ASHURITES

ash'-ur-its (ha-'ashuri): According to the Massoretic Text of 2 Samuel 2:9, a tribe included in the short-lived kingdom of Ish-bosheth, Saul's son. A slight textual correction gives "Asherites," that is, the tribe of Asher; with this the Targum of Jonathan agrees. The tribe of Asher lay where it would naturally fall to Ish-bosheth's kingdom. The reading "Geshurites" (Vulgate and Syriac) is excluded by the known independence Of Geshur at this time (2 Samuel 3:3; 13:37). For similar reasons we cannot think of Assyria (Hebrew Asshur) nor of the Arabic Asshurim of Genesis 25:3.

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.