Asher
Encyclopedia
Asher in the Book of Genesis, is the second son of Jacob
and Zilpah
, and the founder of the Tribe of Asher
.
argues that the name of Asher means happy/blessing, implying a derivation from the Hebrew
term osher (with the same meaning); the Torah actually presents this in two variations—beoshri (meaning in my good fortune), and ishsheruni, which textual scholars
attribute to different sources—one to the Yahwist and the other to the Elohist
. Many scholars suspect that the name of Asher may have more to do with a deity originally worshipped by the tribe, either Asherah
, or Ashur
, the chief Assyria
n deity; the latter possibility is cognate
with Asher.
. On his deathbed, Jacob blesses
Asher by saying that "his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties"(Genesis 49:20).
The eighth son of the patriarch Jacob, and the traditional progenitor of the tribe Asher. However, some Biblical scholars
view this as postdiction, an eponym
ous metaphor
providing an aetiology of the connectedness of the tribe to others in the Israelite confederation.
Asher is represented as the younger brother of Gad; these two being the sons of Zilpah, the handmaid of Leah (Gen. xxx. 10 et seq., xxxv. 26). The Biblical account shows Zilpah's status as a handmaid change to an actual wife of Jacob Genesis 30:9,13. Her handmaid status is regarded by some biblical scholars
as indicating that the authors saw the tribe of Asher as being not of entirely Israelite origin; scholars believe that Asher consisted of certain clans affiliated with portions of the Israelite tribal confederation, but which were never incorporated into the body politic
.
The Torah states that Asher had four sons and one daughter, who were born in Canaan and migrated with him to Egypt
, with their descendants remaining there until the Exodus
; this seems to be partly contradicted by Egyptian records (assuming a late Exodus date), according to which a group named Aseru, a name from which Asher is probably derived, were, in the 14th century BC, living in a similar region to Asher's traditional territory, in Canaan.
Asher's daughter, Serah
(also transliterated as Serach), is the only granddaughter of Jacob mentioned in the Torah
(Gen. 46:17). Her mother is not named; according to classical rabbinical literature, Serach's mother was named Hadurah, and was a descendant of Eber
, but although Hadurah was a wife of Asher, it was her second marriage, and Serach's father was actually Hadurah's first husband, who had died. In classical rabbinical literature, Hadurah's marriage to Asher was his second marriage as well, his first having been to Adon, who was a descendant of Ishmael
; the Book of Jubilees contradicts this, arguing instead that Asher's wife was named Lyon (which probably means dove).
Asher's sons were: Jimnah, Ishuah, Isui, and Beriah.
's incest
with Bilhah
, and as a result Asher came to be on bad terms with his brothers, though once Reuben confessed, the brothers realised they had been unjust towards Asher; Asher's motivation is described, by classical rabbinical sources, as being entirely innocent of evil intent, and always in search of harmony between his brothers. He was the very one whose endeavor it had always been to reconcile the brothers, especially when they disputed as to who among them was destined to be the ancestor of the priests (Sifre, Deut. 355). In the Test. Patr., Asher, 5, Asher is regarded as the example of a virtuous man who with singlemindedness strives only for the general good.
Asher was born on the 20th of Shevat
2199 (1562 BCE). According to some accounts 20th of Shevat is also the date of his passing.
Asher married twice. His first wife was 'Adon
, a great-granddaughter of Ishmael
; his second, Hadurah, a granddaughter of Eber
and a widow. By her first marriage Hadurah had a daughter Serah, whom Asher treated as affectionately as if she had been of his own flesh and blood, so that the Bible itself speaks of Serah as Asher's daughter ("Sefer ha-Yashar, Wayesheb"). According to the Book of Jubilees (xxxiv. 20), Asher's wife was named "Iyon" (probably , "dove").
Asher's descendants in more than one regard deserved their name ("Asher" meaning "happiness"). The tribe of Asher was the one most blessed with male children (Sifre, l.c.); and its women were so beautiful that priests and princes sought them in marriage (Gen. R. lxxi., end). The abundance of oil in the land possessed by Asher so enriched the tribe that none of them needed to hire a habitation (Gen. R. l.c.); and the soil was so fertile that in times of scarcity, and especially in the Sabbatical year, Asher provided all Israel with olive-oil (Sifre, l.c.; Men. 85b; Targ. Yer. on Deut. xxxiii. 24). The Asherites were also renowned for wisdom (Men. l.c.).J. Sr. L. G.
- the name Weshesh (or rather Uashesh/Ueshesh - for easy pronunciation, this is usually transcribed into English
as Weshesh) can be decomposed as men of Uash in Hebrew
, and hence possibly a corruption of Asher.
