- Keil-Delitzsch
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Tyndale
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary
Asher. - "Blessed before the sons be Asher; let him be the favoured among his brethren, and dipping his foot in oil. Iron and brass be thy castle; and as the days of thy life let thy rest continue." Asher, the prosperous (see at Gen 30:15), was justly to bear the name. He was to be a child of prosperity; blessed with earthly good, he was to enjoy rest all his life long in strong fortresses. It is evident enough that this blessing is simply an exposition of the name Asher, and that Moses here promises the tribe a verification of the omen contained in its name. מבּנים בּרוּך does not mean "blessed with children," or "praised because of his children," in which case we should have בּניו; but "blessed before the sons" (cf. Jdg 5:24), i.e., blessed before the sons of Jacob, who were peculiarly blessed, equivalent to the most blessed of all the sons of Israel. אחיו רצוּי does not mean the beloved among his brethren, acceptable to his brethren, but the one who enjoyed the favour of the Lord, i.e., the one peculiarly favoured by the Lord. Dipping the foot in oil points to a land flowing with oil (Job 29:6), i.e., fat or fertile throughout, which Jacob had already promised to Asher (see Gen 49:20). To complete the prosperity, however, security and rest were required for the enjoyment of the blessings bestowed by God; and these are promised in Deu 33:25. מנעל (ἅπ. λεγ.) does not mean a shoe, but is derived from נעל, to bolt (Jdg 3:23), and signifies either a bolt, or that which is shut fast; a poetical expression for a castle or fortress. Asher's dwellings were to be castles, fortresses of iron and brass; i.e., as strong and impregnable as if they were built of iron and brass. The pursuit of mining is not to be thought of as referred to here, even though the territory of Asher, which reached to Lebanon, may have contained brass and iron (see at Deu 8:9). Luther follows the lxx and Vulgate, and renders this clause, "iron and brass be upon his shoes;" but this is undoubtedly wrong, as the custom of fastening the shoes or sandals with brass or iron was quite unknown to the Israelites; and even Goliath, who was clothed in brass from head to foot, and wore iron greaves, had no iron sandals, though the military shoes of the ancient Romans had nails in the soles. Moreover, the context contains no reference to war, so as to suggest the idea that the treading down and cursing of the foe are intended. "As thy days," i.e., as long as the days of thy life last, let thy rest be (continue). Luther's rendering, "let thine old age be as thy youth," which follows the Vulgate, cannot be sustained; for although דּבא, derived from דאב, to vanish away, certainly might signify old age, the expression "thy days" cannot possibly be understood as signifying youth.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
of Asher he said--The condition of this tribe is described as combining all the elements of earthly felicity.
dip his foot in oil--These words allude either to the process of extracting the oil by foot presses, or to his district as particularly fertile and adapted to the culture of the olive.
John Gill Bible Commentary
Thy shoes shall be iron and brass,.... Either they should have such an abundance of these metals, that they could if they would have made their shoes of them; but that is not usual; though it is said of Empedocles (g) the philosopher, that he wore shoes of brass, which was very singular; and some think that this tribe, because of the abundance of these metals, used to stick their shoes with iron and brass nails at the bottom of them, as country people, soldiers, and travellers in various nations do; but the true sense seems to be, that the land that fell to this tribe, and on which they trod, should yield much iron and brass; as in Carmel, a mountain on the borders of it, brass was taken, as says Hesychius; and Zidon is by Homer (i) said to abound with brass, which belonged to this tribe; and Sarepta, another city in it, had its name from which signifies to melt, from the melting of these metals in it; see Deu 8:9; though some Jewish writers take the sense to be, that the land of Asher was so strongly fortified as if it had been enclosed with walls of brass and iron, or the gates of its cities were shut up with bolts and bars of iron and brass, as Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech observe; so the Arabic:
and as thy days, so shall thy strength be; the same in old age as in youth; which is the sense of the Latin Vulgate version, and all the Targums: such were the vigour and strength of. Moses himself, Deu 34:7; and so may denote a renewal of youth, like that of eagles; and, in a spiritual sense, a revival of the graces of the Spirit of God, as to the exercise of them, and an increase of spiritual strength, so that the inward man is renewed day by day; and may also denote such a measure of strength given, as is proportioned to the events that daily befall, or to the services and sufferings men are called unto; see Co1 10:13.
(g) Laert. in Vit. Empedocl. l. 8. p. 613. Aelian. Var. Hist. l. 12. c. 32. (i) Odyss. 15. l. 424.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
33:24 Asher was the younger of two sons of Jacob by Leah’s servant Zilpah (Gen 30:12-13). The name means “happy” or “blessed,” evident in the abundance of olive oil from the orchards that cover the lower Galilean hills and Mount Carmel, as well as the security from danger that these hills and other natural formations provided (Deut 33:25).