In the 18th century Emanuel Swedenborg experienced 27 years of waking visions to reveal to the world the reality of the afterlife, the spiritual sense of scripture, and the true doctrines of Christianity. Although he intended everyone to examine the truth for themselves from scripture, he inadvertently at times included clairvoyant information that can be verified by facts (see The Confirmed Clairvoyance of Emanuel Swedenborg). For example, it is now well established that the first 11 chapters of Genesis have parallels in the myths and writings of ancient Sumeria, which were discovered in the 19th century. Before their discovery, and long before the creationist-evolutionary debate, Swedenborg stated that the first 11 chapters were based on earlier writings which were mythical in character:
"There are in the Word, in general, four different styles. The first is that of the Most Ancient Church. Their mode of expression was such that when they mentioned terrestrial and worldly things they thought of the spiritual and celestial things which these represented. They therefore not only expressed themselves by representatives, but also formed these into a certain historical series, as it were, that they might be the more living...These particulars concerning the creation, the garden of Eden, etc., down to the time of Abram, Moses had from the descendants of the Most Ancient Church. (Heavenly Arcana, n. 66)
"...the historic narrative concerning the creation and concerning the first man, and concerning paradise, is a history so framed as to contain within it heavenly and Divine things, and this according to the received manner in the Ancient Churches. This manner of writing extended thence also to many who were outside of that Church..." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 8891.4)
Combined with his other clairvoyant experiences that were verified by his contemporaries this is impressive. However I started to read again Swedenborg's extensive explanation of the book of Revelation and found another odd finding, which is hard to notice unless one uses a search engine or index of Swedenborg's writings.
THE SPIRITUAL MEANING OF THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA
From his waking visions under the guidance of the Lord, Swedenborg interpreted every single small detail in the Apocalypse, the final book of the Bible, and many still struggle to interpret its meaning. The work begins with seven epistles from Jesus to seven churches in Asia Minor:
John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from Him who is, and who was, and who is to come (Rev. 1:4).
The seven churches signify seven different types of Christianity where one can directly apply it to one's Christian walk of life (see The Symbolism of the Seven Churches of the book of Revelation for a summary). However every small detail in scripture has a spiritual significance, even personal and geographic place names. So what is the spiritual meaning about Asia, or Asia Minor? Swedenborg says this:
"Which are in Asia, signifies to those who from the Word are in the light of truth. Since by all the names of persons and places in the Word the realities of heaven and the church are meant, as said before, the same are signified by Asia, and by the names of the seven churches there, as will be manifest from what follows. They who are in the light of truth from the Word are meant by Asia, because the Most Ancient Church, and after it the Ancient, and afterwards the Israelitish, were in Asia; also because the Ancient Word was with them, and afterwards the Israelitish; and all the light of truth is from the Word." (Apocalypse Revealed, n. 11)
Although Swedenborg does not mention it, another reason why Asia has this significance is that it contains Mt. Ararat, the region where Noah's Ark rested after the flood, and Noah and his descendants represent the Ancient Church that succeeded the Most Ancient Church of the antediluvians. In Apocalypse Explained Swedenborg gives a more detailed account on how he arrived at this interpretation:
"In Asia, signifies those who are in the light of intelligence. This can be seen by a spiritual idea only, such as angels have, concerning the regions of this earth. When Asia is named, angels perceive the south; when Europe is named, the north; and when Africa, the east; and as by the "south" is signified the clear light of intelligence, so that light is signified by "Asia." This perception has been granted also to me, as often as I have been in the spiritual idea and have thought of Asia. Such is the spiritual idea of Asia, because the church was there in ancient times, and then extended over many regions there; therefore, those who are in heaven from that country are in the light of intelligence. For this reason, when Asia is thought of, a light like that which is in the south of heaven flows in." (Apocalypse Explained, n. 21)
This explanation is more detailed, which Swedenborg simplified in Apocalypse Revealed. It at first seems strange, but it is actually supported in prophetic interpretations of scripture, especially by those of the Seventh Day Adventists. In the prophecy of Daniel 11-12, it is recognized by several commentators that the "king of the north" eventually refers to the Roman Empire of Europe and the "king of the south" refers to the Ptolemaic Empire of Egypt. The latter had survived longer than its other rival, the Seleucid Empire, which covered Asia Minor. The war between the king of the north and south ultimately signify the corruption of the early Church, which happened when Rome became the primary authority over the more ancient eastern churches of the Middle East (see The Prophecy of Daniel 11-12 Explained, for my personal viewpoint on the prophetic interpretation).
"Little was known of the Hittites other than the references from the Bible and fragmentary documentation from Egypt until the late 19th century CE when excavations began at Boghaskoy (modern-day Bogazkale, Turkey) which was once the site of Hattusa, capital of the Hittite Empire... Hattusa was originally founded by the Hatti (an aboriginal tribe of Anatolia) in 2500 BCE, and their culture may have provided the basis for that of the Hittites. This very important complex and those who built it along with their vast empire, however, remained almost unknown until their writings were discovered, first by the Irish missionary William Wright in 1884 CE, and then by the German archaeologist Hugo Winckler in 1906 CE."
Below is one map of the Hittite Empire, showing it covered portions of Asia and bordered the land of Canaan:
By 1912 Winckler found a huge cache of clay cuneiform tablets which were quickly deciphered. It was soon realized by scholars that they had discovered the empire of the Hittites which are mentioned multiple times in the Bible. Up until that time nothing was known of the Hittites, except also they happened to be another one of the inhabitants in the land of Canaan. They were in no way associated with the geographic region of Asia. The case for the identification is summarized in Biblical Hittites:
Apart from the similarity in names, the Anatolian Hittites were a powerful political entity in the region before the collapse of their empire in the 14th-12th centuries BC, so one would expect them to be mentioned in the Bible, just in the way that the ḤTY post-Exodus are. A stone lion relief found at Beth Shan, near the Sea of Galilee (now at the Israel Museum), dated to about 1700 BC, has been interpreted by professor Bill Humble as confirming this identification, since lions are often pictured in Hittite art. Moreover, in the account of the conquest of Canaan, the Hittites are said to dwell "in the mountains" and "towards the north" of Canaan — a description that matches the general direction and geography of the original Hittite empire, which had been influential in the region prior to the Battle of Kadesh.
Modern academics propose, based on much onomastic and archaeological evidence, that Anatolian populations moved south into Canaan as part of the waves of Sea Peoples who were migrating along the Mediterranean coastline at the time of the collapse of the Hittite Empire. Many kings of local city-states are shown to have had Hittite and Luwian names in the Late Bronze to Early Iron Age transition period. Indeed, even the name of Mount Zion may be Hittite in origin.
So, Swedenborg had absolutely no knowledge of this, as the Hittite Empire had essentially been forgotten until it was rediscovered in the 20th century. Now here is where things get interesting. If Asia signifies those who are in the light of truth as they were from the Ancient Church preceding Judaism, then the spiritual significance of "Hittite" should be similar as we now know they originate from Asia. And here is what Swedenborg states concerning the Hittites:
"There were many inhabitants of the land of Canaan, who are named in many passages of the Word and among them the Hittites (see Gen. xv. 20; Exod. iii. 8, 17; xiii. 5; xxiii. 23; Deut. vii. 1; xx. 17; Josh. iii. 10; xi. 1, 3; xii. 8; xxiv. 11; 1 Kings ix. 20: and other places). Most of these were from the Ancient Church; that this extended through many lands, and likewise through the land of Canaan... Among the better inhabitants of the land of Canaan were the Hittites, as may be evident from this, that Abraham dwelt among them, and afterward Isaac and Jacob, and had their burial-place there; also from their bearing themselves piously and modestly toward Abraham, as is very plain from what is related of them in this chapter (particularly in verses 5, 6, 10, 11, 14, 15). And thus by the Hittites, as by a well-disposed nation, is represented and signified the spiritual church, or the truth of the church." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 2913.1-2)
Swedenborg had no knowledge that the Hittites originated from Asia, only that they were part of the Ancient Church. And yet the spiritual meaning of "Asia" and "Hittite" is practically the same: Asia represents those of the church in the light of truth, and Hittite always represents those who are in the spiritual truth of the church. This is reaffirmed in another passage:
"There were remains of the church from ancient times still in the land of Canaan, especially with those who were called Hittites and Hivites. Consequently by those nations are represented the truths which were of that church." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 4429.3)
And again, similar to Asia the Hittite spiritually signifies the light of truth:
"That is in the field of Ephron the Hittite. That this signifies that yet there may be light, is evident from the signification of a field, as the church (see n. 2971, 3766); and from the representation of Ephron the Hittite, as those with whom truth and good may be received (n. 2933, 2940, 2969), and thus with whom the obscurity of faith may be made clear." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 6454)
When explaining this passage of Ephron the Hittite among the sons of Heth, Swedenborg goes further:
"This verse treats of the new church that the Lord establishes when the former church expires; and the verses that follow treat of the reception of faith with them. A church among the sons of Heth is not treated of; but the raising up by the Lord of the spiritual church in general, after the former ceases or is consummated" (Heavenly Arcana, n. 2913.1-2)
And this is the exact theme of the book of Revelation - the consummation of the old Christian churches, and the establishment of a new spiritual Christian Church, signified by the New Jerusalem that descends out of heaven. This is something that Swedenborg could not have conceived on his own, and is thus evidence he was receiving heavenly revelations on the spiritual meaning of scripture. It is thus evidence that the Second Coming indeed has taken place in these new revelations, for which see Is the Second Coming a Physical Event or Spiritual Event?
