Asher in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE

ash'-er ('asher; Aser). 1. Biblical Account: According to the Biblical account Asher was the eighth of Jacob's sons, the second borne to him by Zilpah the handmaid of Leah. His uterine brother was Gad (Gen 35:26). With four sons and one daughter he went down into Egypt (Gen 46:17). At his birth Leah exclaimed, "Happy am I! for the daughters will call me happy: and she called his name Asher," i.e. Happy (Gen 30:13). This foreshadowing of good fortune for him is repeated in the blessing of Jacob: "His bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties" (Gen 49:20); and again in that of Moses: "Blessed be Asher with children; let him be acceptable unto his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil" (Dt 33:24). His family prospered in Egypt, and at the Exodus the tribe of Asher is numbered at 41,500 adult males (Nu 1:41). At the second census the number is given 53,400 (Nu 26:47). The place of Asher in the desert march was with the standard of the camp of Dan, on the north of the tabernacle, along with Dan and Naphtali; the prince of the tribe being Pagiel the son of Ochran (Nu 2:27 ff). Among the spies Asher was represented by Sethur (Nu 13:13). The tribe seems to have taken no important part in the subsequent history. It raised no hero, and gave no deliverer to the nation. In the time of David it was of so little consequence that the name is not found in the list of chief rulers (1 Ch 27:16 ff). The rich land assigned to Asher sloped to the Phoenician seaboard, and brought him into touch with the Phoenicians who were already world-famous in trade and commerce. He probably soon became a partner in their profitable enterprises, and lost any desire he may ever have had to eject them from their cities (Jdg 1:31). He cared not who ruled over him if he were free to pursue the ends of commerce. Zebulun might jeopard their lives unto the death, and Naphtali upon the high places of the field, to break the power of the foreign oppressor, but Asher "sat still at the haven of the sea, and abode by his creeks" (Jdg 5:17 ff). He was probably soon largely absorbed by the people with whose interests his were so closely identified: nevertheless "divers of Asher," moved by the appeal of Hezekiah, "humbled themselves, and came to Jerus" (2 Ch 30:11 the King James Version). To this tribe belonged the prophetess Anna (Lk 2:36 ff)...