Chapter 57
65b. And the sons of Jacob buried their father Jacob by force in the cave, and the sons of Esau beheld it.
66. And Jacob was buried in Hebron, in the cave of Machpelah, which Abraham had bought from the sons of Heth for the possession of a burial place, and he was buried in very costly garments.
67. No king had such honor paid unto him as Joseph paid unto his father at his death, for he buried him with great honor in the manner of the burial of kings.
68. And Joseph and his brethren made a mourning of seven days for their father.
1. AND it was after this that the sons of Esau waged war with the sons of Jacob, and the sons of Esau fought with the sons of Jacob in Hebron, and Esau was still lying dead and not buried.
2. And the battle was heavy between them. And the sons of Esau were smitten before the sons of Jacob, and the sons of Jacob slew of the sons of Esau eighty men, and not one died of the people of the sons of Jacob; and the hand of Joseph prevailed over all the people of the sons of Esau, and he took Zepho, the son of Eliphaz son of Esau, and fifty of his men captive, and he bound them with chains of iron and gave them into the hand of his servants to bring them to Egypt.
3. And it came to pass when the sons of Jacob had taken Zepho and his people captive that all those that remained from the house of Esau were greatly afraid for their lives, lest they should also be taken captive, and all fled with Eliphaz son of Esau and his people, taking with them Esau's body; and they went on their road to Mount Seir.
4. And they came unto Mount Seir and they buried Esau in Seir, but they had not brought his head with them to Seir, for it was buried in that place where the battle had been in Hebron.
5. And it came to pass when the sons of Esau had fled from before the sons of Jacob that the sons of Jacob pursued them unto the borders of Seir, but they did not slay a single man from amongst them when they pursued them, for Esau's body which they carried with them excited their confusion. So they fled, and the sons of Jacob turned back from them and came up to the place where their brethren were in Hebron, and they remained there on that day and the next day until they had sufficiently rested from the battle.
6. And it came to pass on the third day that they [the sons of Esau ] assembled all the sons of Seir the Horite, and they assembled all the children of the east, a multitude of people like the sand of the sea, and they went and came down to Egypt to fight against Joseph and his brethren, in order to deliver their brethren [Zepho and his men ].
7. And Joseph and all the sons of Jacob heard that the sons of Esau and the children of the east had come upon them to battle in order to deliver their brethren.
8. And Joseph and his brethren and the strong men of Egypt went forth and fought in the city of Raamses. And Joseph and his brethren dealt out a tremendous blow amongst the sons of Esau and the children of the east.
9. And they slew of them six hundred thousand men, and they slew amongst them all the mighty men of the children of Seir the Horite; there were only a few of them left, and they slew also a great many of the children of the east, and of the children of Esau; and Eliphaz the son of Esau and the children of the east all fled before Joseph and his brethren.
10. And Joseph and his brethren pursued them until they came unto Succoth, and they yet slew of them in Succoth thirty men, and the rest escaped and they fled each to his city.
11. And Joseph and his brethren and the mighty men of Egypt turned back from them with joy and cheerfulness of heart, for they had smitten all their enemies.
12. And Zepho, the son of Eliphaz, and his men remained slaves in Egypt to the sons of Jacob, and their pains increased.
13. When the sons of Esau and the sons of Seir returned to their land, the sons of Seir saw that they had all fallen into the hand of the sons of Jacob and the people of Egypt on account of the battle of the sons of Esau.
14. And the sons of Seir said unto the sons of Esau: You have seen and therefore you know that this camp was on your account, and not one mighty man or an adept in war remaineth.
15. Now, therefore, go forth from our land, go from us to the land of Canaan to the land of the dwelling of your fathers. Wherefore shall your children inherit the effects of our children in latter days?
16. And the children of Esau would not listen to the children of Seir, and the children of Seir considered to make war with them.
17. And the children of Esau sent secretly a message to king Angeas of Africa, the same is Dinhabah, saying:
18. Send unto us some of thy men 136 . and let them come unto us, and we will fight together with the children of Seir the Horite, for they have resolved to fight against us in ordrer to drive us away from the land.
