The Book of Jasher (Sefer haYashar) that is widely circulated today — the one printed in Hebrew in Venice 1625, translated into English in 1840 (Moses Samuel / Salt Lake City edition), and commonly sold as "The Book of Jasher" — is a medieval Jewish work (probably 16th–17th century, though some argue as early as 12th century in Naples). It is not the lost ancient Book of Jasher mentioned in Joshua 10:13 and 2 Samuel 1:18. The modern printed version is essentially a very expansive rewriting and harmonization of the entire Torah narrative (Genesis through Joshua) with huge amounts of extra detail.

The Abraham section specificallyThe Abraham stories in this Book of Jasher (chapters 9–21 roughly) are dramatically expanded compared to Genesis and contain many famous legends that are not in the canonical Bible at all. Almost none of this material comes directly from the Apocrypha (the Deuterocanonical books accepted by Catholics/Orthodox). Instead, virtually all of it is drawn from much later Jewish sources, primarily:Main sources for the Abraham section in the printed Book of Jasher:

1. Midrashic and Talmudic traditions (especially):
   • Bereshit Rabbah (Genesis Rabbah) – major midrash on Genesis, 4th–6th century CE
   • Bavli Sanhedrin 109a–b (stories of Abraham smashed the idols, thrown into the furnace of Ur by Nimrod)
   • Bavli Bava Batra 91a, Pesahim 118a, etc.
   • Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer (8th–9th century) – huge influence; many episodes (Abraham in the furnace for 7 days, Haran’s death, Abraham hiding in the cave of Noah/Shem as a child, etc.) are lifted almost verbatim from PRE chapters 26–28.
2. Pseudepigrapha / Reworked Bible texts:
   • Jubilees (2nd century BCE) – some chronological and minor details (e.g., Abraham burning the idol temple, warning Terah), but Jasher is far more elaborate.
   • Apocalypse of Abraham (1st–2nd century CE) – almost no direct borrowing; the apocalyptic vision parts are very different.
   • Genesis Apocryphon (Dead Sea Scrolls, 1QapGen) – shares a few motifs (Abraham in Egypt, Sarah’s beauty), but again not a major source.
3. Later medieval midrashic compilations:
   • Sefer haYashar (the printed one) is especially close to Midrash Tadshe, Divrei haYamim shel Moshe, and especially Yalkut Shimoni (13th century anthology) on Genesis.
   • Chronicles of Jerahmeel (14th century) contains very similar Abraham legends and is sometimes suspected of being related or even a source/parallel.

Summary table of famous Abraham episodes in the printed Book of Jasher vs. their real origins

Episode in Jasher (chapters)	Primary source(s)	Found in Catholic/Orthodox Apocrypha?
Abraham born, hidden in cave for years (ch. 9–11)	Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 26; Bereshit Rabbah 38	No
Abraham smashes Terah’s idols (ch. 11–12)	Bereshit Rabbah 38; Bavli Sanhedrin 109a; PRE 26	No
Nimrod throws Abraham into fiery furnace, Haran dies (ch. 12)	PRE 26; Bavli Pesahim 118a, Sanhedrin 109a; Midrash Tehillim	No
Abraham recognized by Nimrod’s servants by mark on his body (ch. 12)	Unique or late embellishment	No
Abraham teaches Noah/Shem, stays with them 39 years (ch. 13)	PRE 8, 27; Jubilees 11–12 (similar chronology)	No
Abraham burns the idol temple in Ur (ch. 13)	Jubilees 12:12–14; PRE 26 (less detailed)	No
Abraham in Canaan, fights the four kings with 318 men trained by Eliezer (ch. 16)	Genesis + midrashic expansion; some parallels in Josephus and Targums	No
Sarah taken by Pharaoh, plagues (ch. 15, 20)	Genesis 12 + 1QapGen (Genesis Apocryphon) + Sefer haYashar’s own expansion	No (1QapGen is not Apocrypha)

Bottom line

• Almost nothing in the Abraham section of the printed Book of Jasher comes from the Apocrypha (Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, Maccabees, etc.). Those books simply don’t contain Abraham legends.
• The material is overwhelmingly from classical and medieval rabbinic midrash (especially Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer and Bereshit Rabbah) and Second Temple/early post-biblical Jewish rewritings (Jubilees, Genesis Apocryphon), heavily embellished and harmonized by the medieval author/editor of the printed Sefer haYashar.