Jacob
Jacob "heel" or "leg-puller"), also later known as Israel , as described in the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, the New Testament and the Qur'an was the third patriarch of the Hebrew people with whom God made a covenant, and ancestor of the tribes of Israel, which were named after his descendants.In the...
and Zilpah
Zilpah
In the Book of Genesis, Zilpah is Leah's handmaid who becomes a wife of Jacob and bears him two sons Gad and Asher....
, and the founder of the Tribe of Asher
Tribe of Asher
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Asher! was one of the Tribes of Israel.Following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes after about 1200 BCE, Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes...
.
Name
The text of the TorahTorah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
argues that the name of Asher means happy/blessing, implying a derivation from the Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
term osher (with the same meaning); the Torah actually presents this in two variations—beoshri (meaning in my good fortune), and ishsheruni, which textual scholars
Textual criticism
Textual criticism is a branch of literary criticism that is concerned with the identification and removal of transcription errors in the texts of manuscripts...
attribute to different sources—one to the Yahwist and the other to the Elohist
Elohist
The Elohist is one of four sources of the Torah described by the Documentary Hypothesis. Its name comes from the term it uses for God: Elohim; it is characterised by, among other things, an abstract view of God, using "Horeb" instead of "Sinai" for the mountain where Moses received the laws of...
. Many scholars suspect that the name of Asher may have more to do with a deity originally worshipped by the tribe, either Asherah
Asherah
Asherah , in Semitic mythology, is a Semitic mother goddess, who appears in a number of ancient sources including Akkadian writings by the name of Ashratum/Ashratu and in Hittite as Asherdu or Ashertu or Aserdu or Asertu...
, or Ashur
Ashur (god)
Ashur is the head of the Assyrian pantheon....
, the chief Assyria
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
n deity; the latter possibility is cognate
Cognate
In linguistics, cognates are words that have a common etymological origin. This learned term derives from the Latin cognatus . Cognates within the same language are called doublets. Strictly speaking, loanwords from another language are usually not meant by the term, e.g...
with Asher.
Biblical narrative
Asher played a role in the plot to sell his brother Joseph into slavery.(Gen. 37:23-36) Asher and his four sons and daughter settled in CanaanCanaan
Canaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
. On his deathbed, Jacob blesses
Blessing of Jacob
The Blessing of Jacob is a poem that appears in Genesis at . Jacob had twelve sons, each of whom is mentioned.The poem presents an opinion of the merits and attributes of each of the Tribes of Israel, and so can be compared with the Blessing of Moses, which has the same theme...
Asher by saying that "his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties"(Genesis 49:20).
The eighth son of the patriarch Jacob, and the traditional progenitor of the tribe Asher. However, some Biblical scholars
Biblical criticism
Biblical criticism is the scholarly "study and investigation of Biblical writings that seeks to make discerning judgments about these writings." It asks when and where a particular text originated; how, why, by whom, for whom, and in what circumstances it was produced; what influences were at work...
view this as postdiction, an eponym
Eponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...
ous metaphor
Metaphor
A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
providing an aetiology of the connectedness of the tribe to others in the Israelite confederation.
Asher is represented as the younger brother of Gad; these two being the sons of Zilpah, the handmaid of Leah (Gen. xxx. 10 et seq., xxxv. 26). The Biblical account shows Zilpah's status as a handmaid change to an actual wife of Jacob Genesis 30:9,13. Her handmaid status is regarded by some biblical scholars
Biblical criticism
Biblical criticism is the scholarly "study and investigation of Biblical writings that seeks to make discerning judgments about these writings." It asks when and where a particular text originated; how, why, by whom, for whom, and in what circumstances it was produced; what influences were at work...
as indicating that the authors saw the tribe of Asher as being not of entirely Israelite origin; scholars believe that Asher consisted of certain clans affiliated with portions of the Israelite tribal confederation, but which were never incorporated into the body politic
Body politic
A polity is a state or one of its subordinate civil authorities, such as a province, prefecture, county, municipality, city, or district. It is generally understood to mean a geographic area with a corresponding government. Thomas Hobbes considered bodies politic in this sense in Leviathan...
.
The Torah states that Asher had four sons and one daughter, who were born in Canaan and migrated with him to Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, with their descendants remaining there until the Exodus
The Exodus
The Exodus is the story of the departure of the Israelites from ancient Egypt described in the Hebrew Bible.Narrowly defined, the term refers only to the departure from Egypt described in the Book of Exodus; more widely, it takes in the subsequent law-givings and wanderings in the wilderness...
; this seems to be partly contradicted by Egyptian records (assuming a late Exodus date), according to which a group named Aseru, a name from which Asher is probably derived, were, in the 14th century BC, living in a similar region to Asher's traditional territory, in Canaan.
Asher's daughter, Serah
Serah
Serah bat Asher was, in the Tanakh, a daughter of Asher, the son of Jacob. She is counted among the seventy members of the patriarch's family who emigrated from Canaan to Egypt, and her name occurs in connection with the census taken by Moses in the wilderness. She is mentioned also among the...
