JASHAR, BOOK OF

ancient Israelite collection of poems quoted in various books of the Old Testament. Of uncertain etymology, Jashar may mean victorious or upright. The victory hymn that describes how the Sun and Moon stood still when the Israelites defeated the Amorites (Josh. 10:1213) is ascribed to the Book of Jashar, as is the Israelite king David's lament over the deaths of the former king Saul and his son Jonathan (II Sam. 1:1727). King Solomon's Temple dedication poem (I Kings 8:1213) and the Song of Deborah, a 12th-century-BC Israelite judge (Judg. 5), may be parts of the Book of Jashar.