The tribe of Asher was no more successful than Zebulun. Its allotment consisted of the maritime plain and the low hills north of Carmel. It was the territory of the Phoenicians, who had not yet risen to fame as sea traders. Having settled down among the Canaanites there, the people of Asher seem to have been exposed to cultural and religious absorption perhaps more than any other tribe. Within a short time they seemed to have lost much of their religious separateness, so that when Deborah called on the tribes to join in a united front against the Canaanites, “Asher,” she says, “continued on the sea shore, and abode in his breaches” (ch. 5:17).

 Joshua 19:30 states that 22 towns in this region fell to the lot of Asher. The text before us lists at least seven of them that were not taken, including the well-known cities of Acre and Sidon. Thus it is evident that the Asherites did not make much progress toward conquering the territory assigned to them.