Asaph

(collector of the people ).

1. A Levite, son of Berechiah, one of the leaders of Davids 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.)
2. The father or ancestor of Joah, the chronicler to the kingdom of Judah in the reign of Hezekiah, ( 2 Kings 18:18 2 Kings 18:37 ; Isaiah 36:3 Isaiah 36:22 ) probably the same as the preceding.
3. 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.)
4. 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.