In the Bible there is a reference to a work, now considered lost, the book of Jasher. It is mentioned twice:
David lamented ... over Saul and over Jonathan ... Also he bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow: behold, it is written in the Book of Jasher. (2 Sam. i 17, 18).
In Joshua it is mentioned in this passage:
Joshua said, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon: and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon! Is not this written in the Book of Jasher? (Joshua x 12, 13).
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG'S VISIONS CONCERNING THE BOOK OF JASHER
This mysterious reference is considered by most to be a reference to a lost work. In the visions of Emanuel Swedenborg in the 18th century, he was given further information by angels that the book of Jasher was part of an ancient work that preceded the Bible which contained the first seven chapters of Genesis:
"That there was a Word among the ancients, is evident from Moses, by whom it is mentioned, and who took something from it (Num. xxi. 14, 15, 27-30); also that the historical parts of that Word were called the Wars of Jehovah, and its prophetic parts the Enunciations. ...Besides these, a prophetic book of the ancient Word, called the Book of Jasher, or the Book of the Upright, is mentioned by David and by Joshua. By David: David lamented over Saul and over Jonathan, and made the inscription, To teach the sons of Judah the bow; behold it is written in the Book of Jasher (2 Sam. i. 17, 18). And by Joshua: Joshua said, Sun, rest not in Gibeon, and Moon in the valley of Ajalon; is not this written in the Book of Jasher? (Josh. x. 12.) Moreover, it has been told me that the first seven chapters of Genesis are in that ancient Word, and that not even a little word is wanting." (Doctrines of the New Jerusalem, in Doctrine of Sacred Scripture, n. 103)
In other references to the ancient scripture that preceded our Bible, Swedenborg was told that it was extant among those in Tartary bordering China. He also was given more details as to what was contained in the book of Jasher, from which Moses drew upon it to compose the Torah:
"They said that in it also is the book of Jasher, which is mentioned in Joshua (x. 12, 13), and in the second book of Samuel (i. 17, 18); as also, that among them are the books called the Wars of Jehovah, and the Enunciations, which are mentioned by Moses (Num. xxi. 14, 15, and 27-30); and when I read in their presence the words which Moses had taken therefrom, they searched to see if they were there and found them. From this it was clear to me that the ancient Word is still among them. ...I have further heard from angels that the first chapters of Genesis, which treat of creation, of Adam and Eve, of the garden of Eden, and of their sons and posterity down to the flood, and also of Noah and his sons, are also in that Word; and were so transcribed from it by Moses." (True Christian Religion, n. 279)
Later, Swedenborg has another passage concerning Jasher:
"Before the Israelitish there was a Word, the prophetical books of which were called Enunciations, and the historical, the Wars of Jehovah; and besides these, one called the Book of Jasher; which three are named in our Word: and that ancient Word was in the land of Canaan, Syria, Mesopotamia, Arabia, Assyria, Chaldea, Egypt, Tyre, Sidon, and Nineveh; but because it was full of such correspondences as signify celestial and spiritual things remotely, which gave rise to idolatries, of the Divine Providence this disappeared. I heard that Moses copied out of that Word what he related about the Creation, Adam and Eve, the Flood, and Noah, and his three sons, but no further." (True Christian Religion, Index to Relations)
So the other point here is that this ancient Word which preceded our Bible was not preserved, because certain symbolic portions of it was distorted for idolatrous purposes.
So, exactly how accurate is the information received by Emanuel Swedenborg in his waking visions which he had over a period of 27 years? As most of his visions concerned God, the Divine inspiration of the Bible, the spiritual world, angels and the afterlife, it is hard to verify. But with these statements on the book of Jasher, should the book be rediscovered, we now have an independent means of verifying the information given to Swedenborg.
A MEDIEVAL HEBREW MANUSCRIPT OF THE BOOK OF JASHER
A medieval Hebrew manuscript claiming to be the book of Jasher was published in Naples in 1552, and later in Venice in 1613 (or 1625). It was translated into Latin in 1732, and was later translated into English in 1840. Apparently after it was published in Venice, Leon Modena issued a statement that it was not the book of Jasher, and falsely grouped it among other late Jewish writings of a completely different character, the Zohar and Kabbalah (from Sefer haYashar (midrash)
Behold, it [the Zohar] is like Sefer ha-Yashar, which they printed (without my knowledge and without the knowledge of the sages here in Venice, about twenty years ago). Although I removed the fantasies and falsehoods from it, [eg,] that it is the Sefer ha-Yashar mentioned in Scripture, there are still those who claim that it was discovered during the time of the destruction [of the temple]. But who can stop those who imagine in their minds whatever they wish.
— Leon Modena, Ari Nohem, before 1648
Oddly, Wikipedia calls this Hebrew work a midrash, or a commentary or interpretation of scripture among the Jews. However upon internal examination it is nothing like a midrash: it is a longer version of the Bible as found in the Torah, from the time of Adam to the entry of Joshua in the land of Canaan. There has been little critical examination of this work, except for one publication from 1986 by Dan Joseph of the Hebrew University. Although the Naples publication is not extant, he concluded from the Hebrew and other indicators that it was written in Naples in the 16th century, or possibly earlier in Spain or southern Italy.
There are definitely late additions to this Hebrew work; for example, there are late references in the table of nations after the flood of Noah that were probably taken from the Hebrew work Josippon that was published in southern Italy in the 10th century, which contains many historical and chronological mistakes. This is probably one of the reasons Dan Joseph thought this Hebrew work was probably composed after this time in southern Italy as well. However, unlike Josippon, the chronology of Jasher happens to be very accurate. Hebrew scholars who examined the original text for the 1840 translation, thought that it was written in very pure Rabbinical Hebrew.
INTERNAL EVIDENCE THAT JASHER IS MUCH OLDER
So there the story would end. Except for some very "odd" facts: this Hebrew work that claims to be the book of Jasher has internal evidence that it is much, much older. The evidence indicates there was a much more older copy, which was later corrupted by a Rabbinical scribe. But there is enough there to show that this Hebrew work of Jasher may in fact be based on an older original that is indeed the lost book of Jasher as mentioned in the Bible, as it does contain the text as mentioned in Joshua and 2 Samuel. So what "odd" facts are there? First, we have these references to Oswiris in Egypt:
"And he resolved to go to Egypt, to Oswiris the son of Anom king of Egypt... " (Jasher 14:2)
This of course is a reference to the god Osiris of the Egyptian pantheon. Anom may be a Hebrew play on the Egyptian god Amon. The names of Amon and Osiris perhaps may have been derived from the first century work On the Worship of Isis and Osiris by Plutarch, for the cult of Osiris was long dead, having expired during the Graeco-Roman era and was exterminated in the fourth-sixth centuries A.D.
Osiris on his throne
So maybe this Jewish author was familiar with Plutarch. But then we have this reference to a wise advisor to the Babylonian king Nimrod named "Anuki" (Jasher 12:52). This one is interesting. As explained earlier in Jasher: the Lost book of the Bible, as foreseen by Swedenborg:
"This is probably based on the Sumerian sky-god Anu, or based on "Anunnaki" (or "Anunnaku" or "Ananaki") a group of Mesopotamian deities which appear in the Babylonian creation epic, Enuma Elish. The name Anunnaki means "those of royal blood" or "princely offspring." In later Assyrian and Babylonian myth, the Anunnaki were said to be the sons of Anu ("heaven") and his consort Ki ("earth") — again, a possible derivation for the name Anuki. The names of these Sumerian gods were forgotten until they were rediscovered on cuneiform tablets in the nineteenth century. Anyone composing a midrash in medieval times would have no knowledge of this."
