Asher (Hebrew: אָשֵׁר ’Āšēr), 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.
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👉 Asher in the context of Twelve Tribes of Israel
The Twelve Tribes of Israel (Hebrew: שִׁבְטֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל, romanized: Šīḇṭēy Yīsrāʾēl, lit. 'Staffs of Israel') are described in the Hebrew Bible as being the descendants of Jacob, a Hebrew patriarch who was a son of Isaac and thereby a grandson of Abraham. Jacob, later known as Israel, had a total of twelve sons, from whom each tribe's ancestry and namesake is derived: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. Collectively known as the Israelites, they inhabited a part of Canaan—the Land of Israel—during the Iron Age. Their history, society, culture, and politics feature heavily in the Abrahamic religions, especially Judaism.
In the biblical narrative, after Moses oversaw the Israelites' departure from Egypt, he died and was succeeded by Joshua, who led the conquest of Canaan and subsequently allotted territory for all but the Tribe of Levi, which was instead dedicated 48 cities. This development culminated in the establishment of Israel and Judah, purportedly beginning with a Kingdom of Israel and Judah before splitting into the Kingdom of Israel in the north and the Kingdom of Judah in the south.
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Asher in the context of Jacob
Jacob, later known as Israel, is a Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions. He first appears in the Torah, where he is described in the Book of Genesis as a son of Isaac and Rebecca. Accordingly, alongside his older fraternal twin brother Esau, Jacob's paternal grandparents are Abraham and Sarah and his maternal grandfather is Bethuel, whose wife is not mentioned. He is said to have bought Esau's birthright and, with his mother's help, deceived his aging father to bless him instead of Esau. Then, following a severe drought in his homeland Canaan, Jacob and his descendants migrated to neighbouring Egypt through the efforts of his son Joseph, who had become a confidant of the pharaoh. After dying in Egypt at the age of 147, he is supposed to have been buried in the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron.
Per the Hebrew Bible, Jacob's progeny were beget by four women: his wives (and maternal cousins) Leah and Rachel; and his concubines Bilhah and Zilpah. His sons were, in order of their birth: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. He also had a daughter named Dinah, born to his first wife Leah. The descendants of Jacob's sons were collectively known as the Israelites, with each son being the forefather of one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, of whom all but the Tribe of Levi were allotted territory in the Land of Israel. The Genesis narrative also states that Jacob displayed favoritism among his wives and children, preferring Rachel and her sons Joseph and Benjamin to the rest—culminating in Joseph's older brothers selling him into slavery out of resentment.
Asher in the context of Tribe of Asher
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Asher was one of the Tribes of Israel descended from Asher (Hebrew: אָשֵׁר, Modern: ʼAšer, Tiberian: ʼĀšēr, "happy one"), the eighth son of Jacob. It is one of the ten lost tribes.
Asher in the context of Zilpah
In the Book of Genesis, Zilpah (Hebrew: זִלְפָּה Zīlpā, meaning uncertain) was Leah's handmaid whom Leah gave to Jacob like a wife to bear him children (Genesis 30:9). Zilpah gave birth to two sons, whom Leah claimed as her own and named Gad and Asher (Genesis 30:10–13).
Zilpah was given to Leah as a handmaid by Leah's father, Laban, upon Leah's marriage to Jacob (see Genesis 29:24, 46:18). According to the early rabbinical commentary Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer, Zilpah and Bilhah, the handmaids of Leah and Rachel, respectively, were actually daughters of Laban and one or more of his concubines. But modern scholars believe that Zilpah and Bilhah were most likely foreign, like Tamar and Asenath.