a celebrated musician in the time of David, was the son of
Barachias of the tribe of Levi. Asaph, and also his descendants,
presided over the musical band in the service of the temple. Several of
the psalms, as the fiftieth, the seventy-third to the eighty-third, have
the name of Asaph prefixed; but it is not certain whether the words or
the music were composed by him. With regard to some of them, which were
written during the Babylonish captivity, they cannot in any respect be
ascribed to him. Perhaps they were written or set to music by his
descendants, who bore his name, or by some of that class of musicians of
which the family of Asaph was the head, 1 Chron. vi, 39; 2 Chron. xxix,
30; xxxv, 15; Neh. xii, 46. The psalms which bear the name of Asaph are
doctrinal or preceptive: their style, though less sweet than that of
David, is more vehement, and little inferior to the grandeur of Isaiah.
Barachias of the tribe of Levi. Asaph, and also his descendants,
presided over the musical band in the service of the temple. Several of
the psalms, as the fiftieth, the seventy-third to the eighty-third, have
the name of Asaph prefixed; but it is not certain whether the words or
the music were composed by him. With regard to some of them, which were
written during the Babylonish captivity, they cannot in any respect be
ascribed to him. Perhaps they were written or set to music by his
descendants, who bore his name, or by some of that class of musicians of
which the family of Asaph was the head, 1 Chron. vi, 39; 2 Chron. xxix,
30; xxxv, 15; Neh. xii, 46. The psalms which bear the name of Asaph are
doctrinal or preceptive: their style, though less sweet than that of
David, is more vehement, and little inferior to the grandeur of Isaiah.