Asher (Bible)
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Asher' (Hebrew: אָשֵׁר, Standard Ašer Tiberian ʾĀšēr), was, according to the Book of Genesis, the second son of Jacob and Zilpah, and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Asher; however some Biblical scholars view this as postdiction, an eponymous metaphor providing an aetiology of the connectedness of the tribe to others in the Israelite confederation[1]. The text of the Torah 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[2]. Many scholars suspect that the name of Asher may have more to do with a deity originally worshipped by the tribe, either Asherah[3], or Ashur, the chief Assyrian deity;[4] the latter possibility is cognate with Asher.[4] In the Biblical account, Asher's mother is only a handmaid, rather than a wife of Jacob, which scholars see as indicating that the authors saw the tribe of Asher as being not of entirely Israelite origin;[4] 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.[4] A number of scholars have proposed that the tribe of Asher actually originated as the Weshesh group of Sea Peoples[5][6] - 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[7]. The Torah states that Asher had four sons and one daughter, who were born in Canaan and migrated with him to Egypt[8], with their descendants remaining there until the Exodus;[9] this seems to be partly contradicted by Egyptian records, according to which a group named Aseru, a name from which Asher is probably derived,[4] were, in the 14th century BC, living in a similar region to Asher's traditional territory, in Canaan.[4] Asher's daughter is name by the Torah as Serach[8]. 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;[4] the Book of Jubilees contradicts this, arguing instead that Asher's wife was named Lyon (which probably means dove).[4] According to classical rabbinical literature, Asher had informed his brothers about Reuben'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;[4] 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.[4] References
See also
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