Another interesting name pops up: the son of Nimrod has the name of Mardon:
And all the earth was of one tongue and words of union, but Nimrod did not go in the ways of the Lord, and he was more wicked than all the men that were before him, from the days of the flood until those days. And he made gods of wood and stone, and he bowed down to them, and he rebelled against the Lord, and taught all his subjects and the people of the earth his wicked ways; and Mardon his son was more wicked than his father. And every one that heard of the acts of Mardon the son of Nimrod would say, concerning him, From the wicked goeth forth wickedness; therefore it became a proverb in the whole earth, saying, From the wicked goeth forth wickedness, and it was current in the words of men from that time to this. (Jasher 7:46-48)
This particular proverb may be quoted in 1 Sam. 24:13. Mardon, son of Nimrod, is a reference to the Babylonian god Marduk, just as Oswiris of Egypt is a reference to the Egyptian god Osiris. But now we have a problem: the problem here, is the ancient Babylonian gods Anu, the Anunnakki, and Marduk were completely forgotten in medieval times. They were unknown until these names were recovered on Sumerian and Akkadian tablets in the 19th century, long after the first appearance of the book of Jasher.
Babylonian Marduk with his dragon Mushussu
It is highly unlikely for a medieval Jew of southern Italy to have known these long forgotten Babylonian gods. Moreover, from the book of Jasher we know that the name of the two Egyptian magicians who opposed Moses were named Jannes and Jambres:
"And when they had gone Pharaoh sent for Balaam the magician and to Jannes and Jambres his sons, and to all the magicians and conjurors and counsellors which belonged to the king, and they all came and sat before the king." (Jasher 79:27)
These two magicians are named by the apostle Paul in the 1st century A.D. (see 2 Tim. 3:8). These names are also found in Jewish tradition, but where does the tradition come from?
EVIDENCE FROM THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE BOOK OF JASHER
A close examination of the book of Jasher is that it follows the same chronology as the Masoretic version of the Torah. The current theory of scholars, is a Rabbinical Jew just copied from scripture and added additional material. But this is problematic: if one examines the numbers closely, at times it can be seen a digit was missed or dropped. Simple math exposes the error. Yet the chronology itself is highly accurate. This indicates that a Rabbinical Jew in southern Italy was working with a much older copy, something that was passed hand to hand until the invention of the printing press. For example, again from Jasher: the Lost book of the Bible, as foreseen by Swedenborg:
"Jasher ii. 37 states that Jared lived 62 years when the number should be 162. This exact scribal error appears in the Samaritan Pentateuch, which was not known to the western world until after the book of Jasher was published. The Samaritan Pentateuch represents an ancient textual tradition, as some of its readings have been found in the Dead Sea scrolls."
And then, we have this statement concerning the Pharoah that reigned at the time of the Exodus:
"Melol was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned ninety four years, and all Egypt called his name Pharaoh after the name of his father, as it was their custom to do to every king who reigned over them in Egypt." (Jasher 63:9)
This is an extremely long reign. Ninety four (94) years is a long time. And it just so happens from modern Egyptology we know exactly who this Pharoah was: Pepi II Neferkare, the last Pharoah of the Old Kingdom before the kingdom suddenly and mysteriously collapsed. According the Egyptian king lists, he reigned exactly 94 years. And this again was not known until the advent of modern Egyptian archaeology in the 19th century. Again, no way could a Rabbinical Jew know this during medieval times.
Pharoah Pepi II as a child on his mother's lap
This brings up a whole other topic on the chronology of the ancient world. There has been much speculation on the date of the Exodus, with some historians denying that it ever happened. This is not only because many misinterpret a late reference to the city of Ramesses in the book of Genesis, but also there is the larger problem of how things are dated in the ancient Middle East based on Egyptian chronology. What this reference to the book of Jasher indicates is that the Exodus occurred right at the sudden collapse of the Old Kingdom. Some scholars indicate that portions of the Ipuwer Papyrus actually dates from the collapse of the Old Kingdom, which happens to mention many of the same plagues described in the book of Exodus.
(For a lengthier discussion of the papyrus and the historical background of the Exodus, seeJewish Action, Spring 1995, article by Brad Aaronson, entitled When Was the Exodus? )
IPUWER PAPYRUS - LEIDEN 344
TORAH - EXODUS
2:5-6 Plague is throughout the land. Blood is everywhere.
2:10 The river is blood.
2:10 Men shrink from tasting - human beings, and thirst after water
3:10-13 That is our water! That is our happiness! What shall we do in respect thereof? All is ruin.
7:20 …all the waters of the river were turned to blood.
7:21 ...there was blood thoughout all the land of Egypt …and the river stank.
7:24 And all the Egyptians dug around the river for water to drink; for they could not drink of the water of the river.
2:10 Forsooth, gates, columns and walls are consumed by fire.
10:3-6 Lower Egypt weeps... The entire palace is without its revenues. To it belong [by right] wheat and barley, geese and fish
6:3 Forsooth, grain has perished on every side.
5:12 Forsooth, that has perished which was yesterday seen. The land is left over to its weariness like the cutting of flax.
9:23-24 ...and the fire ran along the ground... there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous.
9:25 ...and the hail smote every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field.
9:31-32 ...and the flax and the barley was smitten; for the barley was in season, and flax was ripe.
But the wheat and the rye were not smitten; for they were not grown up.
10:15 ...there remained no green things in the trees, or in the herbs of the fields, through all the land of Egypt.
5:5 All animals, their hearts weep. Cattle moan...
9:2-3 Behold, cattle are left to stray, and there is none to gather them together.
9:3 ...the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle which is in the field... and there shall be a very grievous sickness.
9:19 ...gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field...
9:21 And he that did not fear the word of the Lord left his servants and cattle in the field.
9:11 The land is without light
10:22 And there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt.
4:3 (5:6) Forsooth, the children of princes are dashed against the walls.
6:12 Forsooth, the children of princes are cast out in the streets.
6:3 The prison is ruined.
2:13 He who places his brother in the ground is everywhere.
3:14 It is groaning throughout the land, mingled with lamentations
12:29 And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive that was in the prison.
12:30 ...there was not a house where there was not one dead.
12:30 ...there was a great cry in Egypt.
7:1 Behold, the fire has mounted up on high. Its burning goes forth against the enemies of the land.
13:21 ... by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night.
3:2 Gold and lapis lazuli, silver and malachite, carnelian and bronze... are fastened on the neck of female slaves.
12:35-36 ...and they requested from the Egyptians, silver and gold articles and clothing. And God made the Egyptians favour them and they granted their request. [The Israelites] thus drained Egypt of its wealth.
So if any historian states that there is no evidence for the Exodus, they are wrong. What is wrong here are the traditional dates for Egyptian chronology, but this is too broad a topic to go into depth here. The Ipuwer Papyrus was definitely unknown to a medieval Jewish scribe. How is it that the book of Jasher points to the same Pharoah as this papyrus? Even today, very few propose that the Exodus took place during the collapse of the Old Kingdom of Egypt.
One last point: the book of Jasher is missing the prophecy of 400 years from the time of Abraham to the Exodus in Genesis 15. If a medieval scribe is copying from Genesis, why omit this story? Or did it happen the other way around: Moses composed Genesis from Jasher, and incorporated that prophecy when it was realized to have been true?
EVIDENCE FROM THE ASTRONOMY OF THE BOOK OF JASHER
This was a nice surprise when I first discovered this. Comparing the Masoretic chronology with ancient records of the Middle East from Babylon and Assyria, I had determined that Abraham was born in 1953 B.C. The book of Jasher records an unusual astronomical event:
"And it was in the night that Abram was born, that all the servants of Terah, and all the wise men of Nimrod, and his conjurors came and ate and drank in the house of Terah, and they rejoiced with him on that night. And when all the wise men and conjurors went out from the house of Terah, they lifted up their eyes toward heaven that night to look at the stars, and they saw, and behold one very large star came from the east and ran in the heavens, and he swallowed up the four stars from the four sides of the heavens. And all the wise men of the king and his conjurors were astonished at the sight, and the sages understood this matter, and they knew its import. And they said to each other, this only betokens the child that has been born to Terah this night, who will grow up and be fruitful, and multiply, and possess all the earth, he and his children for ever, and he and his seed will slay great kings, and inherit their lands" (Jasher viii. 1-4).
I had discussed this earlier in The Astronomy of the Birth of Abraham (1953 B.C.). First, what is significant about this is that the story of the birth of Abraham is prophetic of the star of the three wise men that appeared at the time of the birth of Jesus. Why would a Jew from the medieval era invent such a story? Unless it was already there in a more ancient manuscript, which was actually prophetic.
Secondly, I had checked this story in the book of Jasher and looked up anything significant in an astronomy program Dance of the Planets for the year 1953 B.C. Sure enough, there was a grand conjunction of all 5 planets in the year 1953 B.C. It is a very rare alignment, and had occurred again before the birth of Jesus in 6 B.C. Here is a chart showing the astronomical alignment of 6 B.C.:
Some propose it was this alignment which was the actual star of Bethlehem. But a medieval Jewish scribe would have no knowledge of this as it requires precise mathematical and astronomical knowledge.
Later, I researched this further, and discovered that in 1993 NASA scientists determined that this grand conjunction of 1953 B.C. was observed in ancient China, and became the basis of the start of the Chinese calendar. Jesuits had earlier searched for this date and had failed. From PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE JET PROPULSION LABORATORY (NASA):
Astronomers from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the U.S.
