Book of Jasher, Chapter 37 — Jacob Returns to Shechem; the Seven Kings Assemble Again; Jacob's Prayer Shakes the Earth; Judah Fells Jashub King of Tapnach
1And in the one hundred and fifth year of the life of Jacob, that is, the ninth year of Jacob's dwelling with his children in the land of Canaan, he came from Padan-aram.
2And in those days Jacob journeyed with his children from Hebron, and they went and returned to the city of Shechem, they and all belonging to them, and they dwelt there, for the children of Jacob obtained good and fat pasture land for their cattle in the city of Shechem, the city of Shechem having then been rebuilt, and there were in it about three hundred men and women.
3And Jacob and his children and all belonging to him dwelt in the part of the field which Jacob had bought from Hamor the father of Shechem, when he came from Padan-aram, before Simeon and Levi had struck the city.
4And all those kings of the Canaanites and Amorites that surrounded the city of Shechem heard that the sons of Jacob had again come to Shechem and dwelt there.
5And they said, Shall the sons of Jacob the Hebrew again come to the city and dwell in it, after they have struck its inhabitants and driven them out? shall they now return and also drive out those who are dwelling in the city, or slay them?
6And all the kings of Canaan again assembled, and they came together to make war with Jacob and his sons.
7And Jashub king of Tapnach sent also to all his neighboring kings, to Elan king of Gaash, and to Ihuri king of Shiloh, and to Parathon king of Chazar, and to Susi king of Sarton, and to Laban king of Bethchoran, and to Shabir king of Othnay-mah, saying,
8Come up to me and assist me, and let us smite Jacob the Hebrew and his sons, and all belonging to him, for they are again come to Shechem to possess it, and to slay its inhabitants as before.
9And all these kings assembled together and came with all their camps, a people exceedingly plentiful, like the sand upon the seashore, and they were all opposite Tapnach.
10And Jashub king of Tapnach went forth to them with all his army, and he encamped with them opposite Tapnach, outside the city; and all these kings divided themselves into seven divisions, being seven camps against the sons of Jacob.
11And they sent a declaration to Jacob and his sons, saying, Come out, all of you, to us, that we may have an interview together in the plain, and avenge the cause of the men of Shechem whom you slew in their city; and will you now again return to the city of Shechem and dwell in it, and slay its inhabitants as before?
12And the sons of Jacob heard this, and their anger was kindled exceedingly at the words of the kings of Canaan, and ten of the sons of Jacob hastened and rose up, and each of them girded on his weapons of war; and there were one hundred and two of their servants with them, equipped in battle array.
13And all these men, the sons of Jacob with their servants, went toward these kings, and Jacob their father was with them, and they all stood upon the heap of Shechem.
14And Jacob prayed to the Lord for his sons, and he spread forth his hands to the Lord, and he said, O God, you are an Almighty God, you are our father; you formed us, and we are the works of your hands; I pray you, deliver my sons through your mercy from the hand of their enemies, who are this day coming to fight with them, and save them from their hand, for in your hand is power and might, to save the few from the many.
15And give to my sons, your servants, strength of heart and might to fight with their enemies, to subdue them, and make their enemies fall before them; and let not my sons and their servants die through the hands of the children of Canaan.
16But if it seems good in your eyes to take away the lives of my sons and their servants, take them in your great mercy through the hands of your ministers, that they may not perish this day by the hands of the kings of the Amorites.
17And when Jacob ceased praying to the Lord, the earth shook from its place, and the sun darkened, and all these kings were terrified, and a great consternation seized them.
18And the Lord listened to the prayer of Jacob, and the Lord impressed the hearts of all the kings and their hosts with the terror and awe of the sons of Jacob.
19For the Lord caused them to hear the voice of chariots, and the voice of mighty horses from the sons of Jacob, and the voice of a great army accompanying them.
20And these kings were seized with great terror at the sons of Jacob, and while they were standing in their quarters, behold, the sons of Jacob advanced upon them with one hundred and twelve men, with a great and tremendous shouting.
21And when the kings saw the sons of Jacob advancing toward them, they were still more panic-struck, and they were inclined to retreat from before the sons of Jacob as at first, and not to fight with them.
22But they did not retreat, saying, It would be a disgrace to us thus twice to retreat from before the Hebrews.
23And the sons of Jacob came near and advanced against all these kings and their armies, and they saw, and behold, it was a very mighty people, numerous as the sand of the sea.
