food (for man or beast) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
fat
שְׁמֵנָ֣הshe.me.Nah
H8082
greasy · adjective, feminine singular absolute
yield
יִתֵּ֖ןyi.Ten
H5414
to give · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
royal
מֶֽלֶךְMe.lekh
H4428
a king · noun, common masculine singular absolute
dainties
מַֽעֲדַנֵּיma.'a.da.nei-
H4574
a delicacy or (abstractly) pleasure (adverbially · noun, common masculine plural construct
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Deuteronomy 33:24-25 And of Asher he said, Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil.
Genesis 30:13 And Leah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed: and she called his name Asher.
Genesis 46:17 And the sons of Asher; Jimnah, and Ishuah, and Isui, and Beriah, and Serah their sister: and the sons of Beriah; Heber, and Malchiel.
Joshua 19:24-31 And the fifth lot came out for the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Genesis 49:13-21
Here we have Jacob's prophecy concerning six of his sons.
I. Concerning Zebulun (Gen 49:13), that his posterity should have their lot upon the seacoast, and should be merchants, and mariners, and traders at sea. This was fulfilled when, two or three hundred years after, the land of Canaan was divided by lot, and the border of Zebulun went up towards the sea, Jos 19:11. Had they chosen their lot themselves, or Joshua appointed it, we might have supposed it done with design to make Jacob's words good; but, being done by lot, it appears that it was divinely disposed, and Jacob divinely inspired. Note, The lot of God's providence exactly agrees with the plan of God's counsel, like a true copy wi…
DAN--though the son of a secondary wife, was to be "as one of the tribes of Israel." (Gen 49:16-18)
Dan--"a judge."
a serpent . . . an adder--A serpent, an adder, implies subtlety and stratagem; such was pre-eminently the character of Samson, the most illustrious of its judges.
Adam Clarke on Genesis 49:17
Dan shall be a serpent - The original word is נחש nachash, and we have seen on Genesis 3 that this has a great variety of significations. It is probable that a serpent is here intended, but of what kind we know not; yet as the principal reference in the text is to guile, cunning, etc., the same creature may be intended as in Genesis 3.
A cerastes upon the track - The word שפיפון shephiphon, which is nowhere else to be found in the Bible, is thus translated by the Vulgate, and Bochart approves of the translation. The cerastes has its name from two little horns upon its head, and is remarkable for the property here ascribed to the shephiphon. The word ארח orach, which we translate path, signif…
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 fro…
The Church Fathers
Since Asher means "blessed," the bread of that one whom, after being recalled from error to penitence, we lead step by step to the present state of blessedness, after his conversion, after the spiritual knowledge, after the victory over temptations, is, to be sure, called "fat." He eats that bread "which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world," and that bread is fat for him.
Here the prophet speaks obscurely either about the apostles, who had the duty to provide and distribute the bread of life, or about the Savior himself, since he foretells and let us know the bread descending from heaven, which is food and drink for the saints. In fact, Asher is interpreted as "richness," as he alone was so rich that he might satiate all those who came to him. And Christ also testified about himself by saying, "I am the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died; but whoever eats of my bread will never see eternal death."
His bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties. The Latin interpretation of Aser signifies riches. Who then is rich, unless where the height of riches is wisdom and knowledge of God? Who is rich but the Lord Jesus, who always abounds, and never fails? The poor came into this world, and has abounded to all, and has filled all. How great is he in riches, who by his poverty has made all rich! But he became poor for our sake, being rich with the Father. He became poor so that he might deliver us from poverty; as the Apostle teaches, saying: For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. His poverty enriches, heals wounds, satisfies hunger, gives life to the dead, and raises the buried. Therefore, he is a treasure, and his is the abundant bread. And whoever eats this rich bread will never hunger. He gave this bread to the apostles, so that they would distribute it to the people who believed; and today he gives us the same bread, which the priest consecrates daily with his words. Therefore, this bread has become the food of the saints. We are able to receive the Lord Himself, who gave His flesh for us, as He Himself says: I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the desert, and they died: but this is the bread which comes down from heaven, that if any man eat of it, he may not die. And so that no one may think that He is speaking of the death which comes through the separation of soul and body, and may doubt with reason, since he knows that the holy apostles died this death, He added: I am the living bread, which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this, he will live forever: that is, I did not speak about temporal life above, nor about the death of this life, in which even if anyone dies, nevertheless if he receives my bread, he will live forever. For he who receives, proves himself: but he who receives will not die the death of a sinner, because this bread is the forgiveness of sins. Moses also prophesied most beautifully in his blessings, saying: Blessed from the sons of Asher, and he will be accepted by his brothers; and he shall dip his foot in oil, and his shoe shall be iron and brass. And as your days are, so shall your strength be. There is none like your God, who is in heaven, your helper, and the great Lord of the…
Dictionary and topics
Asher · 1. — 1.
Asher, The Tribe Of · Predictions concerning — Predictions concerning
Children · Male: Received the blessing of their father before his death — Male: Received the blessing of their father before his death
Fat · FIGURATIVE — FIGURATIVE
Patriarchal Government · Exercised in: Blessing and cursing their children — Exercised in: Blessing and cursing their children
Tribes Of Israel, The · Predictions respecting each of — Predictions respecting each of
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
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.
Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 49:20
"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).
Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 49:20
Asher would be fertile and productive, providing rich foods. The tribe settled along the rich northern coast of Canaan.
Rashi on Genesis 49:3
וראשית אוני THE BEGINNING OF MY VIGOR — That is the first drop [of semen], as he had not experienced a seminal emission from all of his days [until that time] (Genesis Rabbah 98:4).
אוני means MY VIGOR, as (Hosea 12:9) “I have gained me (און) strength”; (Isaiah 40:26) “by the greatness of His (אונים) might”; (Isaiah 5:29) “and to him that hath no (אונים) might Ho increaseth strength”.
יתר שאת SUPERIORITY IN DIGNITY — Since you were the first-born it was proper that you should be superior to your brothers by being endowed with the priesthood. This term שאת “lifting up” alludes to the נשיאות כפים the raising of the hands when the priests pronounce the benediction (cf. Onkelos).
ויתר עז SUPE…