Naval Observatory have solved the ancient mystery of the origin
of the Chinese calendar, it was reported to the 182nd meeting of
the American Astronomical Society today in Berkeley, Calif.
Kevin Pang of JPL and John Bangert of the Naval Observatory
said they have found a date in 1953 B.C. when the sun, moon and
five planets all lined up in the sky at dawn -- providing the
basis for the beginning of the Chinese calendar.
...Orientals have always considered a
five-planet alignment as a favorable omen, signaling the dawn of
a new age and the world's renewal.
While the beginning of a day is dawn, a five-planet
conjunction occurring at dawn, with a new moon, and the start of
spring would truly be the beginning of all cycles, he said. For
calendar makers, such a moment would also be an ideal starting
point for counting days, months, years and planetary periods.
...In the latest search for the Holy Grail of Chinese
astronomy, Pang and Bangert were aided by computer-generated
planetary ephemerides and a clue from an ancient text.
Pang found a passage in a 1st century B.C. text of Hong Fan
Zhuan, that says: "The Ancient Zhuanxu calendar (invented in
about 2000 B.C.) began at dawn, in the beginning of spring, when
the sun, new moon and five planets gathered in the constellation
Yingshi (Pegasus.)" The book was written by Liu Xiang who lived
from 77 to 9 B.C.
Pang said this was all the hint he and Bangert needed. A
computer search of planetary positions in the 2000 B.C. era gave
only one possible match -- March 5, 1953 B.C.
Before dawn on that day, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and
Saturn lined up like a pearl necklace in the eastern sky, next to
the Great Pegasus Square, he said. The planets all spanned but a
few degrees. The new moon occurred shortly thereafter when the
sun, moon, and five planets all lined up in Pegasus, exactly as
Liu had stated.
The dawn of March 5, 1953 B.C. was indeed the beginning of a
day, month, year and all known planetary cycles, the magic moment
Chinese and Jesuit astronomers searched for over 2000 years, Pang
said.
What few people realize, is this same event is recorded in the book of Jasher - where one star swallows up four other stars. In ancient times planets were known as "wandering stars." Note people had been searching for this for centuries, and only was discovered recently in 1993 by NASA using a computer.
So knowing that Abraham was born in 1953 B.C., we can calculate backwards and determine the dates for all the older patriarchs. When we get to the time before the flood, the chronology starts to become symbolic, and is based on astronomical cycles at the time (see The Ancient Astronomy of the Bible. Before the flood, we have the strange story of Enoch:
"And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him." (Gen. 5:21-24)
The number 365 years is obviously symbolic of the 365 days in a year, with an endless cycle being represented by Enoch being caught up into heaven. From Abraham's birth in 1953 B.C, calculating backwards we can determine that Enoch lived from 3279 to 2914 B.C. The book of Jasher contains a bit more information on Enoch, and notes another strange number:
"And Enoch taught them wisdom, knowledge, and the ways of the Lord; and he made peace amongst them, and peace was throughout the earth during the life of Enoch. And Enoch reigned over the sons of men two hundred and forty-three years, and he did justice and righteousness with all his people, and he led them in the ways of the Lord." (Jasher 3:11-12)
And then we have this later reference:
"And it was in the year of Adam's death which was the two hundred and forty-third year of the reign of Enoch, in that time Enoch resolved to separate himself from the sons of men and to secret himself as at first in order to serve the Lord." (Jasher 3:17)
So, looks like an insignificant reference at first. Why point out that Enoch reigned 243 years? This would mean his reign started in 3214 B.C. with the birth of his son Methuselah, and ended in 2971 B.C. the year in which Adam died. For modern astronomers, the time 243 years is very significant, for this is the exact time needed for Venus transits across the Sun to repeat - they repeat every 243 years. It just so happens, that on November 17, 3214 B.C. and on November 17, 2971 B.C. there were transits of Venus across the face of the Sun, each separated by 243 years. The last time a Venus transit occurred was in 2004 and 2012, each repeating the transit which had occurred 243 years earlier in 1761 and 1769:
This requires very accurate astronomical knowledge, done over centuries. Note that there is another sub-period of 129.5 years between Venus transits of separate cycles, which would probably explain this passage:
And they assembled in all, one hundred and thirty kings and princes, and they made Enoch king over them and they were all under his power and command. (Jasher 3:10)
These numbers, although based on astronomical cycles, are also symbolic of spiritual truths.
Here is a time lapsed photo of the Venus transit of 2012:
And here is highly detailed video of the Venus transit of 2012 from NASA:
A COMPARISON BETWEEN JASHER AND SWEDENBORG'S REFERENCES
So is the book of Jasher, as represented in this medieval Hebrew manuscript, the one foreseen by Swedenborg in his visions? A Latin translation was published in Leipzig in 1732 (Dissertatio de Libro recti, "Dissertation on the book of the Upright"). by Johann Georg Abicht, professor of theology at the University of Halle-Wittenberg. There is the possibility that Swedenborg thus had access to a Latin version. In 1735 he was in Leipzig where he published a three volume work entitled Opera philosophica et mineralis ("Philosophical and mineralogical works"), However, the way Swedenborg references the book of Jasher does not indicate knowledge of this obscure dissertation. He describes it as a lost work, but possibly available in the region of Tartary bordering China. Moreover, the way he references the contents of the book of Jasher shows a slight error, an error that would not have been made if he was drawing from the Latin dissertation. There would be no reason for him to state that it was extant in Tartary; moreover, Swedenborg was shown to be exactly right in his visions on other occasions (see The Confirmed Clairvoyance of Emanuel Swedenborg).
So lets repeat here what Swedenborg said concerning the ancient Word which he was told about in his visions, which included the book of Jasher:
Moreover, it has been told me that the first seven chapters of Genesis are in that ancient Word, and that not even a little word is wanting." (Doctrines of the New Jerusalem, in Doctrine of Sacred Scripture, n. 103)
I have further heard from angels that the first chapters of Genesis, which treat of creation, of Adam and Eve, of the garden of Eden, and of their sons and posterity down to the flood, and also of Noah and his sons, are also in that Word; and were so transcribed from it by Moses." (True Christian Religion, n. 279)
I heard that Moses copied out of that Word what he related about the Creation, Adam and Eve, the Flood, and Noah, and his three sons, but no further." (True Christian Religion, Index to Relations)
These statements do not exactly refer to the book of Jasher, but rather the ancient Word which included the book of Jasher. However I think it refers to the book of Jasher. But a slight "error" is made here. First, the book of Jasher does not include the first chapter of Genesis which describes the seven days of creation. Note that after the seven days of creation, the second chapter begins as follows:
"These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." (Gen. 2:4-7)
The book of Jasher begins as follows:
"And God said let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and God created man in his own image. And God formed man from the ground, and he blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul endowed with speech." (Jasher 1:1-2)
Scholars who have examined the literary style of Genesis have noted that the seven days of creation likely came from a different source than the creation story of Genesis 2. And the book of Jasher confirms that. This was long before there was any textual criticism of the Bible.
It is from this point, Genesis chapter 2, that we find the first seven chapters of Genesis in the book of Jasher, albeit with a bit more detail. Thus Swedenborg's statement that the first seven chapters of Genesis are found in it is slightly incorrect. And yet it is highly accurate. The first seven chapters of Jasher parallels the story of seven chapters of Genesis, from chapter 2 through chapter 8. Genesis chapter 9 speaks of God's covenant with Noah - this is completely missing in the book of Jasher. Thus Swedenborg first misunderstood the information given to him. Thus he states Moses copied from this ancient Word the story of Adam up to Noah and his three sons, "but no further." This is slightly incorrect - for Moses stopped at Genesis 8 and included additional material in Genesis 9. Genesis 10 includes the table of nations from Noah and his three sons, and this has been corrupted or added in the book of Jasher by incorporating material from Josippon. However after that, additional material was pulled in from Jasher to compose other portions of the Torah.
And if it sounds like the Bible was put together in a haphazard way, it was not, for there is a spiritual sense in the sequence of the story, even though in the literal sense things may appear disjointed.
SWEDENBORG ON THE HERESY OF CAIN
Swedenborg wrote a massive spiritual commentary on Genesis and Exodus entitled Heavenly Arcana (aka Arcana Coelestia, or "Heavenly Secrets"). Literal events are not as they appear in the sense of the letter, behind each story there is a spiritual truth. For example the story of Cain killing his brother Abel is symbolic of how a branch of the ancient race of Adam departed from love and charity, killing it within their heart, and began following a heresy of belief or faith alone symbolized by Cain. Cain is given a mark so that no one would kill him out of revenge. Likewise, in the book of Revelation there is described a corrupt Christian religion where worshipers are given the "mark of the beast" - this is nothing other than the belief of salvation by faith alone.
