Harmonious Asher

Asher is the name of our youngest son. We deliberated quite awhile to pick a good, Old Testament name that wasn't too Old Testament (Hezekiah, Jehoshaphat) but wasn't so common that people didn't recognize its Biblical roots (David, Daniel). Further, the namesake had to have an outstanding reputation, which narrowed the field considerably to those who were either superstars of faith (Moses, Abraham) or had very little said about them in the Bible. Asher fell into this latter category.

The only noteworthy things said about Asher in the Bible:

1. His birth in Genesis 30:13 - "[His mother,] Leah said, 'I am happy that the women call me happy,' so she named him Asher."
2. The nice blessing given to him by his father, Jacob, in Genesis 49:20 - "Asher’s food will be rich, and he will produce royal delicacies."
3. The even nicer blessing given to his descendants by Moses in Deuteronomy 33:24 - "May [the tribe of] Asher be the most blessed of the sons; may he be the most favored among his brothers and dip his foot in olive oil.", and
4. The fact given in Luke 2:36 that Anna the prophetess belonged to the tribe of Asher.

Somewhat discontented at the sparsity of verses about Asher, I looked up his Wikipedia article one day. According to rabbinical literature, Asher was "always in search of harmony between his brothers." My wife and I thought that was an apt sentiment considering that our Asher is the fourth brother in the family.

Was this true about Asher, though? Rabbinical literature doesn't carry the same credence as the Bible itself. But as I looked more closely in the Bible, I discovered that these harmonious intentions of Asher's aren't exclusive to the rabbinical literature--there is some evidence of this in the Bible.

The Exodus

In the book of Numbers, the Lord tells Moses how the Israelites were to camp during their forty years in the wilderness. There are four camps consisting of three tribes each, stationed at the north, south, east, and west of the Tabernacle, which itself is immediately surrounded by the Levites, including Moses and the priests.



This is notable considering how the sons of Jacob (Israel) are related.

Jacob had four wives: Leah, Rachel, Bilhah and Zilpah. Bilhah was Rachel's handmaid, Zilpah was Leah's handmaid, and Leah and Rachel were sisters--rival sisters, as you might expect being married to the same man. (Side note: Leviticus 18:18 commands Israelite men not to take two sisters as wives). Given this rivalry, combined with the facts that the handmaids are sometimes reckoned as concubines and their children were credited to Leah and Rachel, you could see how there could be rivalry (or at least division) among the 12 brothers, as well.

Leah's Sons		Rachel's Sons
Leah	Zilpah	Bilhah	Rachel
Reuben	Gad	Dan	Joseph
Simeon	Asher	Naphtali	Benjamin
Levi
Judah
Issachar
Zebulun

Looking back at the layout of the Exodus camps, notice how Asher camped with Dan and Naphtali. This camp is the only camp where there was a mix of Leah and Rachel's sons. Furthermore, Dan and Naphtali were full brothers, so Asher was clearly the odd tribe out. Asher would have to be of a harmonious disposition to his brothers for this arrangement to work.

Ezekiel's Vision

In Ezekiel 47 and 48, the prophet is given a vision of a future Israel. God shows Ezekiel how the land of Israel is to be shared among the 12 tribes:


The layout of the land resembles the layout of the Exodus camps; not only is Asher paired with Dan and Naphtali again, but his land physically separates the two full brothers' land. This is the only occurrence where the lands of sons of Leah or Rachel's are divided by a rival wife's son. Once again, Asher must be a harmonious guy for such an arrangement to work out.