"May Asher be blessed with sons; he will be pleasing to his brothers and immerse his foot in oil. From Asher will come rich food and he will provide royal delicacies."
Chabad commentary:
The biblical commentator Rashi makes an interesting comment on this verse: "I saw in Sifri [a Midrash] the following: 'Among all the tribes you will not find one that was blessed with sons like Asher'; but I do not know in which regard."
Since it was not a particularly numerous tribe, the Midrash maintains that this blessing bespeaks the quality of Asher's children, not the quantity. Rashi then wonders what quality made them so exceptional: "I do not know in which regard."
Before his passing, Moses blessed each of the twelve tribes. To the tribe of Asher he gave the following enviable blessing: "May Asher be blessed with sons; he will be pleasing to his brothers and immerse his foot in oil."
As for the second part of Asher's blessing, "He will be pleasing to his brothers and immerse his foot in oil," Rashi has a lot to share [...]
This echoes an association between the tribe of Asher and the high priesthood made by Jacob more than two hundred years earlier. Before Jacob passed on he also blessed his twelve children individually, giving them prophetic messages about the future of their tribal dynasty. To Asher he said, "From Asher will come rich food and he will provide royal delicacies." The Midrash uncovers another layer of meaning behind this blessing. The Hebrew word used here for rich is shmeinah. The same four Hebrew letters also spell the word shmoneh, eight. Asher will raise children who wear eight garments, says the Midrash, namely the eight garments worn by the high priest.
Although the priests came from the tribe of Levi, since Asher's daughters married priests, his grandchildren were eligible for – and eventually served in – the position of high priest.
He looked for a wife who'd understand the nature of his work and he found the best candidates amongst the daughters of Asher. they projected their genuine commitment through their physical appearance—for the beauty of the soul shone unhindered through the body that perfectly reflected it.
"Cursed is the one who cohabits with his sister." The women of the tribe of Asher were particularly beautiful (Rashi, Devarim 33:24), and thus the sons of Asher needed to be warned of this transgression [and not to physically or verbally abuse their sister] more than the other tribes. (Techeles Mordechai)
