Asriel

Asriel is a son of Manasseh, named in two genealogical contexts that together place him among the founding heads of Manassite families.

Birth Notice

The Chronicler distinguishes Manasseh's offspring by mother: "The sons of Manasseh: his wife bore Asriel. His concubine the Aramitess bore Machir the father of Gilead" (1 Ch 7:14). Asriel is the son of Manasseh's wife; Machir, of his concubine.

Among the Allotment Heads

In the territorial division on the west of the Jordan, Asriel appears in the list of Manasseh's male-line clans whose sons inherit by lot: "[the lot] was for the rest of the sons of Manasseh according to their families: for the sons of Abiezer, and for the sons of Helek, and for the sons of Asriel, and for the sons of Shechem, and for the sons of Hepher, and for the sons of Shemida: these were the male sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph according to their families" (Jos 17:2). The bracketed insertion supplies the implied subject of the lot. Asriel stands in the middle of this six-name group.

The two notices give all that is recorded: birth by Manasseh's wife, and a clan in the western Manassite allotment.