In the book of Jasher, there is an interesting detail given concerning the sacrifices of Abel and Cain:
And it was at the expiration of a few years, that they brought an approximating offering to the Lord, and Cain brought from the fruit of the ground, and Abel brought from the firstlings of his flock from the fat thereof, and God turned and inclined to Abel and his offering, and a fire came down from the Lord from heaven and consumed it.And unto Cain and his offering the Lord did not turn, and he did not incline to it, for he had brought from the inferior fruit of the ground before the Lord, and Cain was jealous against his brother Abel on account of this, and he sought a pretext to slay him. (Jasher 1:15-16)
When we analyze the spiritual symbolism of scripture as presented in Heavenly Arcana, animals and beasts represent affections, thus here love and charity, the offering of Abel. Plants symbolize the truth of faith (plants create oxygen from light, light is a symbol of truth), which is here the offering of Cain. Swedenborg saw that in the spiritual sense Cain represented faith separate from charity, and this particular detail in the book of Jasher is consistent with what Swedenborg saw in his vision.
Next we come to the story of Lamech, a descendant of Cain, who had two wives Adah and Zillah. In the book of Genesis, he approaches his wives and begs forgiveness for killing a man. Swedenborg explains the spiritual sense of this story as follows:
And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice ye wives of Lamech, and give ear unto my speech; for I have slain a man to my wounding and a boy to my hurt. By Lamech vastation is signified, as before; that he "said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, give ear unto my speech" is confession, that is not made except where the church is — which, as has been stated, is signified by his wives. "I have slain a man to my wounding" signifies that faith was extinguished — faith, as before, being signified by a man; "a boy to my hurt" signifies that charity was extinguished. By a wound and hurt [or bruise] is signified that there was no more soundness — by a wound, that faith was desolated, by a bruise, that charity was devastated. (Heavenly Arcana, n. 427)
Swedenborg then explains why slaying a man here represents how the ancient worship of faith alone separate from charity became extinguished, and died out. For religion of the memory alone, and not of the life, will become extinguished in the process of time. Such is happening to the Protestant church, slowly, but this is the end of the church should they not recognize their error. But its a bit hard to figure out how Swedenborg derived that the "slaying of a man" represents that the worship of faith alone was extinguished. He shows why, but this spiritual meaning is confirmed by an additional detail given in the book of Jasher:
"And Lamech was old and advanced in years, and his eyes were dim that he could not see, and Tubal Cain, his son, was leading him and it was one day that Lamech went into the field and Tubal Cain his son was with him, and whilst they were walking in the field, Cain the son of Adam advanced towards them; for Lamech was very old and could not see much, and Tubal Cain his son was very young. And Tubal Cain told his father to draw his bow, and with the arrows he smote Cain, who was yet far off, and he slew him, for he appeared to them to be an animal. And the arrows entered Cain's body although he was distant from them, and he fell to the ground and died." (Jasher 2:26-28)
So, the man that Lamech killed was his own ancestor, Cain, who represented the heresy of faith separate from charity or love. His eyes were dim, signifying when one becomes a part of religion that becomes separate from life, the truth becomes diminished. So again, the spiritual meaning given to Swedenborg is again consistent with the book of Jasher. Also from spiritual symbolism as explained in Heavenly Arcana, a bow signifies doctrine, an arrow a falsehood derived from doctrine, so every detail here has a spiritual significance. Adopting a false doctrine or belief will eventually mislead one down the wrong path, causing a departure from love, thus killing it.
SWEDENBORG ON THE SYMBOLISM OF ABRAHAM
To the Jews, Genesis and much of scripture is all about how the Jewish race is better and more holy than everyone else. This, in fact, is a falsehood - for what makes scripture holy is the symbolism behind it. Israel is not the land of Israel, but is symbolic of the kingdom of heaven. In Heavenly Arcana, it is revealed that the patriarchs of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob represent the Lord Jesus Christ. Abraham specifically represents Jesus during his childhood, who like Jesus also goes down to Egypt. The revelation given to Swedenborg continues on the revelation of the New Testament, showing how all of scripture is focused on the Lord and his church. Swedenborg describes the representation of Abraham as the Lord in his childhood, gathering basic knowledge, in the following passage:
"The things told of Abram's sojourn in Egypt represent and signify the Lord's first instruction. Abram is the Lord; Sarai as a wife is truth to be adjoined to the celestial, Sarai as a sister is intellectual truth; Egypt is knowledge. The progress from outward knowledges even to celestial truths is described; this was according to Divine order, that the Lord's Human Essence might be conjoined to His Divine Essence, and at the same time become Jehovah." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 1402)
And this brings us full circle back to the book of Jasher, where it is described how Abraham was born during a grand conjunction of the planets in 1953 B.C. - just as Jesus was born around the time of a similar grand conjunction in 6 B.C. The wise men of Babylon understood this and explained the significance to king Nimrod, just as the wise men of the east came to Israel and explained the significance of the star of Bethlehem to king Herod. Nimrod then attempts to kill the baby, but kills another baby instead; in the same manner Herod slaughters the children of Bethlehem in the hopes of slaying Jesus and likewise fails. Thus it can be seen here how the book of Jasher is indeed a prophetic work. Hopefully more scholarship will be done on it in the future, once scholars recognize the value of the manuscript.
So based on this research, once I had arranged in 2012 to publish a digital version of all the theological works of Emanuel Swedenborg, I thought about it and decided to add the English translation of the book of Jasher as well. All of these are put together in a massive digital work on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, The Divine Revelation of the New Jerusalem: Expanded Edition. Those who understand the spiritual symbolism in scripture can see much more depth in this Hebrew work of the book of Jasher.
In the Bible, there is a reference to the book of Jasher:
So the sun stood still, And the moon stopped, Till the people had revenge Upon their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day (Josh. 10:13)
and he told them to teach the children of Judah the Song of the Bow; indeed it is written in the Book of Jasher (2 Sam. 1:18)
This work is assumed as lost by most scholars. But in the visions of Emanuel Swedenborg, he saw that this work of scripture was still extant. The book of Jasher covers the same period of time in the books of Moses, from Adam to entry into the land of Canaan. As Swedenborg recorded the spiritual meaning of Genesis and Exodus in his work Heavenly Arcana (Arcana Coelestia, or "Heavenly Secrets"), I decided to include a Hebrew work claiming to be the book of Jasher at the end when I published all the works of Emanuel Swedenborg, The Divine Revelation of the New Jerusalem and The Divine Revelation of the New Jerusalem: Expanded Edition. However in the preface, I warned while it contains portions of the original, there are late additions by Jewish writers, who probably assumed it was a late midrash.
I came across this website Sefer haYashar – The Book of Jasher – Book of the Upright, which calls the Hebrew work Sefer haYashar an outright late medieval forgery. The main arguments that this is a late forgery are the following:
1. The text appeared in the 17th century (possibly earlier in 1552) in Italy, and there is no evidence it existed before that time.
2. It shares stories also found in the Jewish Talmud and the Targums.
3. It contains possible additions from cabbalistic literature (ca. 13th century A.D.).
4. The geneaology of Noah contains references to the Franks and Lombards who appeared after the fall of the Roman Empire, probably borrowed from Josippon, a rabbinic work of the 10th century A.D.
All of this I knew when I decided to include it in the Divine Revelation of the New Jerusalem. So why did I include it? It is known that right before the first century A.D. some of the scriptures began to be corrupted - thus we find late additions in some works of the Bible as found in the Septuagint. So just because there are similar stories in the Jewish Talmud and Targums proves nothing. Actually it can work as evidence in favor: just where were these Jewish rabbis drawing upon for all of these traditions? And before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest Hebrew text we had of the Bible dated to the 10th century A.D. As for the other points, those could be later additions.
The reason why I included the book of Jasher is that some of this text is very, very ancient. In fact, it can be proven that there is no way this work was composed in its entirety during the medieval era. I discuss some of the points in detail in my earlier blog entry on the book of Jasher. As it was seen in the visions of Swedenborg, it is evidence that these visions were not a product of the imagination. Separate from this, Swedenborg was able to see certain things clairvoyantly, one was confirmed by Immanuel Kant. Evidence that the book of Jasher is quite old are the following pieces of evidence:
1. It mentions a rare astronomical alignment - a grand conjunction - for the birth of Abraham in 1953 B.C. This could not have been known by a medieval forger. For a more detailed analysis on this, see the blog entry on the astronomy during the birth of Abraham.
2. Embedded in the chronology of the ancient patriarchs before the Flood there is some very detailed (and hidden) astronomical information. One concerns a Venus transit that occurred in the year 3214 B.C. and another in 2971 B.C., and there is an implicit reference to the 243 years which separated these Venus transits in the book of Jasher (it is periodic, and always 243 years). The explanation for this is a bit detailed, see the blog entry on the ancient astronomy of the Bible. Last time we had a Venus transit was in 2012. Again, this could not have been known by a medieval forger.
