Nadene Goldfoot
Asher was the 2nd son of Zilpah and Jacob but Jacob's 8th son. Leah, Jacob's 1st wife, was very happy about it. Leah declared, "In my good fortune! for women have deemed me fortunate!" So she called his name Asher. Here, as the important mother, Leah got to name the baby. Zilpah, here, is not considered a wife but still Leah's maidservant. Leah had stopped becoming pregnant, and so had given Zilpah to her husband to take over her duty of bearing children. In this generation's thinking, it was okay and the important thing for women was to bear children. In this way, they gained status in the community.
On the Exodus, Ashur's count on the 1st census was 41,500, and on the 2nd and last census count, they had 53,400 with a plus of 11,900.
On his deathbed, Jacob blesses Asher by saying that "his bread will have richness, and he will provide kingly delicacies." (Gen. 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).
Washing one’s feet in oil was a sign of prosperity, and Jacob’s reference to Asher’s food being “rich” indicated that Asher would possess fertile lands. In Joshua 19:24-31, we learn that Asher received land along the Mediterranean coast.
However, it's not the only blessing the Tribe of Asher would receive. Moses also gave a blessing to each of the twelve tribes. Moses' blessing said that Asher would be blessed with sons, pleasing to his brothers, and have his foot immersed in oil.
Despite all its blessings, the tribe of Asher failed to drive out the Canaanites, and “because of this the people of Asher lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land” (Judges 1:31-32). In the time of Deborah and Barak, “Asher remained on the coast and stayed in its coves” rather than join the fight against Jabin, a Canaanite king (Judges 5:17). This failure to aid their fellow tribes could indicate a lack of reliance on God, a lack of effort, a fear of the enemy, or a reluctance to upset those with whom they did business. Thus, the example set here is a negative one: although Asher was richly blessed, they did not behave admirably; when the time for action came, they failed to trust in God and honor His plan."
Later in Judges, Asher does respond to Gideon’s call to repel the Midianites, Amalekites, and others from the East (Judges 6:35). In another important gesture, Asher accepts Hezekiah’s invitation to the tribes from the Northern Kingdom to join the Passover celebration in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 30:11). This was considered an act of humility, proof of a contrite heart before God.
The Tribes of Israel were often identified with the personalities and character traits of their founders, so let's start by getting to know Asher himself. Asher was characterized as happy, intelligent, intuitive, open to others, and a little bit impetuous. In fact, his name means ''happy one''.
Thus, the Tribe of Asher was known to be the happiest of the Twelve Tribes. This happiness partly came from the fact that they were also amongst the most prosperous of the tribes. They were described as enjoying all that life has to offer, particularly in terms of fine dining, even if that made them a little more wasteful than the other tribes.
In the end, we find that Asher received many great blessings from God. Having received a blessing, they were expected to obey the Lord’s commands.
The text of the Torah states that the name of Asher means "happy" or "blessing", implying a derivation from the Hebrew term osher in two variations—beoshri (meaning in my good fortune), and ishsheruni, which some textual scholars who embrace the JEDP hypothesis attribute to different sources—one to the Yahwist and the other to the Elohist. The 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). Some scholars argue that the name of Asher may have to do with a deity originally worshipped by the tribe, either Asherah, or Ashur, the chief Assyrian deity; the latter possibility is cognate with Asher.
Asher was one of six tribes (Reuben Gad, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali) chosen by Moses to stand on Mount Ebal and pronounce blessings and curses (Deuteronomy 27:13) and 28:blessings. Through these curses, the people promised God they would refrain from bad behavior. For example, one curse says, “Cursed is the man who dishonors his father or his mother” (Deuteronomy 27:16). Another states, “Cursed is the man who leads the blind astray on the road” (Deuteronomy 27:18). Still another: “Cursed is the man who sleeps with his mother-in-law” (Deuteronomy 27:23). In all, Asher delivered twelve admonishments (Deuteronomy 27:15-26). Those chosen happened to be the 1st and 6th sons of Leah, and the 4 sons of the two handmaids.
Resource:
Tanakh, Stone Edition
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
https://www.generations.org/devotionals/169
https://www.gotquestions.org/tribe-of-Asher.html
https://study.com/academy/lesson/tribe-of-asher-history-symbol-descendants.html
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