So when people read the dramatic Abraham stories in the modern “Book of Jasher,” they are reading medieval Jewish legendary expansion, not ancient lost scripture and definitely not from the Catholic/Orthodox Apocrypha.

Here are some of the most notable stories in the printed/medieval Book of Jasher (the 1840 English edition) that are clearly taken from rabbinic midrashim, Talmud, or later Jewish legendary sources — with the exact or near-exact sources:

Jasher Section / Story	Chapters in Jasher	Primary Midrashic / Talmudic / Medieval Source(s)
Adam and Eve after the expulsion: Cain and Abel born with twin sisters; the sisters fight over who marries whom → Cain kills Abel	1–2	Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer ch. 21; Bereshit Rabbah 22; Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Gen 4
The “Generations of the Heavens and Earth” — angels teach women cosmetics and sorcery → fallen angels (Watchers) story	2–3	1 Enoch 6–8 (but retold through Midrash Aggadah and Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer ch. 22)
Enoch taken to heaven, shown the tablets of heaven, made into Metatron-like figure	3	3 Enoch (Sefer Hekhalot), but filtered through later midrashim
Noah born shining white, speaks at birth, Lamech afraid he is from the angels	4–5	1 Enoch 106–107; Bereshit Rabbah 26; Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 23
Detailed building of the ark, animals entering two-by-two and seven-by-seven exactly as God said	5–6	Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer ch. 23; Tanhuma Noah
Giants (Nephilim) in the earth, Og born before the Flood and survives by clinging to the ark	5 & later	Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 23; Bavli Niddah 61a (Og survives Flood)
Abraham hidden in cave of Noah & Shem for first 10 years of his life	9–11	Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer ch. 26–27
Abraham smashes idols, thrown into Ur Kasdim furnace by Nimrod, survives 7 days	11–12	Bereshit Rabbah 38; Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 26; Bavli Sanhedrin 109a
The raven sent from the ark brings food from Nimrod’s table (so it doesn’t return)	7	Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer ch. 23
Nimrod’s dream of a man rising from Abraham’s house who will overthrow him	11	Midrashic expansion; parallels in Louis Ginzberg’s Legends of the Jews
Abraham stays with Noah and Shem for 39 years and learns Torah	13	Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 27; Sefer haYashar’s own chronology
The war of the four kings vs. five kings: full backstory, names of kings, Abraham trains 318 men with Eliezer	16	Bereshit Rabbah 42; Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Gen 14; Sefer haYashar expands heavily
Isaac’s birth: angels argue over who will have him as their “share”	18	Midrashic motif found in Yalkut Shimoni and later sources
The binding of Isaac (Akedah): Satan tries to stop Abraham, turns into river, etc.	22–23	Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer ch. 31; Tanhuma Vayera 22–23
Jacob and Esau: Esau sells birthright for red lentils because he killed Nimrod that day	26	Bereshit Rabbah 63; Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Gen 25; Midrash Sechel Tov
Jacob’s ladder: angels of Babylon, Greece, Rome ascend and fall	28	Slightly expanded from Bereshit Rabbah 68–69
Jacob in Laban’s house: detailed tricks with the rods, mandrakes, etc.	29–31	Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 36–37; Midrashic expansions
Dinah and Shechem: Simeon and Levi use circumcision as a trick, kill all males	33–34	Midrash Sechel Tov; Tanhuma Vayishlach; Book of Jubilees 30 (very similar)
Joseph sold: Ishmaelites and Midianites both involved, long caravan description	42–44	Bereshit Rabbah 84; Tanhuma; Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Gen 37
Tamar and Judah: Tamar recognized by a “signet, cord, and staff” miracle	45	Midrashic expansions in Bereshit Rabbah 85
Moses raised in Pharaoh’s palace, flees after killing Egyptian, becomes king in Cush for 9 years, fights Balkis (Queen of Sheba’s mother)	70–77	Extremely famous medieval legend found in Sefer haYashar, Chronicles of Moses, Yalkut Shimoni, and Josephus Antiquities II (but greatly expanded)
The ten plagues: detailed magical duel between Moses/Aaron and Pharaoh’s magicians	79–80	Midrashic expansions in Shemot Rabbah and Tanhuma
Death of Pharaoh’s army: the sea splits into 12 paths, angels want to sing but God rebukes them	81	Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael; Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 42–43

