ASH'ER (Heb., blessed). The name given by biblical tradition (Gen. xxxv. 26) to the eighth son of Jacob, being the second born to him by his concubine Zilpah, the handmaid of Leah. Asher is thus merely the customary eponymous heir of the tribe of Asher, which formed part of the confederation known as the B'ne Israel. The genealogy of Asher, indicating merely the sub divisions of the clan, is furnished (Gen. xlvi. 17, and Num. xxvi. 44; cf. 1. Citron. vii. 30). But little is known of the clan, which plays scarcely any part in Hebrew history. Asher takes no part in the uprising against Sisera (Judges v. 17), while the statement (Judges vi. 35 and vii. 23) that Asher took part in the conflict with Midian is open to question. The position of the tribe is also difficult to ascertain, since but few of the places mentioned (Josh. xix. 24-31) as belonging to Asher have been identified. There
are indications that the tribe was originally set tled in southern Palestine, where it became mixed with non-Hebrew clans. and subsequently moved northward toward the seacoast, though neither Aceho, Achzih, nor Sidon (mentioned Josh. xix. as cities of Asher) could ever have belonged to it. The popular etymology as 'happy' (Gen. xxx. 13) may furnish the real meaning, and it is also possible that Asher may have originally been the name of a deity. In that case it would be an etymological parallel to the Assyrian deity, Asher. A district or State of Asern in western Galilee is mentioned in Egyptian inseriptions of the time of Seti and Rameses IL, but it is hardly likely that we have here anything more than a phonetic coincidence with Asher.