Deuteronomy 33:24

24 And of Asher he said, "Blessed {more than sons} [is] Asher; {may he be the favorite} of his brothers, {dipping his feet in the oil}.

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 ) .

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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 And of Dan he said, "Dan [is] a cub of [a] lion; he leaps from Bashan."

23 And of Naphtali, he said, "Oh, Naphtali, sated of favor, and full of the blessing of Yahweh; take possession of [the] lake, and [the land to the] south."

24 And of Asher he said, "Blessed {more than sons} [is] Asher; {may he be the favorite} of his brothers, {dipping his feet in the oil}.

25 Your bars [are] iron and bronze, and as your days, [so is] your strength."

26 "There is no [one] like God, O, Jeshurun, who rides [through] the heavens to your help, and with his majesty [through the] skies.

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "blessed from/of sons [is]" features the comparative use the Hebrew preposition min, "than"
• [b] Literally "may he be favored"
• [c] Literally "and dipping in [the] oil his feet"