Quick takeawayVirtually the entire Book of Jasher (Genesis through Joshua) is a giant medieval “midrashic novel.” It stitches together hundreds of stories from:

• Classical midrashim (Bereshit Rabbah, Shemot Rabbah, Tanhuma)
• Talmud (Bavli and Yerushalmi)
• Late midrashim (Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer, Midrash Tanhuma Buber)
• Medieval anthologies (Yalkut Shimoni, Chronicles of Jerahmeel)
• Earlier Second-Temple works (Jubilees, 1 Enoch fragments) filtered through rabbinic tradition

So if you love the dramatic extra details in the Book of Jasher, you’re basically reading a 16th–17th-century Jewish “greatest hits” collection of midrashic legends.

Here are the main Pseudepigrapha and Apocrypha (or closely related texts) that contain material about Joshua son of Nun, ranked by how much midrashic-style expansion they add to the biblical Book of Joshua:

Text	Category	Date	How much Joshua material & midrashic flavor	Key Joshua content
Assumption of Moses (a.k.a. Testament of Moses)	Pseudepigraphon (very close to canonical in some circles)	1st century BCE – early 1st century CE	★★★★★ (the single richest midrashic source on Joshua outside rabbinic literature)	Chapters 1–10 are framed as Moses’ final testament to Joshua. It gives huge extra speeches, Joshua’s grief at Moses’ death, detailed commissioning ceremony, prophecy of Israel’s future sins and exile, Joshua as the “successor who will stand in the tabernacle,” etc. Very midrashic in style. Latin text survives; Greek/Hebrew original lost.
Biblical Antiquities (Pseudo-Philo / Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum)	Rewritten Bible / Pseudepigraphon	Late 1st century CE (probably before 70 CE)	★★★★	Chapters 20–24 retell the conquest of Canaan with massive expansions: Joshua’s long farewell speeches, the sun standing still explained with angels holding back the heavenly bodies, detailed descriptions of the division of the land, the Gibeonites’ trick, Joshua’s altar on Mt. Ebal, Kenaz (Caleb’s son) as a major hero, etc. One of the most midrash-like books in existence.
Book of Joshua in the Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) + its alternate endings	Apocryphal addition to canonical book	2nd century BCE onward	★★★	The standard Greek version of Joshua has many small pluses not in the Masoretic Text (e.g., extra verses about the altar on Mt. Ebal, Joshua’s curse on Jericho’s rebuilder fulfilled in 1 Kings). Some Greek manuscripts end with a completely different appendix (Joshua 24:31–33 expanded with Joshua’s death and a note about Israel serving God “until this day”). These additions are used heavily in later midrash.
4Q378–4Q379 (“4QApocryphon of Joshua” from Qumran)	Dead Sea Scrolls – probably sectarian Pseudepigraphon	2nd–1st century BCE	★★★	Fragments of a rewritten Joshua narrative: Joshua’s prayer before crossing the Jordan, hymn after Jericho falls, curse on the rebuilder of Jericho, speech about the covenant. Very midrashic, but only fragments survive.
Joshua section in the Book of Jubilees	Pseudepigraphon (Ethiopic)	2nd century BCE	★★	Jubilees 50 mentions Joshua briefly as Moses’ successor and gives a few chronological notes, but no major legends.
Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 5	1st-century Jewish historian (uses many midrashic traditions)	93–94 CE	★★★★ (in narrative volume, not in density of new legends)	Josephus adds many details not in the Bible (e.g., Joshua’s speech to the Transjordan tribes, description of the manna ceasing, the Gibeonites’ embassy, etc.), some of which later appear in rabbinic midrash. Not technically Pseudepigrapha, but functions like one.

Verdict – Which has the most midrashim about Joshua?

1. Assumption/Testament of Moses – the clear winner for concentrated midrashic material on Joshua’s commissioning and role as successor.
2. Pseudo-Philo (Biblical Antiquities) – the winner for sheer volume of legendary expansion on the conquest period and Joshua’s later life. → If you want one single text that feels the most like a “Joshua midrash collection,” read Pseudo-Philo chapters 20–24 and the Assumption of Moses together.

Rabbinic midrash proper (Sifrei Deuteronomy, Tanhuma, Midrash Joshua fragments, Yalkut Shimoni on Joshua, etc.) obviously has far more, but among Pseudepigrapha/Apocrypha, those two are the undisputed champions.