Deuteronomy 33:24

24 About the tribe of Asher he said: "Asher is blessed more than the other tribes. May he be the favorite of his brothers, And may his land be rich with olive trees.

Deuteronomy 33:24 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 33:24

And of Asher he said
The tribe of Asher, as the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem:

[let] Asher [be] blessed with children;
with large numbers, as it appears this tribe was, having in it 53,400 men of war, ( Numbers 26:47 ) . It was esteemed a great blessing to have many children, ( Psalms 128:3 Psalms 128:4 ) ; or "above the children"; above or more than the rest of the children of Jacob; see ( Luke 2:36 Luke 2:38 ) ; Jarchi observes, that he had seen, in a book called Siphri, that there was none in all the tribes blessed with children as Asher, but not known how:

let him be acceptable to his brethren;
either for his excellent bread, and royal dainties, ( Genesis 49:20 ) ; or for the goodness of his olives and oil, and for the brass and iron found in this tribe, as follows; or, as some say, because of his children, his daughters being very beautiful:

and let him dip his foot in oil;
have such plenty of it, that if he would he might dip or wash his feet in it; and it was usual not only to anoint the head, but the feet F6 also, with oil, ( Luke 7:46 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F6 "Vidimus etiam vestigia pedum tingi", Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 13. c. 3. Vid. Dalecamp. Not. in ib.

Deuteronomy 33:24 In-Context

22 About the tribe of Dan he said: "Dan is a young lion; He leaps out from Bashan."
23 About the tribe of Naphtali he said: "Naphtali is richly blessed by the Lord's good favor; Their land reaches to the south from Lake Galilee."
24 About the tribe of Asher he said: "Asher is blessed more than the other tribes. May he be the favorite of his brothers, And may his land be rich with olive trees.
25 May his towns be protected with iron gates, And may he always live secure."
26 People of Israel, no god is like your God, riding in splendor across the sky, riding through the clouds to come to your aid.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.