Genesis 49:20

Gen 49:20 Out of Asher his bread [shall be] fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.

Ver. 20. Out of Asher his bread shall be fat.] The "heart of the wheat," as the psalmist hath it. {Psa 81:16} Or, choicest bread corn. Moses expoundeth this; Asher shall "dip his foot in oil." {Deu 33:24} That is, he shall dwell in "the horn of the son of oil," as the expression is. {Isa 5:1, marg.} Or in a very fruitful corn country, which was a singular blessing, according to his name, which signifieth bliss and happiness.

He shall yield dainties for a king.] Kings use to feed of the finest. {a} Yet of Augustus we read, that he was never elaborate in his diet; but content with ordinary and common food. He never drank but thrice at one meal, and lived near fourscore years. Queen Elizabeth of England did seldom eat but one sort of meat, rose ever with an appetite, and lived about seventy years: King Edward VI called her by no other name than his "sweet sister Temperance." Contrarily, Sulla the Roman dictator, by surfeiting and banqueting, at last got a most miserable disease, and died full of lice. Surfeiters either dig their graves with their own teeth (the Grecians called the intemperate, ασωτους quasi ασωστους, as wanting health), or else they come to some untimely end, by the just judgment of God; as those monstrous epicures, Caligula, Heliogabalus, Geta the Emperor, who was served in with dainties by the alphabet. One while he would have anserem, anatem, aprum; another time he would have phasianum, farra, ficus; sometime again, pullum, pavonem, perdicem, porcellum, piscem, perham, &c. This was one of those Caesars who got nothing by their honour, but ut citius interficerentur.

{a} Newlander’s Cure, by Sir Edward Vaughan. Camd., Elisab. Sabellic. Aenead., ii. Plures pereunt gula quam gladio, lancibus quam lanceis, crapula quam capulo, &c. - Heidfeld. Bauson., lib. iii. cap. 1.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Gen_49:20

Asher

The blessing of Asher:

Let us look at some of the spiritual points of instruction contained in this blessing of Jacob upon Asher.

And first as to their bread, which is described as fat. Christ is the bread of life to all His people, and this bread may indeed be said to be fat. The Psalmist uses a similar figure when he says, My soul shall be satisfied with marrow and fatness; and again, They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of Thy house. And again, in speaking of those who dwell in Gods presence, he says, Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God: they shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing (Psa_92:13-14). What a rich and blessed portion for the soul is hid in Christ! How our highest thoughts of it are infinitely surpassed! I sat down under His shadow with great delight, and His fruit was sweet to my taste, lie brought me to the banqueting-house, and His banner over me was love (Son_2:3-4). And observe another deeply important truth: He shall yield royal dainties. The possession and enjoyment of Christ, and all the treasures of His grace, involves a great responsibility. Asher is to yield royal dainties--to give out what it possesses to others. If Christ be indeed ours, and weare living upon Him continually, we shall do the same. And to give out, we must live upon Him. It is this we need--living, abiding communion with a precious Christ. O reader! let not Satan deceive us by allowing us to have everything but this! This is his grand device, and how wonderfully he has succeeded let the lives of most Christians tell! And what is Asher said to give out in this passage? Royal dainties. Yes, indeed, as we live upon Christ, that which the soul gives out is no ordinary food. It is dainties--precious food--and with the stamp of the King upon them. There is a royal pardon, a royal love, a royal Saviour, from whom they all flow freely down. (F. Whitfield, M. A.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Gen 49:20. Out of Asher his bread shall be fat — This implies that it should be a rich tribe, replenished not only with bread for necessity, but with fatness, with dainties, royal dainties, and these exported out of Asher to other tribes, perhaps to other lands. The God of nature has provided for us not only necessaries but dainties, that we might call him a bountiful benefactor; yet, whereas all places are competently furnished with necessaries, only some places afford dainties. Corn is more common than spices. Were the supports of luxury as universal as the supports of life, the world, in consequence of the wickedness of man, would be worse than it is, and surely it is bad enough.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

49:20 Asher would be fertile and productive, providing rich foods. The tribe settled along the rich northern coast of Canaan.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

He shall abound in corn and pleasant fruits.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

20. Out of Asher. The inheritance of Asher is but just alluded to, which he declares shall be fruitful in the best and finest wheat, so that it shall need no foreign supply of food, having abundance at home. By royal dainties, he means such as are exquisite. Should any one object, that it is no great thing to be fed with nutritious and pleasant bread; I answer; we must consider the end designed; namely, that they might hereby know that they were fed by the paternal care of God.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(20) Asher.—The territory of this tribe, extending along the coast from Mount Carmel to Lebanon, was very productive. Zebulun, the trading tribe, could reach the sea only through their possessions.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20. Out of Asher] Almost certainly the marg. gives the right reading, Asher, his bread &c. The preposition rendered “out of” is the letter m, which is superfluous here, but is required for the pronoun “their,” in the words “their heel” at the close of the preceding verse. The name of the tribe will then open the verse as a kind of nominativus pendens, i.e. “As for Asher, his bread, &c.” Cf. Deu_32:4, “The Rock, his work is perfect.” So the versions, LXX, Lat., Syr.

