Asher (), in the Book of Genesis, was the younger of the two sons of Jacob and Zilpah, and Jacob's eighth son overall. He was the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Asher.
Name
The text of the Torah states that the name (Asher) means "happy" or "blessing", implying a derivation from the Biblical Hebrew term osher in two variations: beoshri (meaning 'in my good fortune'), and ishsheruni. The Hebrew Bible states that at his birth, Leah exclaimed, "Happy am I! for the daughters will call me happy: so she called his name Asher", meaning "happy" (Genesis 30:13). Indeed, the name is a typical Semitic name, deriving from the Hebrew root ʔ-š-r ('to be happy') and the stative nominal stem.
Biblical narrative
Asher and his four sons and daughter settled in Canaan. On his deathbed, Jacob blessed Asher by saying that "his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties" (Genesis 49:20). Moses said of Asher: "May Asher be blessed above other sons; may he be esteemed by his brothers; may he bathe his feet in olive oil" (Deuteronomy 33:24). Asher was the eighth son of the patriarch Jacob and the traditional progenitor of the tribe Asher.
Asher is represented as the younger brother of Gad, these two being the sons of Zilpah, the handmaid of Leah (Genesis 35:26). The biblical account shows Zilpah's status as a handmaid changed to an actual wife of Jacob (Genesis 30:9). Some biblical scholars regard this status as indicating that the authors saw the tribe of Asher as being not of entirely Israelite origin; they 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. In the Rabbinic literature, Hadurah's marriage to Asher was his second marriage as well, his first having been to Adon, who was a descendant of Ishmael. According to the Book of Jubilees 34:20, 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, and their women were so beautiful that priests and princes sought them in marriage. The abundance of olive oil in the land possessed by Asher so enriched the tribe that none of them needed to hire a habitation. The soil was so fertile that, in times of scarcity, especially in the Sabbatical year, Asher provided all of Israel with olive oil. The Asherites were also renowned for wisdom.
Tomb
A Samaritan tradition recorded in the late 19th century considered Neby Toba near Tubas to be the burial place of Asher.