4. The father of a certain Jonathan who, with others, opposed a proposal with regard to the putting away of foreign wives among the returned exiles (after 468 B.C.E.).—Ezra 10:10, 11, 15.

ASAIAH

(A·saiʹah) [Jah has made].

1. A descendant of Merari, Levi’s third son, and a head of a paternal house. He was one of the chief men among the Levites who formed part of the group of 862 chosen to share in bringing up the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem at the time of David’s second (and successful) attempt.—1 Chron. 6:29, 30; 15:6, 11, 12.

2. A chieftain of the tribe of Simeon in the days of King Hezekiah (745-716 B.C.E.). He was among those Simeonites who took part in conquering a rich valley in the area of Gedor, till then occupied by Hamites and the Meunim.—1 Chron. 4:36-41.

3. Called “the king’s servant,” he was one of a commission of five, headed by Hilkiah, whom King Josiah sent to the prophetess Huldah to inquire of Jehovah about the meaning of the recently discovered book of the Law (about 642 B.C.E.).—2 Ki. 22:12-14; 2 Chron. 34:20, 21.

4. The firstborn of the Shilonites (1 Chron. 9:1-3, 5), listed among those returning from Babylon after the exile. At Nehemiah 11:5 mention is made of Maaseiah as a “Shelanite” descendant of Judah, and due to the similar meaning of the names (Maaseiah meaning “work of Jehovah”) some consider them to be the same and descended from Shelah, the youngest son of Judah by the daughter of Shua the Canaanite.—Gen. 38:2, 5; See MAASEIAH No. 17.

ASAPH

(Aʹsaph) [collector, assembler; or, perhaps, Jehovah has gathered].

1. A son of Levi through Gershom. (1 Chron. 6:39, 43) During King David’s reign (1077-1037 B.C.E.) Asaph was appointed by the Levites as a chief singer and player of cymbals, accompanying the Ark as it was brought up from Obed-edom’s home to the “city of David.” (1 Chron. 15:17, 19, 25-29) Thereafter Asaph, along with Herman and Ethan, served before the tabernacle in directing the music and singing. (1 Chron. 6:31-44) Like Heman and Jeduthun (perhaps the same as Ethan), Asaph is called a “visionary,” who did “prophesying with the harp.”—1 Chron. 25:1-6; 2 Chron. 29:30; 35:15.

Asaph’s sons continued to form a special group in the orchestral and choral arrangements, taking a prominent part at the time of the temple’s inauguration and the bringing up of the Ark from Zion to the temple location (2 Chron. 5:12); at the time of King Hezekiah’s reforms (2 Chron. 29:13-15); and at the time of the great Passover celebrated during King Josiah’s reign. (2 Chron. 35:15, 16) Some of his descendants were also among the first group returning to Jerusalem from Babylonian exile.—Ezra 2:1, 41; Neh. 7:44.

The traditional superscriptions for Psalms 50, 73-83 credit these songs to Asaph. However, it seems likely that the name is there used as referring to the house of which he was paternal head, since some of the psalms (Pss. 79, 80) evidently describe events later than Asaph’s day.

2. A descendant of Levi’s son Kohath. His descendants were gatekeepers in the tabernacle service in King David’s time.—1 Chron. 26:1; Num. 16:1.

3. Among the officials of King Hezekiah (745-716 B.C.E.) is mentioned “Joah the son of Asaph the recorder.” (2 Ki. 18:18, 37; Isa. 36:3, 22) While Kitto’s Cyclopœdia of Biblical Literature (Vol. I, p. 233) applies the phrase “the recorder” to Asaph, most authorities view it as applying to Joah (thus, Joah ben Asaph, the recorder). Since the term “son” is often used in the sense of “descendant,” some suggest that this Asaph is the same as No. 1 above.

4. The “keeper of the park” for King Artaxerxes at the time of Nehemiah’s return to Jerusalem (455 B.C.E.). (Neh. 2:8) The park was a wooded area, perhaps in Lebanon, which was also under Persian control. The park keeper’s Hebrew name may indicate that he was a Jew occupying this official position, even as Nehemiah had served in the relatively important position of the king’s cupbearer.—Neh. 1:11.

ASAREL

(Asʹa·rel) [God has bound].

One of four sons of Jehallelel of the tribe of Judah.—1 Chron. 4:16.

ASCENSION

The ascension of Jesus Christ to heaven was a very essential event of his post-resurrection activity.

Jesus’ ascension took place forty days from the time of his resurrection, according to Acts 1:3-9. Therefore, there is a time lapse involved between the events recorded at Luke 24:1-49 as occurring on Jesus’ resurrection day and the ascension of Jesus as described in verse 51 of that chapter. It may also be noted that the words “and began to be borne up to heaven,” appearing in that verse, are lacking in some ancient manuscripts and are therefore omitted in some modern translations (RS, AT). They do appear, however, in the Alexandrine Manuscript and the Vatican Manuscript No. 1209 and in other ancient manuscripts.

