On jessie we can use emacs 24

beaglebone.txt

@@ -370,8 +370,8 @@ For an editor which is less erratic than vi when used within a remote console su
 
 #+BEGIN_SRC: bash
 apt-get update
-apt-get install emacs
-update-alternatives --set editor /usr/bin/emacs23
+apt-get install emacs24
+update-alternatives --set editor /usr/bin/emacs24
 #+END_SRC
 
 Some basic Emacs keys which will be useful to new users are: