Chapter 57
57:1 “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.”
57:2 “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, the 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.”
57:3 “And it came to pass when the sons of Jacob had taken Zepho and his people captive, all those that remained were greatly afraid of their lives from the house of Esau, lest they should also be taken captive, and they all fled with Eliphaz the son of Esau and his people, with Esau’s body, and they went on their road to mount Seir.”
57:4 “And they came to 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.”
57:5 “And it came to pass when the sons of Esau had fled from before the sons of Jacob, the sons of Jacob pursued them to the borders of Seir, but they did not slay a single man from among 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 brothers were in Hebron, and they remained there on that day, and on the next day until they rested from the battle.”
57:6 “And it came to pass on the third day they 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 with Joseph and his brothers, in order to deliver their brothers.”
57:7 “And Joseph and all the sons or Jacob heard that the sons of Esau and the children of the east had come on them to battle in order to deliver their brothers.”
57:8 “And Joseph and his brothers and the strong men of Egypt went forth and fought in the city of Raamses, and Joseph and his brothers dealt out a tremendous blow among the sons of Esau and the children of the east.”
57:9 “And they slew of them six hundred thousand men, and they slew among 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 brothers.”
57:10 “And Joseph and his brothers pursued them until they came to Succoth, and they still slew of them in Succoth thirty men, and the rest escaped and they fled each to his city.”
57:11 “And Joseph and his brothers and the mighty men of Egypt turned back from them with joy and cheerfulness of heart, for they had smitten all their enemies.”
57:12 “And Zepho the son of Eliphaz and his men were still slaves in Egypt to the sons of Jacob, and their pains increased.”
57:13 “And 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.”
57:14 “And the sons of Seir said to 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 remained.”
57:15 “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?”
57:16 “And the children of Esau would not listen to the children of Seir, and the children of Seir considered to make war with them.”
57:17 “And the children of Esau sent secretly to Angeas, king of Africa, the same is Dinhabah, saying,”
57:18 “Send to us some of your men and let them come to us, and we will fight together with the children of Seir the Horite, for they have resolved to fight with us to drive us away from the land.”
57:19 “And Angeas, king of Dinhabah, did so, for he was in those days friendly to the children of Esau, and Angeas sent five hundred valiant infantry to the children of Esau, and eight hundred cavalry.”
57:20 “And the children of Seir sent to the children of the east and to the children of Midian, saying, you have seen what the children of Esau have done to us, on whose account we are almost all destroyed, in their battle with the sons of Jacob.”
57:21 “Now, therefore, come to 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 brothers who died for their sakes in their battle with their brothers the sons or Jacob.”
57:22 “And all the children of the east listened to the children of Seir, and they came to them 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.”
57:23 “And the children of Seir prevailed then over the sons of Esau, and the children of Seir slew on that day of the children of Esau in that battle about two hundred men of the people of Angeas, king of Dinhabah.”
57:24 “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 on the children of Esau this second time, and it troubled them greatly on account of the children of Seir.”
57:25 “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.”
57:26 “And there fell yet of the people of the children of Esau in the second battle fifty eight men of the people of Angeas king of Dinhabah.”
57:27 “And on the third day the children of Esau heard that some of their brothers had turned from them to fight against them in the second battle; and the children of Esau mourned when they heard this thing.”
57:28 “And they said, what shall we do to our brothers who turned from us to assist the children of Seir our enemies? and the children of Esau again sent to Angeas king of Dinhabah, saying,”
57:29 “Send to us again other men that with them we may fight with the children of Seir, for they have already twice been heavier than we were.”
57:30 “And Angeas again sent to the children of Esau about six hundred valiant men, and they came to assist the children of Esau.”
57:31 “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 on the children of Seir, and the children of Esau prevailed at this time 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.”
57:32 “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.”
57:33 “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 saw that the battle was severe on them, and the children of Esau pursued all the children of the east until they reached their land.”
57:34 “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 on them through their brothers turning from them to assist the children of Seir the Horite, and the children of Esau again heard of the evil doings of their brothers, and they again mourned on account of this thing.”
57:35 “And it came to pass after the battle, the children of Esau turned back and came home to 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 one, they left not a soul alive excepting fifty young lads and damsels whom they suffered to live, and the children of Esau did not put them to death, and the lads became their slaves, and the damsels they took for wives.”
57:36 “And the children of Esau dwelt in Seir in the place of the children of Seir, and they inherited their land and took possession of it.”
57:37 “And the children of Esau took all belonging in the land to the children of Seir, also their flocks, their bullocks and their goods, and all belonging to the children of Seir, did the children of Esau take, and the children of Esau dwelt in Seir in the place of the children of Seir to this day, and the children of Esau divided the land into divisions to the five sons of Esau, according to their families.”
57:38 “And it came to pass in those days, that the children of Esau resolved to crown a king over them in the land of which they became possessed. 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, and they did so.”
57:39 “And all the children of Esau swore, saying that none of their brothers should ever reign over them, but a strange man who is not of their brothers, for the souls of all the children of Esau were embittered every man against his son, brother, and friend, on account of the evil they sustained from their brothers when they fought with the children of Seir.”
57:40 “Therefore the sons of Esau swore, saying, from that day forward they would not choose a king from their brothers, but one from a strange land to this day.”
57:41 “And there was a man there from the people of Angeas king of Dinhabah; his name was Bela the son of Beor, who was a very valiant man, beautiful and comely and wise in all wisdom and a man of sense and counsel; and there was none of the people of Angeas like to him.”
57:42 “And all the children of Esau took him and anointed him and they crowned him for a king, and they bowed down to him, and they said to him, may the king live, may the king live.”
57:43 “And they spread out the sheet, and they brought him each man earrings of gold and silver or rings or bracelets, and they made him very rich in silver and in gold, in onyx stones and bdellium, and they made him a royal throne, and they placed a regal crown on his head, and they built a palace for him and he dwelt therein, and he became king over all the children of Esau.”
57:44 “And the people of Angeas took their hire for their battle from the children of Esau, and they went and returned at that time to their master in Dinhabah.”
57:45 “And Bela reigned over the children of Esau thirty years, and the children of Esau dwelt in the land instead of the children of Seir, and they dwelt securely in their stead to this day.”