The scene of Jesus’ ascension was the Mount of Olives (Acts 1:9, 12), near the town of Bethany (Luke 24:50), which town lies on the eastern side of the Mount of Olives. Those witnessing the ascension formed a limited group, his faithful apostles. (Acts 1:2, 11-13) The record states that, “while they were looking on, he was lifted up and a cloud caught him up from their vision.” They continued looking into the sky until advised otherwise by the angels, who informed them: “This Jesus who was received up from you into the sky will come thus in the same manner as you have beheld him going into the sky.”—Acts 1:9-11.

It is to be noted that the angels referred to the “manner” (Gr., troʹpos) not the form (Gr., mor·pheʹ) in which Jesus departed. The Acts account shows the manner of his ascension to have been without ostentation or fanfare, discerned by only a few faithful followers and that for only the initial part of the ascension. It appears that the manner of his ascension was such as would qualify the apostles to serve as witnesses of that fact, even as they were of Jesus’ resurrection. (Acts 1:3) Thus, he did not simply ‘disappear’ from them, as he did earlier from the two disciples at Emmaus, nor as the angel who had appeared to Gideon “vanished from his sight.” (Luke 24:31; Judg. 6:21, 22) To an extent, his ascension was more like that of the angel who appeared to Manoah and his wife and had them prepare a sacrifice, and “as the flame ascended from off the altar heavenward, then Jehovah’s angel ascended in the flame of the altar while Manoah and his wife were looking on.”—Judg. 13:20, 21.

EFFECT ON DISCIPLES

Up until the day of Jesus’ ascension it appears that the disciples still thought in terms of an earthly kingdom ruled by him, as seen by their statement at Acts 1:6. By beginning his ascension in a visible way and allowing his disciples to witness the initial portion of it, Jesus thus made obvious to them that his kingdom was heavenly and that, different from David who “did not ascend to the heavens,” Jesus’ position from then onward would be at ‘God’s right hand,’ as Peter boldly testified on the day of Pentecost.—Acts 2:32-36.

Such action likewise should call to their mind and cause them to comprehend Jesus’ many previous statements pointing to such a heavenly position. He had shocked some by saying: “What, therefore, if you should behold the Son of man ascending to where he was before?” (John 6:62); and he told the Jews: “You are from the realms below; I am from the realms above.” (John 8:23) On the night of his final meeting with his apostles he told them he was ‘going his way to the Father to prepare a place for them’ (John 14:2, 28); while in prayer among them on his last night of life as a human, he reported to his Father that he had ‘finished the work on earth’ assigned to him and prayed to be glorified “alongside yourself with the glory that I had alongside you before the world was,” saying also, “I am coming to you.” (John 17:4, 5, 11) When arrested, he gave similar indication before the Sanhedrin. (Matt. 26:64) After his resurrection, he told Mary Magdalene: “Stop clinging to me. For I have not yet ascended to the Father. But be on your way to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father and to my God and your God.’” (John 20:17) Yet, despite all this, it is evident that the significance of these statements was ‘brought home’ to the disciples only at the occasion of the ascension. Later, Stephen was given a vision of Jesus at God’s right hand (Acts 7:55, 56), and Paul experienced the effect of Jesus’ heavenly glory.—Acts 9:3-5.

NONPHYSICAL INAUGURATION OF A ‘NEW AND LIVING WAY’

While Jesus began his ascent in a physical form, thus making possible his being seeable by his watching disciples, there is no basis for assuming that he continued to retain a material form after the cloud interposed itself. The apostle Peter states that Jesus died in the flesh but was resurrected “in the spirit.” (1 Pet. 3:18) Paul declares the rule that “flesh and blood cannot inherit God’s kingdom” (1 Cor. 15:50; compare also Jesus’ statement at John 12:23, 24 with 1 Corinthians 15:35-45). Paul likens Jesus’ ascent to God’s presence in the heavens to the entry of the high priest into the Most Holy compartment of the tabernacle on the day of atonement, and specifies that on such occasion the high priest carried only the blood (not the flesh) of the sacrificial victims. (Heb. 9:7, 11, 12, 24-26) Paul then compares the curtain, which separated the first compartment from the Most Holy compartment, to Christ’s flesh. The high priest in passing into the Most Holy into God’s typical presence did not carry the curtain with him but passed through that barrier and beyond it, so that it was behind him. Thus, Paul states that “we have boldness for the way of entry into the holy place by the blood of Jesus, which he inaugurated for us as a new and living way through the curtain, that is, his flesh.”—Heb. 9:3, 24; 10:10, 19, 20; compare John 6:51; Hebrews 6:19, 20.

