Asaph

David chose Levites “to be the singers with instruments of musick” (1 Chronicles 15:16), and Asaph was among the first he named, sounding the cymbals. When David wrote a psalm of thanks, he put it into the hand of Asaph and his brothers (1 Chronicles 16:7). His sons became a family of singers who kept that work for generations. They stood at the dedication of Solomon’s temple, and Ezra counts 128 of them among the singers who came home from Babylon (Ezra 2:41). A descendant named Jahaziel received the Spirit of the LORD with a word for the whole gathering (2 Chronicles 20:14).

25 verses

2 Kings

2 Kings 18:18

And when they had called to the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder.

1 Chronicles

1 Chronicles 15:16

And David spake to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers with instruments of musick, psalteries and harps and cymbals, sounding, by lifting up the voice with joy.

1 Chronicles 15:17

So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brethren, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari their brethren, Ethan the son of Kushaiah;

1 Chronicles 15:18

And with them their brethren of the second degree, Zechariah, Ben, and Jaaziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, Eliab, and Benaiah, and Maaseiah, and Mattithiah, and Elipheleh, and Mikneiah, and Obededom, and Jeiel, the porters.

1 Chronicles 15:19

So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were appointed to sound with cymbals of brass;

1 Chronicles 16:5

Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obededom: and Jeiel with psalteries and with harps; but Asaph made a sound with cymbals;

1 Chronicles 16:6

Benaiah also and Jahaziel the priests with trumpets continually before the ark of the covenant of God.

1 Chronicles 16:7

Then on that day David delivered first this psalm to thank the LORD into the hand of Asaph and his brethren.

1 Chronicles 25:1

Moreover David and the captains of the host separated to the service of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals: and the number of the workmen according to their service was:

1 Chronicles 25:2

Of the sons of Asaph; Zaccur, and Joseph, and Nethaniah, and Asarelah, the sons of Asaph under the hands of Asaph, which prophesied according to the order of the king.

1 Chronicles 25:3

Of Jeduthun: the sons of Jeduthun; Gedaliah, and Zeri, and Jeshaiah, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six, under the hands of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with a harp, to give thanks and to praise the LORD.

1 Chronicles 25:4

Of Heman: the sons of Heman; Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, and Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, and Romamtiezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth:

1 Chronicles 25:5

All these were the sons of Heman the king's seer in the words of God, to lift up the horn. And God gave to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.

1 Chronicles 25:6

All these were under the hands of their father for song in the house of the LORD, with cymbals, psalteries, and harps, for the service of the house of God, according to the king's order to Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman.

1 Chronicles 25:7

So the number of them, with their brethren that were instructed in the songs of the LORD, even all that were cunning, was two hundred fourscore and eight.

1 Chronicles 25:8

And they cast lots, ward against ward, as well the small as the great, the teacher as the scholar.

1 Chronicles 25:9

Now the first lot came forth for Asaph to Joseph: the second to Gedaliah, who with his brethren and sons were twelve:

2 Chronicles

2 Chronicles 5:12

Also the Levites which were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets:)

2 Chronicles 20:14

Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation;

2 Chronicles 29:13

And of the sons of Elizaphan; Shimri, and Jeiel: and of the sons of Asaph; Zechariah, and Mattaniah:

2 Chronicles 35:15

And the singers the sons of Asaph were in their place, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer; and the porters waited at every gate; they might not depart from their service; for their brethren the Levites prepared for them.

Ezra

Ezra 2:41

The singers: the children of Asaph, an hundred twenty and eight.

Ezra 3:10

And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the LORD, after the ordinance of David king of Israel.

Nehemiah

Nehemiah 2:8

And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.

Nehemiah 7:44

The singers: the children of Asaph, an hundred forty and eight.

From Easton's Bible Dictionary

Matthew George Easton, 1897

Convener, or collector. (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.

(2.) The “recorder” in the time of Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:18, 37).

(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).

Read the full entry

From Smith's Bible Dictionary

William Smith, 1884

(collector of the people).

(1.) 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.)

(2.) 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.

(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.

Based on Nave's Topical Bible by Orville J. Nave (1896). Dictionary entries from Easton's Bible Dictionary and Smith's Bible Dictionary. Public domain. KJV scripture text, public domain.