If being a lemming is trustung the words of a True Prophet (Ellen White) over those of a man who has been proven to be a false prophet (Joseph Smith) Call me a lemming. Nevertheless, whoever translated the book of Jasher we are given a simple test which all of us are well aware of that is found in Isaiah 8:20. If it can stand up to the light of the Word of God then the question is certainly legitimate. there is my two cents worth. Not much. Blessings

There are other books mentioned in the Bible which are not part of the Bible, like for instance the book of the prophet Iddo (2 Chron. 13:22) and the letter of Paul to the church of Laodicea (Col. 4:16). They were probably writings of local application and God didn't find it necessary for them to be included in the canon.

The book of Jasher mentioned in Joshua 10:13 and 2 Sam. 1:18 probably doesn't refer to a person called Jasher. It literally means "Book of the Upright." In Siryac it is called "Book of Praises" or "Book of Hymns." It was probably a collection of songs, and it is mentioned that a song of David was included in it (2 Sam. 1:19-27). It has nothing to do with the modern book of Jasher, an 18th century forgery alleging to be a translation of the lost book of Jasher by Alcuin:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Jasher_%28Pseudo-Jasher%29

I like the simple test idea, therefore, as time permits, I am going to read it through to see how it compares to the books that makes up the Bible.

I also appreciate all the other research and thoughts being posted here pertaining to the book of Jasher.

Let us not miss the point. It does not matter whether or not we have the authentic Book of Jasher. We make quite a big deal about the Bible having been preserved in order to bolster our claim that this single book is the Book that the Creator decided to pen. How did He forget to make all the books available to those who compiled the book? Could our claim be wrong?

Writing the Bible was only a small part of prophetic ministry. There were many aspects and archaeologists and scholars say that the evidence indicates that there was a hiarchy of prophets, with the top one serving the role of "The Lord's Messenger." with local prophets under them making local applications. And even only a few of the prophets in the position of "The Lord's Messenger" had writings that were universal enough to be part of the Bible, and of the Bible writers, only a small amount of their writings and ministry made it into the Bible.

The specific Biblical books were written to a wider audience, often dealing one way or another between a prophet and the empire that the prophet was living in, with universal messages that transend history and geography.

Jasher would have been one of the local prophets writing a book with more limited themes.

Let's not forget that William Foy was a prophet, who's message was to try to let the Millerites know that there were still things that they needed to study in the Bible, especially with the number 3. Although until the 1970s when an Adventist Historian did research on his life, we thought that he was not faithful, and too many know the pre-70s view and have not learned about the study which shows that he was indeed a faithful prophet. But we are living post Oct 22, 1844. Mrs. White has done a lot of study on the threes in the Bible. Foy's writings, although coming from an inspired prophet, do not have the universal message that the Bible has, or even the wider work of Mrs. White.

Harriet Tubman might have been a prophet, getting visions on how to escape people hunting down the people she was leading for freedom (I saw this performed in a play on her life, I have not read if this has actually happened or not) but if so, then she wold have also have been a prophet, but her prophetic ministry would be to know where the places in the river shallow enough for non-swimmers to keep their heads above water. These visions would have been true visions. She would have been a true prophet, but as we read the Bible we would not need to know where to forge a river. It was a very local and specific prophetic ministry. Not a "Lord's Messenger" prophetic ministry, nor the universal spiritual-political messages for world empires that the Bible has.

Jasher's ministry could be compared to Foy, Tubman (if she had the visions) or at best Ellen White, a "Lord's Messenger" with a wide audience, but still not as universal as the writings that ended up in the Bible.

Excellent post Rosaangela! From the few verses we have in the Bible, what you said makes a lot of sense!

Thanks for the interesting information Rosangela.

Kevin, that was a good example of "spin."

Darius, well look up histories of Israel and read for yourself.

Kevin, I did not imply that you were in error, only that it was a good example of spin. Nothing is going to make us change our view of this ancient book written by goat herders.