3. In the story of Nimrod there is a reference to a Sumerian god name, which was not known until cuneiform tablets were recovered by archaeologists in the 19th century, and
4. The Apostle Paul mentions Jannes and Jambres as the names of the two magicians who opposed Moses. This is not in the Bible, but is present in the book of Jasher. This however is also mentioned in Jewish traditions.
However, there is more. The book of Jasher contains some detailed information concerning Abraham and the king Nimrod of Babylon. These stories are repeated by Josephus, a first century Jewish historian. According to the Hebrew preface, the work was recovered from the destruction of the Jewish temple in 70 A.D., after which it made its way to Spain.
I have been reading an ancient Jewish work, the Book of Jubilees, written in the 2nd century B.C. I had this work in my library, but then I discovered that more than any other work copies of this were discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Its a Jewish rework of Genesis and Exodus, which seeks to put an additional calendar and a 50 year cycle on all events recorded in scripture. Unlike Jasher, we can see many pieces of evidence that the work of Jubilees is a work of the second century B.C., adding onto the stories of scripture, embellishing it with some very late Jewish traditions. In reading this, I found some notes by the translator on the book of Jasher, which he used to compare with the book of Jubilees. I want to cover a few of these in detail, before people jump to the conclusion that Sefer haYashar is a later medieval forgery.
First off, we can see the book of Jubilees following the book of Enoch in declaring that before the flood, angelic like beings - (some say extraterrestrials), mated with the women and produced giants. It has got to be one of the strangest Jewish stories added onto scripture some time between the Old and the New Testaments. Here is what the book of Jubilees states:
...and he called his name Jared; for in his days the angels of the Lord descended on the earth, those who are named the Watchers, that they should instruct the children of men, and that they should do judgment and uprightness on the earth (Jubilees 4:15)
This is based on the following scripture in Genesis:
There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. (Gen. 6:4)
This interpretation - that angels made a descent in ancient times and intermingled with women to produce giants - was very popular in the first century A.D. In that time, or in the second century A.D., Jewish scholars protested against this interpretation. Rabbi ben Jochai "cursed any one who translated Gen. vi. 2 by the phrase "sons of God," and not "sons of the judges"". Why would the Jews indicate that not only is it a misinterpretation, but a mistranslation? Here is the same passage from the book of Jasher:
And their judges and rulers went to the daughters of men and took their wives by force from their husbands according to their choice, and the sons of men in those days took from the cattle of the earth, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and taught the mixture of animals of one species with the other (Jasher 4:18)
While this offers a very interesting story with no end to the amount of speculation at to what it means (giants from another planet with heavier gravity, genetic engineering), Jasher states it was the judges and rulers of men, not angels who descended from heaven. This was an issue of the first and second centuries A.D. Why would a medieval forger again bring up this very ancient controversy?
Another interesting point about the book of Jubilees is that at times it does not follow the Masoretic Hebrew text, but an alternate Hebrew text which was also used by the translators of the Septuagint. In an alternate geneaology, after the Flood Arphaxad gives birth to one named Cainan - whereas the Masoretic text does not have this, and skips to one named Salah. And here is what is said concerning Cainan in the book of Jubilees:
Arpachshad took to himself a wife and her name was Rasu'eja, the daughter of Susan, the daughter of Elam, and she bare him a son in the third year in this week, and he called his name Kainam. And the son grew, and his father taught him writing, and he went to seek for himself a place where he might seize for himself a city. And he found a writing which former (generations) had carved on the rock, and he read what was thereon, and he transcribed it and sinned owing to it; for it contained the teaching of the Watchers in accordance with which they used to observe the omens of the sun and moon and stars in all the signs of heaven. And he wrote it down and said nothing regarding it; for he was afraid to speak to Noah about it lest he should be angry with him on account of it. (Jubilees 8:1-5)
In the commentary, this extra generation is added in order to make 22 generations from Adam to Jacob instead of 21, as there are 22 books in the Hebrew Bible. This extra generation was then copied into the Septuagint. The story also contains an explanation as to "why" it may not be present in the Masoretic text. But where did this story come from? Josephus describes a similar story for the sons of Seth before the Flood. And where did he get that story? It comes from Jasher, concerning Cainan, the son of Enosh the son of Seth, not Arphaxad:
And Cainan grew up and he was forty years old, and he became wise and had knowledge and skill in all wisdom, and he reigned over all the sons of men, and he led the sons of men to wisdom and knowledge; for Cainan was a very wise man and had understanding in all wisdom, and with his wisdom he ruled over spirits and demons;And Cainan knew by his wisdom that God would destroy the sons of men for having sinned upon earth, and that the Lord would in the latter days bring upon them the waters of the flood.And in those days Cainan wrote upon tablets of stone, what was to take place in time to come, and he put them in his treasures. (Jasher 2:11-13)
The book of Jasher contains the older, more simpler story, which got embellished and misplaced in the book of Jubilees.
And now, there is this other interesting example where the book of Jasher may be a source of early Jewish tradition. Before the flood, after Enosh was born, Genesis states this:
Then men began to call on the name of the LORD. (Gen. 4:26)
However Jubilees has this:
He [Enosh] began to call on the name of the LORD on the earth (Jubilees 4:12)
Jubilees here agrees with the Septuagint and the Syriac in this verse. In the time of Jerome, Jewish scholars stated that this refers to the rise of idolatry. This interpretation can be traced back to as early as the first century A.D., for it is found in the Targum Onkelos of that time. So where does this come from? From Jasher, where it has the following expanded story:
And it was in the days of Enosh that the sons of men continued to rebel and transgress against God, to increase the anger of the Lord against the sons of men.And the sons of men went and they served other gods, and they forgot the Lord who had created them in the earth: and in those days the sons of men made images of brass and iron, wood and stone, and they bowed down and served them.And every man made his god and they bowed down to them, and the sons of men forsook the Lord all the days of Enosh and his children (Jasher 2:3-5)
So these are minor pieces of evidence, and there is more I can gather but there is no need: the clincher is the astronomical information contained in this work. The evidence shows, despite some late additions, that this manuscript does indeed contain the ancient lost work of the book of Jasher.
Recently I published the complete works of Emanuel Swedenborg on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, so that the revelations given would be more easily accessible. All 32 volumes are available in the work The Divine Revelation of the New Jerusalem. In this bundled set I decided to include the book of Jasher, a lost book of the Bible. For those who are not familiar with Swedenborg, or the book of Jasher, I have decided to republish the preface to this work in this blog, as the book of Jasher contains an astronomoical reference to the year 1953 B.C. for the birth of Abraham which I had mentioned in a previous post. Here is the complete preface:
The Divine Revelation of the New Jerusalem is the complete set (thirty-two volumes) of the published theological works and revelations of Emanuel Swedenborg, a respected scientist of the 18th century who experienced heavenly visions for a period of over 25 years. This bundled edition contains the following works: Heavenly Arcana (20 volumes), Heaven and Hell, The Final Judgment, The Final Judgment Continued, The White Horse, Earths in the Universe, Summary Exposition, Doctrine concerning the Lord, Doctrine concerning Sacred Scripture, Doctrine concerning Life, Doctrine concerning Faith, New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrines, Divine Love and Wisdom, Divine Providence, Intercourse between the Soul and Body, Apocalypse Revealed (3 volumes), Marriage Love, and True Christian Religion (3 volumes). All of Swedenborg's extensive references have been hyperlinked in this digital version. Also included in this bundled set is the book of Jasher, a work translated from a Hebrew manuscript which Swedenborg may have described in his visions (see below).
