Hebrew word · H23

אֲבִיאָסָף

va'avi'asaf

Abiasaph

A compound name: ʾāḇ ('father') + a form of ʾāsap̄ ('to gather, collect, add'). It is usually understood as 'my father has gathered' or 'the (divine) Father has gathered/added'. Many Israelite names that use 'father' refer to God as the family's Father or kinsman.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A man of the tribe of Levi living at the time of Egypt and Wilderness, first mentioned at Exo.6.24;

son of: Korah (H7141I);

brother of: Assir (H0617) and Elkanah (H0511);

father of: Assir (H0617H) and Kore (H6981); also called Abiasaph at Exo.6.24; Asaph at 1Ch.26.1;

Another name of ev.ya.saph (אֶבְיָסָף, אֲבִיאָסָף "Ebiasaph" H0043)

§ Abiasaph = "my father has gathered"

son (descendant) of Korah

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Exodus 6:24

Range of meaning

A compound name: ʾāḇ ('father') + a form of ʾāsap̄ ('to gather, collect, add'). It is usually understood as 'my father has gathered' or 'the (divine) Father has gathered/added'. Many Israelite names that use 'father' refer to God as the family's Father or kinsman.

Against the English

English versions transliterate it as Abiasaph in Exodus and Ebiasaph in Chronicles, following the different Hebrew spellings.

Used elsewhere in the period

Spelled אֶבְיָסָף in 1 Chr 6:23, 37; 9:19. In 1 Chr 9:19 the gatekeeper Shallum son of Kore is 'son of Ebiasaph, son of Korah', and 'his kinsmen of his father's house, the Korahites, were in charge of the work of the service, keepers of the thresholds of the tent.' Heman the singer is also traced back through Ebiasaph and Assir to Korah (1 Chr 6:33–38).

Where it appears

Exodus · 1

  1. Exodus 6:24 וַאֲבִיאָסָ֑ף and Abiasaph

    The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These were the clans of the Korahites.

    Here: '(My) father has gathered' or 'has added'. Chronicles spells it Ebiasaph and traces the Korahite gatekeepers and singers through him (1 Chr 6:37; 9:19). He is the line that lasts.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.