Genesis 49:20

20 Aser, his bread fat; and he shall yield dainties to princes.

Genesis 49:20 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 49:20

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 F12 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 F13 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 ( Deuteronomy 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, ( 1 Kings 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.


FOOTNOTES:

F12 Theatrum Terrae sanctae, p. 1.
F13 lb. p. 13.

Genesis 49:20 In-Context

18 waiting for the salvation of the Lord.
19 Gad, a plundering troop shall plunder him; but he shall plunder him, closely.
20 Aser, his bread fat; and he shall yield dainties to princes.
21 Nephthalim is a spreading stem, bestowing beauty on its fruit.
22 Joseph is a son increased; my dearly loved son is increased; my youngest son, turn to me.

The Brenton translation of the Septuagint is in the public domain.