bread shall be fat] Cf. Deu_33:24, “Blessed be Asher … and let him dip his foot in oil.”

yield royal dainties] The fertility of Asher’s land will supply the wants of the kings of Tyre and Sidon. In Jdg_5:17 Asher rests on the sea coast. There is a play intended on the name of the tribe Asher, and the Hebrew word for “happy” (cf. Gen_30:13), referring to the “happiness” of its fertility. Cf. Arabia Felix.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joseph is a fruitful bough,.... Or as one, like the bough or branch of a tree laden with fruit, as he was with children; one of which he called Ephraim from his fruitfulness, and both his sons became numerous, and the heads of two tribes in Israel; and with other temporal fruits and blessings, as riches, honour, &c. and especially with the fruits of grace and righteousness:

even a fruitful bough by a well; those are the most fruitful that are near a well or fountain of water, as such trees are which are planted by rivers of water, see Psa 1:3 this being repeated may have respect to the two boughs or branches of Joseph's family, or the two fruitful and numerous tribes that sprung from him:

whose branches run over the wall; as such trees that are set against one, and by the reflected heat of the sun grow the more, and become more fruitful. The word for "branches" is "daughters", which some refer to the daughters of Manasseh and Zelophehad, who received their inheritance on both sides of Jordan; and others interpret it of the cities of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, as cities are sometimes called.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Fat, delicious. This country was very luxuriant, Deuteronomy xxxiii. 24. (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

i.e. Out of the land of

Asher. Or, As for or concerning Asher, his bread-corn shall be fuller and sweeter and better than ordinary; and he shall yield royal dainties; not only oil for ointments, but also delicious and excellent fruits, fit to be presented to a king. See Deu 33:24,25.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

20. Fat his bread — Grammatically, bread is in apposition with fat. The tribe of Asher occupied the rich and fertile region along the Mediterranean, north of Mount Carmel. According to Moses (Deu_33:24) Asher should “dip his foot in oil.”

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties literally, dainties of, or for, the king. The first clause may be otherwise rendered: Of Asher the bread shall be fat (Kalisch); fat shall be his bread (Murphy); Out of Asher (cometh) fat his bread (Keil). The import of the blessing is that Asher should possess a specially productive soil

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Concerning Asher, he foretells, That it should be a rich tribe, replenished not only with bread for necessity, but with fatness, with dainties, royal dainties, and these exported out of Asher, to other tribes, perhaps to other lands. The God of nature has provided for us not only necessaries but dainties, that we might call him a bountiful benefactor; yet, whereas all places are competently furnished with necessaries, only some places afford dainties. Corn is more common than spices. Were the supports of luxury as universal as the supports of life, the world would be worse than it is, and that needs not.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

"Out of Asher (cometh) fat, his bread, and he yieldeth royal dainties." לחמו is in apposition to שׁמנה, and the suffix is to be emphasized: the fat, which comes from him, is his bread, his own food. The saying indicates a very fruitful soil. Asher received as his inheritance the lowlands of Carmel on the Mediterranean as far as the territory of Tyre, one of the most fertile parts of Canaan, abounding in wheat and oil, with which Solomon supplied and household of king Hiram (Kg1 5:11).

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

מאשר שמנה לחמו OUT OF ASHER COMETH HIS FAT BREAD —The food that will come from the territory of Asher will be fat, for there will be numerous olive-trees in his territory so that it will flow with oil like a fountain. Moses blessed him in a like manner: (Deuteronomy 33:24) “and he will dip his foot in oil”. So we learn in the Treatise of Menachot 85b: once the people of Laodicia were in need of oil. Their agent was able to obtain the very large quantity they required only at a city in Asher, having failed at Jerusalem and other cities.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

מאשר שמנה לחמו, the introductory letter מ appears to indicate that the bounty described in the verse following applied to only part of the territory in which Asher dwelled. The word לחמו is a euphemism for the whole ancestral land of the tribe of Asher, as it is what produces the bread of this tribe. The word לחם here as well as in many other examples, is a collective term including all the food these people grew and consumed. There were many olive trees on the territory of Asher, something confirmed by Moses in Deut. 33,24 where the tribe is described as immersing its feet in that oil. Also all the other fruit grown on its soil was especially good in quality. This is why the verse concludes with the words: והוא יתן מעדני מלך, that the dignitaries of that tribe would send gifts of these fruit to be served at the king’s table.

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.