Q&A Home > A > Asaph Did Asaph, the psalmist, write his portion of the psalms during the imprisonment in Babylon? Or was he born a long time after David's death? Asaph was a Levite, son of Berechiah, of the family of Gershom (1 Chr 6:39; 15:17) He lived at the time of David and sounded cymbals before the Ark of the Covenant when it was moved from the house of Obed-Edom to Jerusalem (1 Chr 15:16-19). He was well-known as a musician and was appointed by David to preside over the sacred choral services (1 Chr 16:5). Asaph's family became one of the three families given responsibility for music and songs in the Temple (1 Chr 25:1-9). The titles of twelve of the psalms (50, 73-83) bear Asaph's name, though in some of these (74, 75, 79) the "sons of Asaph" rather than Asaph himself were the author and probably were composed near the time of captivity. Following the Captivity, 128 singers from this family returned from Babylon and conducted the singing when the foundations of Zerubbabel's temple were laid (Ezra 2:41; 3:10).
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