Leah names the second son of her handmaid Zilpah Asher, from osher, "happiness" or "praise" (Genesis 30:13). The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan translates the name into a prophecy about the tribe's inheritance.

Praise shall be mine; for the daughters of Israel will praise me, as his children will be praised before the Lord for the goodness of the fruit of his land.

Three kinds of praise stacked together. First, Leah's own satisfaction. Second, the future praise of the daughters of Israel who will look at her and count her blessed. Third — and this is the prophetic leap — the praise that Asher's tribe itself will earn for the agricultural wealth of its territory.

The tribe of Asher will inherit the Mediterranean coast north of Mount Carmel, including the fertile valleys that produce the olive oil of Israel. Jacob's deathbed blessing will later confirm this: out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties (Genesis 49:20). Moses will bless Asher with his foot shall be dipped in oil (Deuteronomy 33:24). The whole tribe will become a pantry for the nation.

Leah sees the olive groves of the upper Galilee before they are planted. She sees the women of Israel praising the goodness of the oil Asher's land will produce. She sees the long future in which the tribe of osher will feed the tribes of the south.

This is how a mother of Israel names a child. Not with personal sentiment alone, but with a prophecy about the land and the economy that tribe will one day anchor.

The takeaway: a good name carries a good future. Leah named Asher with the taste of olive oil already on her tongue.