That Jesus’ ascension to heaven with the ransoming value of his lifeblood did inaugurate “a new and living way” harmonizes with Jesus’ own statement to the effect that, prior thereto, “no man has ascended into heaven but he that descended from heaven, the Son of man.” (John 3:13) Thus, neither Enoch nor Elijah inaugurated this way, any more than David had. (Gen. 5:24; 2 Ki. 2:11; Acts 2:34) As Paul states: “The holy spirit makes it plain that the way into the holy place had not yet been made manifest while the first tent was standing.”—Heb. 9:8; see ELIJAH No. 1; ENOCH No. 2.

CORRECTNESS OF THE TERM

Some raise objections to the account of the ascension, saying that it conveys the primitive concept that heaven is “up” from the earth, thus manifesting ignorance of the structure of the universe and of the earth’s rotation. However, to satisfy such critics would, in effect, require the virtual elimination of the words “up,” “above,” and so forth, from human language. Even in this “space age,” we still read of astronauts orbiting the earth as having “ascended to 739 nautical miles” above the earth (New York Times, September 16, 1966), whereas we know that technically they “moved out or away” from the earth’s surface that distance. Interestingly, the account of the angelic delegation that chorused the announcement of Jesus’ birth reports that, when their mission was completed, “the angels . . . departed from them into heaven.” (Luke 2:15; compare Acts 12:10.) Thus Jesus’ ascension, while beginning with an upward movement, as related to the earthly locality where his disciples were, may have thereafter taken any direction required to bring him into his Father’s heavenly presence. It was an ascension, not only in a directional sense, but, more importantly, as to the sphere of activity and level of existence in the spirit realm and in the lofty presence of the Most High God, a realm not governed by human dimensions or directions.—Compare Hebrews 2:7, 9.

WHY ESSENTIAL

Jesus’ ascension to the heavenly realm was essential for several reasons or purposes. He had stated that it was necessary for him to ‘go his way’ in order that he might send God’s holy spirit as helper to his disciples. (John 16:7-14) The outpouring of that spirit by Jesus on the day of Pentecost was to the disciples an evident demonstration of the fact of Jesus’ having reached God’s presence, and having presented his ransom sacrifice to Him. (Acts 2:33, 38) This presentation of the value of his lifeblood also made such ascension vital, for it was not to be made on earth, in the Most Holy of the temple in Jerusalem, but only in “heaven itself . . . before the person of God.” (Heb. 9:24) It was also made necessary by Jesus’ being appointed and glorified as the “great high priest who has passed through the heavens.” (Heb. 4:14; 5:1-6) Paul explains that “if, now, he were upon earth, he would not be a priest,” but that, having “sat down at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens,” Jesus has now “obtained a more excellent public service, so that he is also the mediator of a correspondingly better covenant.” (Heb. 8:1-6) Because of this, Christians subject to inherited sin are comforted in knowing they “have a helper with the Father, Jesus Christ, a righteous one.”—1 John 2:1; Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25.

Finally, the ascension was necessary for Jesus’ administration of the kingdom to which he became heir, with “angels and authorities and powers . . . made subject to him.” (1 Pet. 3:22; Phil. 2:6-11; 1 Cor. 15:25; Heb. 10:12, 13; compare Daniel 7:14.) Having “conquered the world” (John 16:33), Jesus took part in fulfilling the prophecy at Psalm 68:18, ‘ascending on high and carrying away captives,’ the significance of which Paul explains at Ephesians 4:8-12.

ASCENTS

The Hebrew expression Shir ham·maʽalohthʹ, forming the superscription for fifteen psalms (120-134), is variously translated as “A Song of degrees” (AV), “A gradual canticle” (Dy), “A Song of Ascent by Steps” (LXX, translation of Charles Thomson), “A Song of [or, “for the”] Ascents” (AT, RS). Four of these psalms are attributed to David and one to Solomon. The exact meaning of the title “A Song of the Ascents” is a subject of discussion.

At one time Jewish tradition held that these fifteen songs were sung by the Levites in ascending the fifteen steps from the Court of Women to the Court of Israel at the temple in Jerusalem, but this view is generally discounted today. Some suggest that the phrase refers to the exalted contents of these psalms, though there seems to be little reason thus to elevate them above the other inspired psalms. Most commentators believe the title derives from the use of these psalms by the Israelite worshipers when traveling or “ascending” to the lofty city of Jerusalem situated high in the mountains of Judah as they joyfully attended the three great annual festivals there. (Deut. 12:5-7; 16:16; Ps. 42:4; Isa. 30:29) The word ma·ʽalahʹ is used in a similar way at Ezra 7:9 when referring to the “going up” of the Israelites from Babylon to Jerusalem after the exile. The expressions in Psalm 122:1-4 lend themselves well to this view, while the content of the other