Much of the content provides correction and enlightenment concerning Christianity, and his most extensive work, Heavenly Arcana (Arcana Coelestia), is a systematic method for proving that the Bible is Divinely inspired. Concerning the visions described in these writings Swedenborg wrote the following:
"I foresee that many who read the Relations annexed to the chapters will believe that they are inventions of imagination. But I assert in truth that they are not inventions, but were truly seen and heard; not seen and heard in any state of sleep, but in full wakefulness. For it has pleased the Lord to manifest Himself to me, and to send me to teach those things which will be of His New Church, which is meant by the New Jerusalem in the Apocalypse. For this purpose he has opened the interiors of my mind or spirit, whereby it has been given me to be in the spiritual world with angels, and at the same time in the natural world with men, and this now for twenty-seven years." (True Christian Religion, n. 849)
The accounts Swedenborg provides concerning the spiritual world can not be easily dismissed as fantasies or products of the imagination, for on multiple occasions Swedenborg demonstrated clairvoyant abilities. The most famous of these took place in July 1759: while at a dinner among other guests in Gothenburg he became noticably disturbed and told them that a fire in Stockholm broke out, which threatened to burn down his house and with it his writings. He described in detail when and where it started, and a couple of hours later told them with relief it had been safely put out. When news of the fire arrived several days later, the reports confirmed Swedenborg's account of the event, down to the exact time in which Swedenborg reported his vision. The event became so well known that it was investigated in detail by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant. Kant had asked a friend travelling to Sweden to confirm the matter, who not only spoke to several witnesses concerning the event, but had the chance to meet Swedenborg himself. Kant wrote that "Swedenborg is a reasonable, polite, and open-hearted man: he also is a man of learning."[*]
A thorough examination of these writings will show that the doctrines are rational and self-consistent, and once known and accepted the reader will find that it is no longer necessary to suspend one's thinking to accept matters that are called "mysteries of faith." Enlightenment concerning the truth can open the mind to spiritual growth. Swedenborg himself realized that although much was revealed, many would not believe. He wrote:
"Forasmuch as at this day in the church in the case of most persons there is no faith concerning a life after death, and scarce any faith concerning heaven, or the Lord that He is the God of heaven and earth, therefore my interiors of the spirit have been opened by the Lord, in order that I might be able while I am in the body to be together with angels in heaven, and not only to speak with them, but also to see stupendous things there, and to describe the same, so that perchance hereafter they shall not also say, Who has come from heaven to us, and told us that it exists and what there is there? But I know that they who have heretofore in heart denied a heaven and a hell and a life after death, will even still obstinately oppose these things, and will deny them; for it is easier to make a raven white than to cause those to believe who have once in heart rejected faith. But let the things which have thus far been shown concerning heaven and hell and life after death, be for the use of the few who have faith. That others, however, may be brought to something of acknowledgment, it is granted me to relate such things as delight and attract the man who is desirous of knowledge." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 9439).
Among the wonderful things that Swedenborg reported seeing in the other life is that the heaven of the angels is lighted by a spiritual Sun, at the center of which dwells the Lord (Heaven and Hell, n. 116-118). God is seen according to how one receives Him:
"Since the Lord is seen in heaven as the Sun, from the Divine Love which is in Him and from Him, all in the heavens turn constantly to Him, those in the celestial heaven as to the Sun, and those in the spiritual heaven as to the Moon. But those who are in hell turn to the darkness and obscurity which are in the opposite direction, thus backward from the Lord; for the reason that all who are in the hells are in the love of self and the world, thus opposed to the Lord" (ibid, n. 123).
At one point Swedenborg was allowed to experience what is was like to die and enter the spiritual world: "there was a pulling and drawing forth, as it were, of the interiors of my mind, thus of my spirit, from the body" (ibid, n. 449) and afterwards his spiritual sight was slowly exposed to see some light. After death man does not only have a full spiritual body (ibid, n. 461), but has his full memory, so such an extent that everyone's internal thoughts and deeds can be made known to all as in the full light of day (ibid., n. 462, 507). A person's eternal life is determined by the internal thoughts and intentions, rather than how one appeared to others (ibid., n. 495-496).
All who have lived in good in the world and have acted from conscience, who are those that have acknowledged the Divine and have loved Divine truths, especially those who have applied them to life, appear to themselves when let into the state of their interiors, like those who are awakened out of sleep, and like those who from shade enter into light" (ibid., n. 506).
During his time, Swedenborg was a lone witness providing a description of the afterlife. That changed in the 20th century with the rediscovery of the "Near Death Experience" by the medical community. With advances in medical technology, more and more people were being revived after having come close to death. The term "Near Death Experience" was coined by Raymond A. Moody, M.D., a psychologist and medical doctor who initially interviewed over a hundred people who had nearly died, and discovered a common process that was experienced by different individuals. Those who have died have often reported hearing themselves pronounced dead by the doctor, or hovering over their body seeing doctors attempting to revive them. During this first stage of dying, many report events they could not have known through normal means, an element that is often ignored by those seeking a medical explanation for the NDE. In the second stage, some experience going through a tunnel, at the end of which people encounter people of light, departed relatives, and finally a "Supreme Being of Light." With this Being of Light people then experience a panoramic life review, in which they see how their actions have affected others. Those who have had this experience state that there is one purpose in life: love. Ultimately, a decision is made to return back to the body, some willingly to complete unfinished goals, others reluctantly, as death was just a passage into a beautiful other worldly experience. This was reported by Moody in his famous book, Life After Life, in which he devotes an entire section comparing the Near Death Experience to what was stated by Swedenborg. Those who study NDEs are seeing but small glimpses of a reality that Swedenborg reported to have experienced over a period of many years.
A controversial point Swedenborg made is that among the departed spirits he met in the spiritual world he encountered some which did not originate from our planet earth. Given the knowledge at the time, from this information he falsely concluded that the planets in our solar system were inhabited. How should these accounts be understood? Should we immediately reject everything Swedenborg had to say? It should be noted here that Swedenborg admitted that in the spiritual world, elements of the physical world can not be seen. Everything is a representation or correspondence. Thus he wrote: "It is to be known that the sun of the world does not appear at all to any spirit, nor any of its light" (Earths in the Universe, n. 42), and "no earth is anywhere seen by those who are in the spiritual world, but only the spirits and angels who are from it" (ibid., n. 47). In heaven, the various angels are arranged into innumerable societies (Heaven and Hell, n. 41-50). When viewing the societies of these spirits from other worlds, they appeared in fixed positions relative to the societies of spirits from the planet earth (Earths in the Universe, n. 42). What is remarkable, Swedenborg stated that all the different societies of angels in heaven taken together formed the image of a human form on a grand scale (Heaven and Hell, n. 68-72). If a society was deficient in form, spirits from other societies would come to fill the gap:
"To constitute that Greatest Man, spirits are required from many earths, those who come from our earth into heaven not being sufficient, being comparatively few; and it is provided by the Lord that whenever and wherever there is a deficiency in the quality or quantity of correspondence, those are summoned at once from another earth who may supply the deficiency, so that the proportion may be preserved, and thus heaven be kept in due form." (Earths in the Universe, n. 9).
The societies described from other worlds thus represent general deficiencies that are not being filled by those that come from earth. As for extraterrestrial life, our scientific knowledge in this area has increased immensely in the past few years. It is now known that there is water on Mars, and so many solar systems have been discovered to have planets that it is estimated that the Milky Way galaxy alone contains billions of them. Those who study the phenomenon of UFOs may be surprised to learn that among the societies Swedenborg reported, one in particular was allowed to wander about among the societies of different solar systems, gathering immense knowledge (Earths in the Universe, n. 6). I will point out here that Swedenborg stated that the functions of angels and spirits in the spiritual world tend to correspond to the uses that one performed while living (Heaven and Hell, n. 394). For those who would wish to research this area further, I can recommend the book The Day After Roswell by Colonel Philip J. Corso, and information and witness testimony gathered by The Disclosure Project, a nonprofit research project to fully disclose facts about UFOs.
The main purpose of the writings of Swedenborg is to show how and why certain books of the Bible are Divinely inspired. Sacred scripture is inspired because hidden behind the literal sense there is a deeper spiritual sense, based on universal symbols or correspondences. Swedenborg states that through the reading of the Word communication is opened between the mind and angels of heaven. To better understand this statement, comparison can be made to dreams which often contain these universal symbols, which Carl Jung called "archetypes." Thus for some, understanding the symbolism presented in his writings can be useful for dream interpretation. In his massive work, Heavenly Arcana, Swedenborg goes word by word through the books of Genesis and Exodus, unveiling the symbolism to the smallest of details, typically by referencing other passages. To make it easier for readers to follow the train of thought, I decided to convert the writings into digital books and provide a hyperlink for each and every reference. Without these keys, much of the Bible will remain a closed book. As for which books of the Bible are Divinely inspired, Swedenborg states the following:
"The books of the Word are all those which have an internal sense; and those which have not an internal sense are not the Word. The books of the Word in the Old Testament are the five books of Moses, the book of Joshua, the book of Judges, the two books of Samuel, the two books of the Kings, the Psalms of David, the Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah including the Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi; and in the New Testament the four Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John; and the Apocalypse" (Heavenly Arcana, n. 10325 and 2606).
For the Old Testament this is largely in agreement with the Jewish canon, which assigns the first five books to the Law or Torah, and the others to the Prophets or Nevi'im. The other books that are not mentioned by Swedenborg were assigned by the Jews to the "Writings" or Ketuvim, and were believed to have less authority than that of the Law and Prophets. Currently two books are included in the Ketuvim which Swedenborg assigns to scripture: Daniel and Lamentations. The Jewish division of scripture was recognized by Jesus when he said, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me (Luke xxiv. 44). As for the New Testament, the letters of the apostles are not written in a symbolic series and are thus not Divinely inspired, but similar to the Ketuvim were included as they are useful for teaching the doctrines of the church to a wider audience.
