StrongerBible

ashar

עָשַׁר

HebrewH6238be rich, become rich, ...

Appears 17 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Gen 14:231Sa 2:71Sa 17:25Job 15:29Psa 49:16(17)Psa 65:9(10)Pro 10:4Pro 10:22Pro 13:7Pro 21:17Pro 23:4Pro 28:20Jer 5:27Ezk 27:33Dan 11:2Hos 12:8(9)Zec 11:5
Root family
Word studyah-SHARverb

What ashar means

to be rich or to grow rich, and to make someone rich: everything to do with having, gaining, or giving wealth.

TranslatabilityDirectCertaintySettled

This is Hebrew's basic word for wealth in motion. It can look at wealth from either end: the person who grows rich, or the one whose blessing or gift makes them rich. Hebrew says both with a single word, where English usually needs two, "grow rich" and "enrich."

Most often it simply describes someone becoming wealthy, whether by hard work, by God's blessing, or by dishonest gain that the prophets condemn. A smaller group of verses turns the action around: God, a king, or a trading city is the one who makes others rich. One proverb uses it for pretending, a man who plays rich while owning nothing (Proverbs 13:7), where the word is less about real wealth than about the show of it.

A near relative, צָלַח, covers success of any kind, while this word stays fixed on money and possessions. Greek later splits the two sides of this verb into separate words: πλουτέω for growing rich and πλουτίζω for making rich.

Nuances

1ato grow rich, to become wealthy; the person gains wealth of their own.
Job 15:29Psa 49:16(17)Pro 21:17Pro 23:4Pro 28:20Jer 5:27Dan 11:2Hos 12:8(9)Zec 11:5
1bto make someone rich, to enrich; a person, God, or a city gives wealth to another.
Gen 14:231Sa 2:71Sa 17:25Psa 65:9(10)Pro 10:4Pro 10:22Ezk 27:33
1cto pretend to be rich, to put on a show of wealth one does not have.
Pro 13:7

What scholars say about ashar

The standard lexicons (HALOT, BDB, DCH) and TWOT agree on the sense: in the qal the verb means "to be rich" or "to become rich," and the causative is used both intransitively ("gain riches, grow rich") and transitively ("make rich, enrich"). The reflexive form in Proverbs 13:7 is usually taken as "to feign wealth," though a minority reads it as "to enrich oneself." There is no live debate about what the word means. The chief interpretive question is local to Proverbs 13:7, where commentators divide over whether the antithesis concerns pretended wealth or real gain and loss.

Sources

  • HALOT (Koehler-Baumgartner), s.v. עשׁרlexicon
  • BDB (Brown-Driver-Briggs), s.v. עשׁרlexicon
  • DCH (Clines, ed.), s.v. עשׁרlexicon
  • R. Laird Harris, ed., Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (TWOT), s.v. עשׁרdictionary
  • Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 1-15, NICOT (2004)commentary

All attested forms of עָשַׁר

hiphil imperfect 3ms

יַעֲשִׁיר, יַעְשְׁרֶ, יַעֲשִׁר

Pro 21:17, Dan 11:2, 1Sa 17:25, Psa 49:16

hiphil imperfect 3fs

תַּעֲשִׁיר

Pro 10:4, Pro 10:22

hiphil infinitive-construct construct

הַעֲשִׁיר

Pro 23:4, Pro 28:20

hiphil conjunctive-imperfect 1cs

וַאעְשִׁר

Zec 11:5

hiphil consecutive-imperfect 3mp

וַיַּעֲשִׁירוּ

Jer 5:27

hiphil imperfect 2ms

תַּעְשְׁרֶ

Psa 65:9

hiphil participle m s absolute

מַעֲשִׁיר

1Sa 2:7

hiphil perfect 1cs

הֶעֱשַׁרְתִּי

Gen 14:23

hiphil perfect 2fs

הֶעֱשַׁרְתְּ

Ezk 27:33

hithpael participle m s absolute

מִתְעַשֵּׁר

Pro 13:7

qal imperfect 3ms

יֶעְשַׁר

Job 15:29

qal perfect 1cs

עָשַׁרְתִּי

Hos 12:8