Asher

Asr (Hebrew: אָשֵׁר, Modern shr, Tiberian šhr), in the Book of Genesis, is the second son of Jacob and Zilpah, and the founder of the Tribe of Asr.

Name

The text of the Torah argues that the name of Asr means happy/blessing, implying a derivation from the Hebrew term 'eshan his in two variations—beoAsri (meaning in my good fortune), and ishsheruni, which textual scholars attribute to different sources—one to the Yahwist and the other to the Elohist. Many scholars suspect that the name of Asr may have more to do with a deity originally worshipped by the tribe, either Asrah, or Ashur, the chief Assyrian deity; the latter possibility is cognate with Asr.

Biblical narrative

Asr played a role in selling his brother Joseph into slavery (Gen. 37:23–36). Asr and his four sons and daughter settled in Canaan. On his deathbed, Jacob blesses Asr by saying that "his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties" (Gen. 49:20).

Asr was the eighth son of the patriarch Jacob and the traditional progenitor of the tribe Asr. However, some Biblical scholars view this as postdiction, an eponymous metaphor providing an aetiology of the connectedness of the tribe to others in the Israelite confederation.

Asher (name)

Asher is a common Jewish and Christian given name, after a character in the Old Testament.

People with the surname

Asher (Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter)

Asher is a fictional character in Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series of novels. Asher is a Master Vampire, and the lover of Jean-Claude and Anita Blake.

Like Jean-Claude, Asher is fantastically handsome, having been selected for his beauty by Belle Morte, the vampire that made him. Anita describes his hair as the color of metallic gold and his eyes as the pale blue of a Siberian Husky. Although the left side of his face and body is angelically beautiful, his right side is hideously scarred; Asher has become an expert at using his hair, posture, and shadow to present only his left side to viewers until an opportune moment arises to reveal his scars, if desired.

In the epilogue to Burnt Offerings, Anita states that Asher intended to explore whether modern cosmetic surgery could help his scars. However, when this issue is mentioned in Cerulean Sins it only refers to Asher's ability in bed, which had been limited until a surgeon had removed the restricting scarred foreskin. No other cosmetic surgery or options is talked about and Anita says that touching the scars is like touching any other part of Asher. During a few different intimate times, she's made a point to kiss or caress the scarred side first, then the non-touched side.