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179 indeed they reproached him instead. Not until Reuben repented and confessed his crime did they realize their injustice

toward Asher.

Prom

the

first

had had no evil intentions against Reuben in fact he was the very one whose endeavor it had

lie



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. In the Test. Patr., Asher, 5, Asher is regarded 355). as the example of a virtuous man who with singlemindedness strives only for the general good.

His first wife was 'Adon, great-granddaughter of Ishmael; his second, Hadurah, a granddaughter of Eber and a widow. By her first marriage Hadurah had a daughter

Asher married twice.

a

Seraii, 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 fiJV, " 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, I.e.); 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. I.e.) 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, I.e. Men. 85b Targ. Yer. on Deut. xxxiii. 24). The Asheriteswere also renowned for wisdom (Men. I.e.).



j.

L. G.

sk.

ASHER,

Tribe

— Biblical

and Territory.

The fortune of Asher is foreshadowed in the Blessing of Jacob, where it is said " Asher, his food shall be rich, and he shall yield the dainties of a king " (Gen. xlix. 20, Hebr.). Until the settlement Of its lot in in Canaan, the tribe stood in honor. Egypt there is no record; but after the Exodus its men numbered 41,500 strong (Num. Situation, i. 41) and at the close of the desert march the census showed that it had reached 53,400 (Num. xxvi. 47). During the journeyings the tribe had its station between Dan and Naphtali, north of the Tabernacle (Num. ii. 25 et It also had its representative among the tribal seq.). chiefs sent to spy out the land of Canaan (Num.

Data







•

xiii. 13).

delivered, according to march, is put forward as partly predictive: "Blessed be Asher with descendants, and let him be pleasing to his brethren, and let his foot be dipped in oil" (Deut. xxxiii. 24, Hebr.).

The

blessing of Moses,

tradition, at the close of the

The material portion of this aspiration, like that of Jacob's blessing, was in large measure fulfilled. The was

Ashdod

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

179

territory allotted to

Asher (Josh.

xix. 24-31)

the coast-land extending from Dor (Tanturah) It thus inon the south to Sidon on the north. cluded, north of Mount Carmel, the territories of The coast-land Accho, Achzib, Tyre, and Sidon. 'west of the shoulder of Carmel, though assigned to Asher,

was occupied by Manasseh

(Josh. xvii.

Asher

The

tribe was thus settled on the western and valleys of Upper and Lower Galilee and on the Phenician plain. Here was some of the most productive land in Palestine pasture, wooded hills, and orchards noted especially for the abundance and richness of its olive-oil. On account of its remoteness from the centers of national life, and its facility of communication with the Phenician markets, as well as the ease with which it could 11).

slopes

—

—

support

Relations to Other Tribes.

itself, the tribe speedily bedissociated from the rest of Israel, so that it took no part against the Canaanites with Barak and Deb-

came

orah (Judges

v.

17).

Yet

it

joined

in the pursuit of the Midianites after the victory of

Gideon (Judges vii.

23).

It is also said (I

Chron.

xii.

36) that a great host of Asherites offered their sup-

port to David when he succeeded to the kingdom of Saul, and that some men of the tribe "humbled themselves" in the reformation of Hezekiah (II Chron. xxx. 11). j. jk. J. P. McC.

View Asher is one of the most indisand elusive of the tribes of Israel. It is diffi-

Critical tinct



cult to fix the boundaries of the tribe's possessions;

and

it is not even certain that it inhabited any exThere is, as mentioned tensive continuous territory. above, no trace of its clansmen south of Carmel and it is not clear in what sense this district Boundwas assigned to them. Possibly the tradition is based on some migration aries. of Asherites north wa'rd through that Many of the towns allotted to them north region. But those whose of Carmel can not be identified.

are known (among them Cabul, Achshaph, Helkath, Neiel) suggest by their location a distribution of settlements rather than a compact and wellBesides the Phenician defined tribal possession. coast cities (Accho, Tyre, Sidon), Beth-dagon further inland was probably never Asherite. Asher appears to have had at no time a close conIt had more at stake nection with the body of Israel. than any other tribe in the common struggle with the northern Canaanites, and yet it held aloof. In the light of this outstanding fact, it is not easy to understand how it could have become so loyal at any later date as to send 40,000 men to join the standard of David (I Chron. xii. 36). The probability of such a statement is lessened by the fact that in the tabulation of the several contingents (verses 2338) the largest quotas are said to have come from the tribes that were most remote from the centers of the On the whole the conlife and activity of Israel. sites

clusion is irresistible that Asher consisted of certain clans that were affiliated with portions of Israel, but were never incorporated into the body politic. Critical opinion is divided as to whether Asher was a name originally Israelitish, or whether it was adopted by certain of the outlying and tribesmen from a Canaanitic source. What light does the story of the birth Origin.

Name

of Asher throw on the question?

He

was the full brother of Gad, and the names have the same meaning. Gad is a Canaanitish god of fortune, and Asher is from a root meaning "prosperous,"