Commentaire sur Le Deutéronome 33:24

ברוך מבנים אשר LET ASHER BE BLESSED AMONG SONS (or, “on account of sons”) — I have found in the Sifrei Devarim 355:19 the following: You will find none of the tribes who was so blessed with children as Asher, but I do not know how this was so.

BLESSED ‘MIBANIM’ BE ASHER. If the letter mem [in the word mibanim] serves to signify greater status [meaning that Asher is singled out from among the tribes for greater blessing] as indicated by the mem in these expressions: blessed ‘minashim’ (from among all other women) shall Jael be;²⁵¹Judges 5:24. In other words, Jael shall be more blessed than other women. they [the ordinances of the Eternal] are to be desired ‘mizahav’ (more than gold), yea ‘umipaz rav’ (even more than much fine gold),²⁵²Psalms 19:11. and other similar expressions — then one may wonder: how could Moses diminish the rest of the tribes by saying that Asher be blessed more than all the sons of Jacob? Moreover [if such was his intent], his blessing was not fulfilled, for it did not come to pass. And Rashi wrote: “I have seen in the Sifre:²³⁹Sifre, Brachah 355. ‘You will find none of the tribes as blessed with children²⁵³“Of children.” In our text of Rashi: “with children.” as Asher.’ But I know not how this was so.” Now, our Rabbis meant to explain blessed ‘mibanim’ that Asher be blessed with the many children that he will beget, similar to the usage of the letter mem in the expression Blessed of the Eternal be his land, ‘mimeged’ (of the precious things) of heaven, ‘mital’ (of the dew).²⁵⁴Verse 13. Therefore, the Rabbis said that Moses blessed all the rest of the tribes with strength or with their inheritance, and Asher alone was blessed with children. And our textual version of the Sifre²³⁹Sifre, Brachah 355. reads: “You will find no one who was as blessed with children as Asher.” But how this blessing was fulfilled has not been explained. Perhaps it relates to what is written in [the Book of] Chronicles, All these were the children of Asher, heads of the fathers’ houses, choice and mighty men of valor, chief of the princes. And the number of them reckoned by genealogy for service in war was twenty and six thousand men.²⁵⁵I Chronicles 7:40. Such praise is not mentioned there about the rest of the tribes.
In line with the simple meaning of Scripture, Blessed ‘mibanim’ be Asher is similar to the blessing let him be the favored of his brethren,²⁵⁶In Verse 24 before us. the verse stating that Asher be blessed by all the sons of Jacob their father and be favored by all his brothers. The reason is that his land is rich and from there will come all royal dainties²⁵⁷Genesis 49:20. for all the tribes, and they will all constantly say, “May G-d bless this land which brings forth such fruits.” The letter mem in the word mibanim will be like the mem in: ‘mei’Hashem’ (‘from’ the Eternal) proceedeth the thing;²⁵⁸Ibid., 24:50. ‘mei’E-il’ (‘from’ the G-d of) thy father²⁵⁹Ibid., 49:25. [so that our verse means: “Blessed will be Asher ‘from’ the sons” of Jacob].
And Onkelos translated: “The blessing of Asher will be from the blessings of the sons” [of Jacob]. It appears that Onkelos meant to say that all of the tribes will come to Asher to buy oil, and Judah, and the Land of Israel, will be his merchants for wheat of Minnith, and balsam, and honey, and oil²⁶⁰Ezekiel 27:17. and all choice fruits of the land²⁶¹Genesis 43:11. all of which they will bring to sell him, and they will buy oil. Thus Asher will be blessed with all the delicacies available to all the tribes, this being the sense of the expression favored of his brethren,²⁵⁶In Verse 24 before us. for they will sell to him and buy from him what they desire. Then I found in Bereshith Rabbah:²⁶²Bereshith Rabbah 71:13. “And Leah said: ‘For my happiness! for daughters will call me happy,’ [and she called his name Asher].²⁶³Genesis 30:13. Rabbi Levi said: In all his days Asher never lodged in an inn.²⁶⁴Rabbi Levi is thus interpreting the word b’oshri as meaning “in my resting place,” i.e., in my home, from the Aramaic root sharah, meaning “resting.” Asher inherited palaces on the heights, [heights great in area] more than the land inherited by Judah. The sons of Asher: Imnah, and Ishvah and Beriah, and Serah their sister. [And the sons of Beriah: Heber, and Malchiel,] who was the father of Birzaith.²⁶⁵I Chronicles 7:30-31. Rabbi Levi and Rabbi Simon said [with reference to the name Birzaith which contains the word zayith — olive] that the daughters of Asher were beautiful, and they were married to priests²⁶⁶In our version of Bereshith Rabbah Rabbi Levi says that they were married to priests; and Rabbi Simon says that they were married to kings, because the name Malchiel contains the word melech — king. Rashi here quotes both: “his daughters were married to High Priests and kings who were anointed with olive oil.” See Exodus 30:33 (Vol. II, pp. 531-533). who were anointed with olive oil etc.”

ברוך מבנים אשר, Asher will enjoy an exceptional blessing, not shared by the other tribes. It is in the nature of things that wealthy people attract the jealousy of those who are not so blessed with wealth. Asher will not be subject of jealousy, but, on the contrary, will be well liked by all the other tribes.