Encyclopedia entry
Asaph
Disambiguation
The source enumerates 3 distinct subjects under Asaph. Jump to one below, or read in order.
Convener, or collector.
Asaph (1)
#A Levite; one of the leaders of David’s choir (1 Chr. 6:39). Psalms 50 and 73-83 inclusive are attributed to him. He is mentioned along with David as skilled in music, and a “seer” (2 Chr. 29:30). The “sons of Asaph,” mentioned in 1 Chr. 25:1, 2 Chr. 20:14, and Ezra 2:41, were his descendants, or more probably a class of poets or singers who recognized him as their master.
Asaph (2)
#The “recorder” in the time of Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:18, 37).
Asaph (3)
#The “keeper of the king’s forest,” to whom Nehemiah requested from Artaxerxes a “letter” that he might give him timber for the temple at Jerusalem (Neh. 2:8).
Also from Smith's (1884) +−
(collector of the people).
A Levite, son of Berechiah, one of the leaders of David’s choir. (1 Chronicles 6:39) Psalms 50 and 73-83 are attributed to him; and he was in after times celebrated as a seer as well as a musical composer. (2 Chronicles 29:30; Nehemiah 12:46) (B.C. 1050.) The father or ancestor of Joah, the chronicler to the kingdom of Judah in the reign of Hezekiah, (2 Kings 18:18,37; Isaiah 36:3,22) probably the same as the preceding. The keeper of the royal forest or “paradise” of Artaxerxes, (Nehemiah 2:8) a Jew, in high office at the court of Persia. (B.C. 536.) Ancestor of Mattaniah, the conductor of the temple-choir after the return from Babylon. (1 Chronicles 9:16; Nehemiah 11:17) Most probably the same as 1 and 2.
In the Bible
29
Verses where Asaph is named. Berean Standard Bible (public domain).
- 1 Chronicles 6:39
Heman’s kinsman was Asaph, who served at his right hand: Asaph the son of Berechiah, the son of Shimea,
- 1 Chronicles 9:15
Bakbakkar, Heresh, Galal, and Mattaniah son of Mica, the son of Zichri, the son of Asaph;
- 1 Chronicles 15:17
So the Levites appointed Heman son of Joel; from his brothers, Asaph son of Berechiah; from their brothers the Merarites, Ethan son of Kushaiah;
- 1 Chronicles 15:19
The musicians Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were to sound the bronze cymbals.
- 1 Chronicles 16:5
Asaph was the chief, Zechariah was second, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel. They were to play the harps and lyres, while Asaph sounded the cymbals
- 1 Chronicles 16:7
On that day David first committed to Asaph and his associates this song of thanksgiving to the LORD:
+23 more verses naming Asaph.
Scripture on Asaph
19
Entries that reference Asaph
35
Asaph references
17
Sources · Hitchcock's Bible Names (1869) · Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897) · Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884)
Public-domain text. Modernized only where archaic spelling impedes reading; original facts preserved. Verify against an authoritative modern reference before quoting.