genesis 49:20, asher’s blessing

Read Genesis 49:20 at Bible Gateway.

Hebrew paragraph division

Gen 49:20 {s} Asher’s blessing

Bread from Asher shall be rich, and he shall yield royal dainties. Gen 49:20

Original Hebrew

Asher means “happy.” Its first occurrence:

And Zilpah Leah’s handmaid bore Jacob a second son. And Leah said: “Happy am I! For the daughters will call me happy.” And she called his name Asher.[e] Gen 30:12-13

The footnote in the Bible says e. Literally Happy.

Asher is Strong’s H836, Asher, a proper name, from Strong’s H833, ashar, a primitive root meaning “to be straight, right.” The ancient pictographs are aleph + shin + resh:

aleph = the ox head, thus strength, power, leader
shin = two front teeth, thus sharp, press, eat, two, again
resh = the head of man, thus head, first, top, beginning, man

The concrete noun that is formed from the verb gives a clue as to the story. The noun is cord, and it is tied to the meaning of straight, in that when a weight is attached to one end of a cord and held above the ground, the cord hangs exactly vertical to the ground as a plumb line, and can be used to align a wall being straightly built. Now in ancient days, a cord was made when two (shin) strips of leather, sinew, or fiber were attached at the top (resh) and then twisted together in such a fashion so as to lock their fibers. The story the pictographs are telling is of strong (aleph) cord (shin + resh) as a straight plumb line, so also upright.

To be upright in the Hebraic worldview is to be happy. Another way to say it, is that righteousness creates happiness and blessing. And we see the Scripture bears out this truth:

So you shall keep His statutes and His commandments which I am giving you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may live long on the land which YHVH your God is giving you for all time. Deu 4:40

And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God. Deu 28:2

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. Psa 1:1-3

Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord! Psa 119:1

Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding;
For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, and her gain than fine gold.
She is more precious than rubies, and all the things you may desire cannot compare with her.
Length of days is in her right hand, in her left hand riches and honor.
Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.
She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who retain her. Pro 3:13-18

Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but happy is he who keeps the law. Pro 29:18

If we have been told that living uprightly according to God’s definition of righteousness contained in His Law is an obsolete burden, we have to recognize that the Scripture teaches the exact opposite is true. To be happy is to be upright in all our ways.