- published: 21 Mar 2013
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Asher (Hebrew: אָשֵׁר, Modern Asher Tiberian ʼĀšēr), in the Book of Genesis, is the second son of Jacob and Zilpah, and the founder of the Tribe of Asher.
The text of the Torah argues that the name of Asher means happy/blessing, implying a derivation from the Hebrew term osher (with the same meaning); the Torah actually presents this in two variations—beoshri (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 Asher may have more to do with a deity originally worshipped by the tribe, either Asherah, or Ashur, the chief Assyrian deity; the latter possibility is cognate with Asher.
Asher played a role in the plot to sell his brother Joseph into slavery.(Gen. 37:23-36) Asher and his four sons and daughter settled in Canaan. On his deathbed, Jacob blesses Asher by saying that "his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties"(Genesis 49:20).
The eighth son of the patriarch Jacob, and the traditional progenitor of the tribe Asher. 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.
Peter Asher (born 22 June 1944) is an English guitarist, singer, manager and record producer. He first came to prominence in the 1960s as a member of the vocal duo Peter and Gordon, before going on to a successful career as a record producer.
Asher was born at the Central Middlesex Hospital. When he was eight years old, he began working as a child actor and appeared in the film, The Planter's Wife, and the stage play Isn't Life Wonderful. He also appeared in the ITV series, The Adventures of Robin Hood. While attending the independent Westminster School as a day boy, he first met fellow pupil Gordon Waller (1945–2009), and they began playing and singing together as a duo in coffee bars. In 1962, they began working formally as Peter and Gordon. Their biggest hit was the 1964 Paul McCartney song A World Without Love.
Asher later read philosophy at King's College London. Asher is the son of Dr Richard and Margaret Asher, and the older brother of actress and businesswoman, Jane Asher, and radio actress, Clare Asher. Jane Asher was, in the mid 1960s, the girlfriend of Paul McCartney. Through this connection, Asher and Waller were often given unrecorded Lennon-McCartney songs to perform.