals, from their middle downward, were in the shape of the children of men, and from their middle upward some had the likeness of bears, and some the likeness of the keephas, with tails behind them from between their shoulders reaching down to the earth, like the tails of the ducheephath; and these animals came and mounted and rode upon these donkeys, and led them away, and they went away to this day.
33And one of these animals approached Anah and struck him with its tail, and then fled from that place.
34And when he saw this work, he was exceedingly afraid for his life, and he fled and escaped to the city.
35And he related to his sons and brothers all that had happened to him; and many men went to seek the donkeys but could not find them, and Anah and his brothers went no more to that place from that day on, for they were greatly afraid for their lives.
36And the children of Anah the son of Seir were Dishon and his sister Ahlibamah; and the children of Dishon were Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran; and the children of Ezer were Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan; and the children of Dishan were Uz and Aran.
37These are the families of the children of Seir the Horite, according to their dukedoms in the land of Seir.
38And Esau and his children dwelt in the land of Seir the Horite, the inhabitant of the land, and they had possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied exceedingly; and Jacob and his children and all belonging to them dwelt with their father Isaac in the land of Canaan, as the Lord had commanded Abraham their father.