ASAF (Hebrew: “collector”). — Leader of one of the three groups of Temple singers and a sacred poet in the time of David.
According to the genealogical tree in 1 Chron 6:39–43, he was a Levite of the line of Gershon (q.v.). He first appears after his “brother” (relative) Heman the singer (1 Chron 6:39; 15:19; order of names: Heman, A., Ethan). Later A. became the leader and preceded Heman and Jeduthun (ibid. 6:5; 25:1). He was the first of the musicians, who, divided into three categories, reported directly to David (ibid. 25:5–6). The particular instrument assigned to A. and his group was the cymbal (mēšiltaijim, ibid. 15:19; 16:5; cf. 25:1). The descendants of A. are remembered as continuing their father’s work (2 Chron 20:14; 29:13; 35:15; Ezra 2:45 among the returnees from exile; 3:10; Neh 7:45; 11:17, 22).
Besides performing David’s psalms (1 Chron 16:7), A. was also an inspired composer: under Hezekiah the Levites praised the Lord “with the words of David and of the seer A.” (2 Chron 29:30). His name appears in the titles of twelve psalms (q.v.) of a didactic and meditative character (Ps 49 [50], then the homogeneous collection 72 [73]–82 [83]). Yet the subject matter of certain “psalms of A.” betrays a later origin: Ps 73 [74] and 78 [79] refer to the ruin of Jerusalem (587 BC); Ps 75 [76] fits the deliverance from Sennacherib’s siege (Isa 37:36–37); Ps 79 [80] reveals a time of national distress; Ps 82 [83] seems to allude to the coalition of Moab and Ammon against King Jehoshaphat (2 Chron 20:1). Perhaps these compositions belong to some descendant of A. who inherited, along with the profession, the poetic genius (cf. Neh 11:17, 22).
Three other Asaphs occur in the Old Testament: the father of Joab, the court annalist under Hezekiah (2 Kgs 18:18, 37; Isa 36:3, 22); a Levite who was head of the singers under Nehemiah (Neh 11:17); and the chief keeper of the royal forests under Artaxerxes (ibid. 2:8).