Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 49:20
Out of Asher his bread [shall be] fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.
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.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
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.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Out of Asher his bread shall be fat,…. Which signifies that this tribe would have a sufficiency of food out of their own land, without being obliged to others, and that it would be of the best sort; it occupied a tract of land, as Andrichomius l says, reaching from great Zidon to Carmel of the sea, a space of twenty miles in length; and in breadth, from the great sea to Asor, and even to Naason, a space of nine miles; the land of this tribe is very fat, he says, and exceeding fruitful in wine and oil, especially in the best wheat: and in this tribe, as the same writer m observes, among other very fruitful places was the valley of Asher, called the fat valley, which began five miles from Ptolemais, and reached to the sea of Galilee, and contained more than ten miles in length; the soil of which was exceeding fat and fruitful, and produced the most delicate wine and wheat, and might be truly called the fat valley, see De 33:24
and he shall yield royal dainties; food fit for kings, of all sorts, flesh, fish, and fowl: here King Solomon had one of his purveyors to provide food for him and his household, 1Ki 4:16. Asher’s country answered to his name, which signifies happy or blessed: in those parts Christ was much in the days of his flesh on earth; in Cana of this tribe he turned water into wine and in this country discoursed concerning the bread of life himself, who is the best of bread and royal dainties.
l Theatrum Terrae sanctae, p. 1. m lb. p. 13.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
“ Out of Asher (cometh) fat, his bread, and he yieldeth royal dainties.” is in apposition to , 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 (1Ki 5:11).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Verse 20:
This prophecy alludes to Asher in his inheritance in the Land. It lay in the fertile region extending from Mount Carmel to the land of Tyre, and was one of the richest districts in corn and oil in all Israel.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
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.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(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.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
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 . ”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“Asher’s food will be rich, and he will yield royal dainties.”
It would appear that Asher has ventured into catering. He may even have been given a position in Pharaoh’s palace. He is thus eating excessively well and providing royal dainties. There are no suggestions anywhere that this interest was carried into the future.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Gen 49:20. Out of Asher, &c. The meat of Asher shall be fat, is Durell’s rendering; who observes, that this patriarch (whose name implies happiness) had the satisfaction to hear his father declare, in the clearest manner, that his posterity would enjoy the greatest plenty. The paraphrase of the authors of the Universal History is, “Asher’s portion shall make him happy; it shall abound with excellent corn and oil; the bread and dainty meats that shall be made of them shall be fit for a king’s table.” And they remark, that “the blessing spoken to Asher is capable of a double sense, and both verified by the event; namely, either that his country should be the most fertile, and produce the noblest corn in the whole land of Palestine, which it actually did; or else, that it should abound with the finest and most delicious oil, which his portion was also remarkable for; insomuch that its oil was the most famed of all Canaan’s. Moses, in his blessing of that tribe, seems to intimate the latter, when he says, ‘that Asher should dip his foot in oil.’ See Deu 33:24.” A great part of Solomon’s daily provision for his table seems to have come from Asher, 1Ki 4:22-23. Laish, the town which the Danites surprised and took from the effeminate Zidonians, was in this portion; and the report the spies made of the environs directly confirms the prophecy: We have seen the land, and behold it is very good. Ancient and modern authors agree in confirming this account.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Deu 33:24 . How precious is that promise made to Asher: Deu 33:25 . And how very sweet have the LORD’S people found it in all ages!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
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.
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.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Gen 49:20
20″As for Asher, his food shall be rich,
And he will yield royal dainties.”
Gen 49:20 “Asher” The basic meaning of Asher seems to be “happy one” (BDB 81). This may be alluding to the control of trade routes through their land allotment by Joshua, which makes them very wealthy. Also, the fertility of their soil means that they will provide food items for the royal table (cf. Deu 33:24-25).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Out of The Hebrew letter “m”, which should end Gen 49:19, making it “upon their heels”, has been wrongly prefixed to the next word, “Asher”, Gen 49:20, thus making “Asher” begin “Out of”, unlike all the others. It should read: “He shall press upon their heels, Asher, his bread shall be, “&c. The Revised Version rightly keeps the Hebrew letter “m” at end of Gen 49:19, but repeats it at beginning of Gen 49:20, thus translating it twice!
bread. Put for all food. Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Species). App-6.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Gen 30:13, Gen 46:17, Deu 33:24, Deu 33:25, Jos 19:24-31
Reciprocal: Gen 27:28 – the fatness Gen 40:17 – bakemeats Num 1:40 – General Jos 19:31 – General 1Ch 2:2 – Asher
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
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.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
49:20 Out of Asher his {p} bread [shall be] fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.
(p) He will abound in corn and pleasant fruits.