19. And king Angeas of Dinhabah did so, for he was in those days friendly with the children of Esau. And Angeas sent five hundred valiant infantry to the children of Esau, and eight hundred cavalry.
20. And the children of Seir sent unto the children of the east and unto the children of Midian, saying: You have seen what the children of Esau have done unto us in their battle with the sons of Jacob; upon his account we are almost completely destroyed.
21. Now therefore come unto us and assist us, and we will fight them together, and we will drive them from the land and be avenged of the cause of our brethren who died for their sakes in their battle with their brethren the sons of Jacob.
22. And all the children of the east listened to the children of Seir, and they came unto them with about eight hundred men with drawn swords. And the children of Esau fought with the children of Seir at that time in the wilderness of Paran.
23. And the children of Seir then prevailed over the sons of Esau; the children of Seir slew on that day of the children of Esau in that battle about two hundred men of the people of king Angeas of Dinhabah.
24. And on the second day the children of Esau came again to fight a second time with the children of Seir, and the battle was sore upon the children of Esau this second time, and it troubled them greatly on account of the children of Seir.
25. And when the children of Esau saw that the children of Seir were more powerful than they were, some men of the children of Esau turned and assisted the children of Seir, their enemies.
26. And there fell yet of the people of the children of Esau in the second battle fifty eight men of the people of king Angeas of Dinhabah.
27. And on the third day the children of Esau heard that some of their brethren had turned from them to fight against them in the second battle; and the children of Esau mourned when they heard this thing. 28a. And they said, what shall we do unto our brethren who turned from us to assist the children of Seir our enemies? 28b. And the children of Esau again sent to king Angeas of Dinhabah, saying:
29. Send unto us again other men that with them we may fight against the children of Seir, for they have already twice been heavier than we were.
30. And Angeas again sent to the children of Esau about six hundred valiant men, who came to assist the children of Esau.
31. And in ten days time the children of Esau again waged war with the children of Seir in the wilderness of Paran, and the battle was very severe upon the children of Seir. At this time the children of Esau prevailed over the children of Seir, and the children of Seir were smitten before the children of Esau, and the children of Esau slew from them about two thousand men.
32. And all the mighty men of the children of Seir died in this battle, and there only remained their young children that were left in their cities.
33. And all Midian and the children of the east betook themselves to flight from the battle, and they left the children of Seir and fled, when they perceived that the battle was severe upon them. And the children of Esau pursued all the children of the east until they reached their land.
34. And the children of Esau slew yet of them about two hundred and fifty men and from the people of the children of Esau there fell in that battle about thirty men, but this evil came upon them through their brethren turning from them to assist the children of Seir the Horite. And the children of Esau again heard of the evil doings of their brethren, and they again mourned on account of this thing.
35. And it came to pass after the battle that the children of Esau turned back and came home unto Seir. And the children of Esau slew those who had remained in the land of the children of Seir; they slew also their wives and little ones, they left not a soul alive excepting fifty young lads and damsels whom they suffered to live; the children of Esau did not put them to death, and the lads became their slaves, and the damsels they took for wives.
36. And the children of Esau dwelt in Seir in the place that once belonged to the children of Seir, and they inherited their land and took possession of it.
37. And the children of Esau took all in the land belonging to the children of Seir, also their flocks, their bullocks and their goods, all belonging to the children of Seir did the children of Esau take. And unto this day the children of Esau dwelt in Seir in the place of the children of Seir, and the children of Esau divided the land into divisions of the five sons of Esau, each according to their families.
38. And it came to pass in those days, that the children of Esau resolved to crown a king from their brethren over them in the land, which they took into possession. And they said to each other, not so, for he shall reign over us in our land, and we shall be under his counsel and he shall fight our battles against our enemies, as they did before .
39. And all the children of Esau swore, saying that none of their brethren should ever reign over