Asher

This was the name of Jacob's eighth son, the second bom to him by Zilpah, Leah's handmaid ; her elder son being Gad (Gn 35). Asher had four sons and one daughter (Gn 46" R). A ' happy ' lot was predicted for him in Jacob's blessing, ' his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties ' (Gn 49 J). His good fortune is also foreshadowed in the blessing of Moses, ' Blessed be Asher with children ; let him be acceptable unto his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil ' (Dt 33«).

When Israel left Egypt the adult males of the tribe numbered 41,500 ; more than either Ephraim, Manasseh, or Benjamin. Before the invasion of Western Pal. the numbers had gro^vn to 53,400 (Nu 1" 26" P). The tribe appears in the name, lists with the others throughout the earlier books. The posi- tion of Asher in the desert march was between Dan and Naphtali on the N. of the tabernacle ( Nu 2^-*' P).

Sethur, the chief, went with the head men of the other tribes from the wilderness of Paran to spy out the land (Nu 13"). Of Asher in future days little is deemed worthy of record save his inglorious failures. As his rich territory lay close to the Phoenician cities with their open markets and prosperous commerce, he seems very soon to have identified his interests with theirs.

This may account for his failure to take posses- sion of many of the cities that had been allotted to him (Jg 1"), and also for his inactivity when, in opposition to Sisera and his host, Zebulun ' jeoparded their lives unto the death, and Naphtali upon the high places of the field,' while he ' sat still at the naven of the sea, and abode by his creeks ' (Jg 5"- "). The decline of Asher was so rapid that the name does not appear in the list of chief rulers in the days of David (1 Ch 27""*").

He shares with Simeon the reproach of having given no hero, judge, or ruler to Israel. Not wholly lost, a few from Asher with others from Manasseh and Zebulun ' humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem ' in response to the call of Hezekiah (2 Ch 30"). Of this tribe was the saintly Aima, whose lofty piety sheds a ray of glory upon the family in the gathering evening of the nation'i life (Lk 2»«-'«). We cannot accurately trace the boundaries of the territory of Asher.

Even if the towns appor- tioned to it (Jos 19"-", Jg 1"- " ; see also Jos 1710. 11) ^-ere all identified, which they are not, the difficulty would remain. Each town carried with it the land belonging to its citizens, the limits of which it is impossible to determine. Dor, the modem Tanturah, on the seacoast S. of Carmel, although inhabited by Manasseh, was in the lot of Asher (Jos 17'"- ").

Nahr ez-Zerka, known also as the ' Crocodile River,' would there- fore form a natural boimdary to the south. The border may then have passed over the S.E. shoulder of Carmel. Touching the western point of Esdraelon, the territory of Issachar, it pro- ceeded northward in an irregular line, at a distance of eight to ten miles from the sea, skirting the western edge of Zebulun and Naph- tali.

Nearly opposite Tyre, probably, it bent eastward, taking in a large part of what is now called Beldd BesMrah and Bel6d esh-Shukif, turning seaward again in the direction of Sidon. This agrees with the account of Josephus (Art. V. i. 22), ' The tribe of Aser had that part which is called the Valley [by which he evidently means the low land along the seaboard], even all that part which lay over against Sidon.' This includes much of the finest and most fruitful land in Palestine.

Grain, excellent in quantity and quality, is grown on the Phoenician plains. Ths orchards of Acre and the orange groves of Sidon are justly held in high repute. Even in the decay of the country it continues to yield ' royal dainties,' many tons of oil being sent annually to the palaces in Constantinople, the produce of these deep, rich t'alleys in Upper Galilee, where the hardy peasant! cultivate the olive as of old. W. EwiNQ. ASHilKAH ASHIMA 165