Out of Asher his food shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.
All Commentaries on Genesis 49:20 Go To Genesis 49
Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
“Asher, his bread is rich, and he will furnish food to princes.” Asher in our tongue means “riches.” Who then is rich except where there is the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God? Who is rich but the Lord Jesus, who always abounds and never fails? He came into this world a poor man and abounds in all things; he has filled all people. How mighty he is in riches, for he has made all people rich by his poverty! But Christ was poor for our sakes, and rich with the Father. He was poor to deliver us from want, as the apostle teaches when he says, “Being rich, he became poor for your sakes, that by his poverty you might become rich.” His poverty enriches, the fringe of his garment heals, his hunger satisfies, his death gives life, his burial gives resurrection. Therefore he is a rich treasure, for his bread is rich. And “rich” is apt, for one who has eaten this bread will be unable to feel hunger. He gave it to the apostles to distribute to a believing people, and today Christ gives it to us, for he, as a priest, daily consecrates it with his own words. Therefore this bread has become the food of the saints. Likewise we can take the Lord himself, who has given us his own flesh, just as he said, “I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the desert and have died. But this is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that if anyone eat of it he will not die.” … Moses too delivered a very appropriate prophecy when he said, in his blessings, “Asher is blessed with children and will be acceptable to his brothers, and he shall dip his foot in oil. His shoe shall be iron and brass, and as your days are, so will your powers be. There is not anyone as is your God in heaven, your helper and the mighty Lord of the firmament and the God of the highest, protecting you, and through the strength of his powerful arms he casts out your enemy from your presence, saying, ‘Let him perish.’ And Israel shall dwell securely alone upon the land, Jacob in grain and wine, and heaven shall be misty with dew for you.”
