Ashhur

ash´ur ( אשׁחוּר , ashḥūr , the King James Version Ashur ): The "father of Tekoa" ( 1 Chronicles 2:24; 1 Chronicles 4:5 ), probably the founder of the village. The original meaning of the name is the "man of Horus," Ashurites ( האשׁורי , hā - 'ashūrı̄ ). This name occurs in the list of Ish-bosheth's subjects ( 2 Samuel 2:9 ). The Syriac, Arabic, and Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 ad) versions read הגּשׁוּרי , ha - geshūrı̄ , "the Geshurites," designating the small kingdom to the South or Southeast of Damascus. This reading, though adopted by Ewald, Thenius and Wellhausen, is untenable, for during the reign of Ish-bosheth Geshur was ruled by its own king Talmai, whose daughter was married to David ( 2 Samuel 3:3; 2 Samuel 13:37 ). Furthermore Geshur was too far away from the rest of Ishbosheth's territory. A more consistent reading is האשׁרי , hā - 'āshērı̄ , as given in the Targum of Jonathan and accepted by Köhler, Klost, Kirkpatrick and Budde, "those of the house of Asher" (compare Judges 1:32 ). The term would, then, denote the country to the West of Jordan above Jezreel.