24And the sons of Jacob called to the Lord and said, Help us, O Lord, help us and answer us, for we trust in you; and let us not die by the hands of these uncircumcised men, who this day have come against us.
25And the sons of Jacob girded on their weapons of war, and they took in their hands each man his shield and his javelin, and they approached to battle.
26And Judah, the son of Jacob, ran first before his brothers, and ten of his servants with him, and he went toward these kings.
27And Jashub, king of Tapnach, also came forth first with his army before Judah; and Judah saw Jashub and his army coming toward him, and Judah's wrath was kindled, and his anger burned within him, and he approached the battle in which Judah ventured his life.
28And Jashub and all his army were advancing toward Judah, and he was riding upon a very strong and powerful horse, and Jashub was a very valiant man, and covered with iron and brass from head to foot.
29And while he was upon the horse, he shot arrows with both hands, from before and behind, as was his manner in all his battles, and he never missed the place to which he aimed his arrows.
30And when Jashub came to fight with Judah, and was darting many arrows against Judah, the Lord bound the hand of Jashub, and all the arrows that he shot rebounded upon his own men.
31And notwithstanding this, Jashub kept advancing toward Judah, to challenge him with the arrows, but the distance between them was about thirty cubits; and when Judah saw Jashub darting forth his arrows against him, he ran to him with his wrath-excited might.
32And Judah took up a large stone from the ground, and its weight was sixty shekels, and Judah ran toward Jashub and with the stone struck him on his shield, so that Jashub was stunned with the blow and fell off from his horse to the ground.
33And the shield burst apart out of the hand of Jashub, and through the force of the blow sprang to the distance of about fifteen cubits, and the shield fell before the second camp.
34And the kings that came with Jashub saw at a distance the strength of Judah, the son of Jacob, and what he had done to Jashub, and they were terribly afraid of Judah.
35And they assembled near Jashub's camp, seeing his confusion, and Judah drew his sword and struck forty-two men of the camp of Jashub, and the whole of Jashub's camp fled before Judah, and no man stood against him; and they left Jashub and fled from him, and Jashub was still prostrate upon the ground.
36And Jashub, seeing that all the men of his camp had fled from him, hastened and rose up with terror against Judah, and stood upon his legs opposite Judah.
37And Jashub had a single combat with Judah, placing shield toward shield, and Jashub's men all fled, for they were greatly afraid of Judah.
38And Jashub took his spear in his hand to strike Judah upon his head, but Judah had quickly placed his shield to his head against Jashub's spear, so that the shield of Judah received the blow from Jashub's spear, and the shield was split in two.
39And when Judah saw that his shield was split, he hastily drew his sword and struck Jashub at his ankles, and cut off his feet, so that Jashub fell upon the ground, and the spear fell from his hand.
40And Judah hastily picked up Jashub's spear, with which he severed his head, and cast it next to his feet.
41And when the sons of Jacob saw what Judah had done to Jashub, they all ran into the ranks of the other kings, and the sons of Jacob fought with the army of Jashub, and the armies of all the kings that were there.
42And the sons of Jacob caused fifteen thousand of their men to fall, and they struck them as if striking at gourds, and the rest fled for their lives.
43And Judah was still standing by the body of Jashub, and stripped Jashub of his coat of mail.
44And Judah also took off the iron and brass that was about Jashub, and behold, nine men of the captains of Jashub came along to fight against Judah.
45And Judah hastened and took up a stone from the ground, and with it struck one of them upon the head, and his skull was fractured, and the body also fell from the horse to the ground.
46And the eight captains that remained, seeing the strength of Judah, were greatly afraid, and they fled; and Judah with his ten men pursued them, and they overtook them and slew them.
47And the sons of Jacob were still striking the armies of the kings, and they slew many of them, but those kings daringly kept their stand with their captains, and did not retreat from their places; and they exclaimed against those of their armies that fled from before the sons of Jacob, but none would listen to them, for they were afraid for their lives, lest they should die.
48And all the sons of Jacob, after having struck the armies of the kings, returned and came before Judah, and Judah was still slaying the eight captains of Jashub and stripping off their garments.
49And Levi saw Elon, king of Gaash, advancing toward him with his fourteen captains to smite him, but Levi did not know it for certain.
50And Elon with his captains approached nearer, and Levi looked back and saw that battle was given him in the rear, and Levi ran with twelve of his servants, and they went and slew Elon and his captains with the edge of the sword.