I-bi´uh-saf; Heb., “my father has gathered”; more properly Abiasaph, Exod. 6:24
The name of three Levites in the genealogical lists. 1 The son of Korah through Izhar and either the father (1Chr 6:23) or the brother (Exod 6:24) of Assir. 2 The son of Elkanah and great-grandson of a second Korah through Uzziel (1Chr 6:37), also the father of Assir. Because of the repetition of names in these lists it is possible that they have been disordered through scribal errors and that these two are the same person. 3 A Levite, the son of Korah and the father of Shallum, the chief gatekeeper of the Levites (1Chr 9:19; also called Asaph, (1Chr 26:1). Some scholars understand this passage (1Chr 9:17-27) to be a postexilic record (corresponding to Neh 11:1-19); however, other scholars see at least part of this chapter to be adapted from a record of preexilic Israel, an introduction to the narratives of Saul and David that follow. If it is preexilic, this Ebiasaph may be identified with the first two above; otherwise, he is a much later descendant of the clan of Korah.
