On the Biblical Calendar Today: Birthday of Asher
Shevat 20
According to Jewish tradition, today is the birthday of Asher, the second son born of Jacob and Leah’s maidservant Zilpah, recorded in Genesis 35:26. Asher was the eighth son born to Jacob. On the biblical calendar the date is Shevat 20.
Asher in Hebrew
The name Asher in Hebrew means happy one. (1)
Family
Asher was a grandson of Isaac and Rebekah and a great-grandson of Abraham and Sarah.
Asher had eleven siblings: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, and Gad. In addition to Zilpah, his father was married to Leah, Rachel, and Bilhah (Genesis 35:23-26).
Anna the Prophetess
When Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the Temple shortly after His birth, two people prophesied over Him: Simeon and Anna. Scripture notes that Anna was from the tribe of Asher (Luke 2:36).
The Tribe of Asher
The descendants of Asher settled into the Promised Land within the boundaries of the tribe of Judah. However, they failed to drive out the people from their allotted land. The last mention of the tribe of Asher in the Bible comes in Revelation 7:6, when 12,000 men from that tribe will play a role at the end of time.
What does your name mean?
1. Strong, James, Strongs Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2004).