(also transliterated as Serach), is the only granddaughter of Jacob mentioned in the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
(Gen. 46:17). Her mother is not named; according to classical rabbinical literature, Serach's mother was named Hadurah, and was a descendant of Eber
Eber
Eber is an ancestor of the Israelites, according to the "Table of Nations" in and . He was a great-grandson of Noah's son Shem and the father of Peleg born when Eber was 34 years old, and of Joktan. He was the son of Shelah a distant ancestor of Abraham...
, but although Hadurah was a wife of Asher, it was her second marriage, and Serach's father was actually Hadurah's first husband, who had died. In classical rabbinical literature, Hadurah's marriage to Asher was his second marriage as well, his first having been to Adon, who was a descendant of Ishmael
Ishmael
Ishmael is a figure in the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an, and was Abraham's first born child according to Jews, Christians and Muslims. Ishmael was born of Abraham's marriage to Sarah's handmaiden Hagar...
; the Book of Jubilees contradicts this, arguing instead that Asher's wife was named Lyon (which probably means dove).
Asher's sons were: Jimnah, Ishuah, Isui, and Beriah.
In rabbinical literature
According to classical rabbinical literature, Asher had informed his brothers about ReubenReuben (Bible)
According to the Book of Genesis, Reuben or Re'uven was the first and eldest son of Jacob with Leah. He was the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Reuben.-Etymology:...
's incest
Incest
Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
with Bilhah
Bilhah
In the Book of Genesis, Bilhah is Rachel's handmaid who becomes a wife of Jacob and bears him two sons, Dan and Naphtali....
, and as a result Asher came to be on bad terms with his brothers, though once Reuben confessed, the brothers realised they had been unjust towards Asher; Asher's motivation is described, by classical rabbinical sources, as being entirely innocent of evil intent, and always in search of harmony between his brothers. He was the very one whose endeavor it had always been to reconcile the brothers, especially when they disputed as to who among them was destined to be the ancestor of the priests (Sifre, Deut. 355). In the Test. Patr., Asher, 5, Asher is regarded as the example of a virtuous man who with singlemindedness strives only for the general good.
Asher was born on the 20th of Shevat
Shevat
Shevat is the fifth month of the civil year and the eleventh month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It is a winter month of 30 days...
2199 (1562 BCE). According to some accounts 20th of Shevat is also the date of his passing.
Asher married twice. His first wife was 'Adon
Adon
Adon is the Northwest Semitic for "lord", mostly used of deities.It may also refer to:*in the Tanakh Adon may be used for men and angels as well as to El*Adonai "my lord" in Jewish tradition is used as a euphemism to refer to God...
, a great-granddaughter of Ishmael
Ishmael
Ishmael is a figure in the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an, and was Abraham's first born child according to Jews, Christians and Muslims. Ishmael was born of Abraham's marriage to Sarah's handmaiden Hagar...
; his second, Hadurah, a granddaughter of Eber
Eber
Eber is an ancestor of the Israelites, according to the "Table of Nations" in and . He was a great-grandson of Noah's son Shem and the father of Peleg born when Eber was 34 years old, and of Joktan. He was the son of Shelah a distant ancestor of Abraham...
and a widow. By her first marriage Hadurah had a daughter Serah, whom Asher treated as affectionately as if she had been of his own flesh and blood, so that the Bible itself speaks of Serah as Asher's daughter ("Sefer ha-Yashar, Wayesheb"). According to the Book of Jubilees (xxxiv. 20), Asher's wife was named "Iyon" (probably , "dove").
Asher's descendants in more than one regard deserved their name ("Asher" meaning "happiness"). The tribe of Asher was the one most blessed with male children (Sifre, l.c.); and its women were so beautiful that priests and princes sought them in marriage (Gen. R. lxxi., end). The abundance of oil in the land possessed by Asher so enriched the tribe that none of them needed to hire a habitation (Gen. R. l.c.); and the soil was so fertile that in times of scarcity, and especially in the Sabbatical year, Asher provided all Israel with olive-oil (Sifre, l.c.; Men. 85b; Targ. Yer. on Deut. xxxiii. 24). The Asherites were also renowned for wisdom (Men. l.c.).J. Sr. L. G.
Scholarly interpretations
A number of scholars have proposed that the tribe of Asher actually originated as the Weshesh group of Sea PeoplesSea Peoples
The Sea Peoples were a confederacy of seafaring raiders of the second millennium BC who sailed into the eastern Mediterranean, caused political unrest, and attempted to enter or control Egyptian territory during the late 19th dynasty and especially during year 8 of Ramesses III of the 20th Dynasty...
- the name Weshesh (or rather Uashesh/Ueshesh - for easy pronunciation, this is usually transcribed into English
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
as Weshesh) can be decomposed as men of Uash in Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
, and hence possibly a corruption of Asher.