In addition to these books, Swedenborg mentions a book of Jasher that was extant among an ancient church that existed before the Israelitish Word:
"Besides these, a prophetic book of the ancient Word, called the Book of Jasher, or the Book of the Upright, is mentioned by David and by Joshua. By David: David lamented over Saul and over Jonathan, and made the inscription, To teach the sons of Judah the bow; behold it is written in the Book of Jasher (2 Sam. i. 17, 18). And by Joshua: Joshua said, Sun, rest not in Gibeon, and Moon in the valley of Ajalon; is not this written in the Book of Jasher? (Josh. x. 12.) Moreover, it has been told me that the first seven chapters of Genesis are in that ancient Word, and that not even a little word is wanting" (Doctrine of Sacred Scripture, n. 103).
In his visions Swedenborg was shown that this book of Jasher was still preserved among those in Tartary. He wrote, "Seek for this Word in China, and perhaps you will find it there among the Tartars" (see Apocalypse Revealed, n. 11, True Christian Religion, n. 265-266, 279).
What should one make of Swedenborg's account concerning the book of Jasher? In the Jewish Talmud there is speculation concerning this book, but it has been presumed to have been lost by most. However a Hebrew manuscript claiming to be the book of Jasher was published in Naples in 1552, then in Venice in 1613, and was later translated into English in 1840. There are two opinions concerning this work: it is either a Hebrew midrash composed in medieval times, or it is in fact the book of Jasher containing later Rabbinical interpolations. In favor of a late date is the list of nations in Jasher x., which mentions some medieval nations of Europe. Although its chronology generally follows that of the Masoretic Hebrew text, the text does contain some scribal errors for some of the numbers, indicating that the Hebrew text was a copy of an earlier manuscript. For example, Jasher ii. 37 states that Jared lived 62 years when the number should be 162. This exact scribal error appears in the Samaritan Pentateuch, which was not known to the western world until after the book of Jasher was published. The Samaritan Pentateuch represents an ancient textual tradition, as some of its readings have been found in the Dead Sea scrolls. From the book of Jasher it is known that the name of the two magicians who opposed Moses were named Jannes and Jambres (Jasher lxxix. 27). These names appear in a letter of the apostle Paul: Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth (2 Tim. iii. 8). The names Jannes and Jambres as the two magicians also appear in Pliny the Elder's Natural History of the first century A.D. and in Jewish targums. These names do not appear in scripture, what is the source of this tradition? Could these references have originated from the book of Jasher, or is Jasher a later midrash repeating the same tradition?
In the book of Jasher there are references to the names of pagan gods of other nations. The Pharoah of Egypt is called "Oswiris the son of Anom" (Jasher xiv. 2), a reference to the Egyptian god Osirus. Anom is either a corruption of the name for the Egyptian god Amun or perhaps the god Atum. Nimrod's son is named "Mardon" (Jasher vii. 47), a variant of the Babylonian god Marduk. But one particular name caught my attention: "Anuki", an advisor to king Nimrod (Jasher xii. 52). This is probably based on the Sumerian sky-god Anu, or based on "Anunnaki" (or "Anunnaku" or "Ananaki") a group of Mesopotamian deities which appear in the Babylonian creation epic, Enuma Elish. The name Anunnaki means "those of royal blood" or "princely offspring." In later Assyrian and Babylonian myth, the Anunnaki were said to be the sons of Anu ("heaven") and his consort Ki ("earth") — again, a possible derivation for the name Anuki. The names of these Sumerian gods were forgotten until they were rediscovered on cuneiform tablets in the nineteenth century. Anyone composing a midrash in medieval times would have no knowledge of this.
Another piece of evidence that indicates that the book of Jasher is indeed quite ancient is contained in the account of the birth of Abraham. On the day he was born, the book of Jasher reports the following:
"And it was in the night that Abram was born, that all the servants of Terah, and all the wise men of Nimrod, and his conjurors came and ate and drank in the house of Terah, and they rejoiced with him on that night. And when all the wise men and conjurors went out from the house of Terah, they lifted up their eyes toward heaven that night to look at the stars, and they saw, and behold one very large star came from the east and ran in the heavens, and he swallowed up the four stars from the four sides of the heavens. And all the wise men of the king and his conjurors were astonished at the sight, and the sages understood this matter, and they knew its import. And they said to each other, this only betokens the child that has been born to Terah this night, who will grow up and be fruitful, and multiply, and possess all the earth, he and his children for ever, and he and his seed will slay great kings, and inherit their lands" (Jasher viii. 1-4).
When I first discovered the book of Jasher, my primary interest in it was to verify Biblical chronology and correlate it with other chronologies of the ancient Middle East. From the research I had gathered, I determined that Abraham was born in 1953 B.C. Later, using the astronomy program Dance of the Planets, I realized that the year 1953 B.C. was the year of a grand conjunction between all five planets. The event was so momentous that it was noted by Chinese astrologers, and the year became the start date of the ancient Chinese calendar. The enigma of the start date of the ancient Chinese calendar was solved by the astronomers of Kevin Pang of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and John Bangert of the Naval Observatory as recently as 1993. In ancient times the planets were known as "wandering stars," so the description of one star overtaking four other stars is describing the conjunction between the five planets. This is not something that would have been known to Jews composing a midrash in medieval times: the Jewish calendar which assigns year numbers beginning with the creation of Adam is inaccurate and assigns the wrong year for the birth of Abraham — it is not based on the latest historical research. It is from this evidence that I regarded the book of Jasher with more value.
So just how old is the book of Jasher, and is it Divinely inspired? Concerning the book of Jasher, Swedenborg wrote that it was among the source material that Moses used to compose the book of Genesis:
"I have further heard from angels that the first chapters of Genesis, which treat of creation, of Adam and Eve, of the garden of Eden, and of their sons and posterity down to the flood, and also of Noah and his sons, are also in that Word; and were so transcribed from it by Moses" (True Christian Religion n. 279).
In other words, Genesis was not used to compose Jasher. It is the other way around: Jasher was used to compose Genesis. However should the text of the book of Jasher have a late date, it could be confused to be a midrash by conservative scholars. As stated by Swedenborg, the account of Genesis can be found in the first chapters of the book of Jasher. Concerning this point, Swedenborg also wrote:
"Moreover, it has been told me that the first seven chapters of Genesis are in that ancient Word, and that not even a little word is wanting" (Doctrine of Sacred Scripture, n. 103).
The book of Jasher does not contain the first chapter of Genesis, which concerns the seven days of creation. Apparently the comparison begins from Genesis ii. 4 which marks the beginning of the book of Jasher, where it is called the generations of the heavens and of the earth. Counting seven chapters from that point, it can be seen that Jasher contains a full account of the story of Genesis in seven chapters from chapter 2 through chapter 8. Beyond these first seven chapters, Genesis 9 contains an account of God's covenant with Noah, and Noah becoming drunk from wine and cursing Canaan. Whereas much of Jasher contains an expanded story of Genesis, it is completely missing the story of Genesis 9. Swedenborg's information is remarkably accurate. But what of his information that this book is preserved among the people of Tartary? Perhaps another version of the book is yet to be found. I would like to note here that the medieval kingdom of the Khazars had converted to Judaism, which occupied portions of Tartary and was at the crossroads between Europe and China.
As the work Heavenly Arcana discusses Genesis and Exodus in detail, and the book of Jasher covers the same material, I have included the 1840 translation of the book of Jasher in this edition of Swedenborg's works. Although there is enough evidence that indicates that Jasher is much older than a medieval midrash, caution should be used as the present work of Jasher does contain later interpolations, and reviews of the original Hebrew manuscript shows that this translation missed some minor phrasing. The two works complement each other, as those who are familiar with Heavenly Arcana will have a better appreciation for Jasher. Swedenborg's writings disclose that the spiritual meaning in the stories Abraham, Isaac and Jacob concern the different psychological stages in the life of Jesus, with Abraham representing his early childhood (Heavenly Arcana, n. 1401). Thus the story of the birth of Abraham in the book of Jasher becomes more significant: the star seen in the sky, and the death of an innocent child in the place of Abraham foretells the story of the star of Bethlehem and the slaughter of the innocents at the time of the birth of Jesus. Another point of interest is that the book of Jasher contains a version of the first chapter of the book of Job (Jasher xxii. 46). According to Swedenborg, like Jasher the book of Job was also a book of the ancient Church (Heavenly Arcana, n. 1756(2), 3540(4), 9942(5).
What I have included in this preface are for those seeking confirmation concerning these writings. There is much here that can take up a lifetime of study, but throughout there are two basic principles: that the Lord God is One, Who is life and love itself, and the second is, eternal life is dependant on refraining from evil and living according to God's commandments. If I were to select one statement from Swedenborg's writings which I would consider to be the most important, it would be this:
"The Faith of the New Heaven and New Church in the universal form, is this: — That the Lord from eternity, who is Jehovah, came into the world, to subjugate the hells and glorify His Human; and that without this no mortal could have been saved; and that they are saved who believe in Him" (True Christian Religion n. 2).
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