:Asuppim

Many early commentators, including pseudo-Solomon b. Isaac on Nehemiah,{{Efn|This commentary on Ezra-Nehemiah, attributed to Solomon b. Isaac by printings, was composed by a different 12th-century French sage. Pseudo-Solomon b. Isaac on 1 Chronicles may have been written by disciples of a certain 12th-century French Saadia (not Saadia b. Joseph); a commentary by "Saadia's disciples" is quoted by Tosafoth Yoma 9a, the quotation matches pseudo-Solomon b. Isaac on 1 Chronicles, and the author of that commentary makes repeated reference to his time learning in Narbonne, though H.J. Matthews doubts the value of this evidence. However, there are important stylistic differences between pseudo-Solomon b. Isaac on Chronicles and pseudo-Solomon b. Isaac on Nehemiah, plus the conflict discussed on this page, so their authorship is probably not shared.Liber, Maurice (1906). [https://books.google.com/books?id=_LKr2hmXMa8C&pg=PA231 Rashi]. Jewish publication society of America.Matthews, H. J. (1882). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Vo1JAAAAYAAJ&pg=PT12 Anecdota Oxoniensia: Semitic series]}}{{Cite web|title=Rashi on Nehemiah 12:25:2|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Rashi_on_Nehemiah.12.25.2|access-date=2021-04-02|website=www.sefaria.org}} pseudo-Abraham b. Meir b. Ezra (Moses Qimḥi),{{Efn|1=Printings attribute this commentary on Nehemiah to Abraham b. Meir b. Ezra, but it has been conclusively proven to be the work of Moses Qimḥi instead. Ezra, Abraham ben Meïr Ibn; Kimḥi, Moses (1880). [https://books.google.com/books?id=pgkhAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PT6 Commentary on the Book of Proverbs]. Defus ha-Ḳlarendon.}}{{Cite web|title=Ibn Ezra on Nehemiah 12:25:1|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Ibn_Ezra_on_Nehemiah.12.25.1|access-date=2021-04-02|website=www.sefaria.org}} Jacob b. Meir,{{Cite web|title=Commentary of the Rosh on Tamid 27a:13|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Commentary_of_the_Rosh_on_Tamid.27a.13|access-date=2021-04-02|website=www.sefaria.org}} pseudo-Saadia b. Joseph (pseudo-Benjamin b. Judah),{{Efn|In most MSS this commentary on Nehemiah is anonymous. MS Milan G23 attributes it to Saadia b. Joseph, as do some recent publications, but this attribution has been rejected by scholars. Among other evidences, this commentary is clearly by the same author as pseudo-Saadiah on the Book of Daniel, which commentary is nothing like Saadia b. Joseph's genuine Judeo-Arabic commentary on Daniel. MS Munich 60 attributes it to Benjamin b. Judah of Rome (1290-1330), and its similarity to Isaiah di Trani's commentary agrees with a southern Italian origin; this attribution was accepted by Heinrich Berger in his 1895 edition; however, it is not in the same style as other Biblical commentaries attributed to Benjamin b. Judah and Benjamin's proposed authorship has been rejected by H. J. Matthews, Shlomo Zalman Haim Halberstam, Abraham Berliner, Adolf Neubauer, and other scholars. Aside from evidence connecting this commentary to "Saadia" on Daniel and the inaccurate attribution to Saadia b. Joseph, three medieval authors quote it in the name of "Saadia" and the British Library MS may attribute it to "Saadia" as well; attempted attributees of this commentary named Saadia include the poet Saadia b. Nachmani, Saadia b. Joseph, "Saadia" the author of morning Viduy, and the "Saadia" mentioned by Jakar b. Qalonimus, a student of Solomon b. Isaac.Malter, Henry (1921). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Es04AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA326 Saadia Gaon: His Life and Works]. Jewish publication society of America.[https://books.google.com/books?id=mU5DAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA239 The Athenaeum]. British Periodicals Limited. 1882.{{cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=slgpAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA350 | title=The Jewish Quarterly Review | year=1894 | last1=Montefiore | first1=Claude Goldsmid }}}}{{Cite web|title=Saadia Gaon on Nehemiah 12:25:1|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Saadia_Gaon_on_Nehemiah.12.25.1|access-date=2021-04-02|website=www.sefaria.org}} and Isaiah di Trani,{{Efn|As with many of their works, it is not conclusively known whether this commentary on Nehemiah is the work of Isaiah di Trani or Isaiah di Trani the Younger. It was traditionally attributed to the elder sage, but Moritz Güdemann argues for the younger based on similarities with his other works.Güdemann, Gesch. ii. (1898) 189 et seq., 390.[https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/isaiah-ben-elijah-di-trani#:~:text=His%20novellae%20are%20known%20mainly,on%20the%20Halakhot%20of%20*Alfasi.&text=In%20his%20halakhic%20works%20Isaiah,sciences%20than%20did%20his%20grandfather. Encyclopedia Judaica IX] pg. 73}}{{Cite web|title=תנ"ך - מקראות גדולות הכתר - נחמיה פרק יב עם פירוש ר' ישעיה מטראני|url=https://www.mgketer.org/mikra/37/12/1/mg/66|access-date=2021-04-03|website=www.mgketer.org}} trace the root of Asuppim to ספפ terminate,{{Efn|The meaning of the verb ספפ is not definitively known, and dictionaries include "guard", "terminate", "spread out", and "meaning unknown". What is known is that it is the source of סף and ספא, "threshold".|name=term}} for the translation "thresholds" or "entrances", as do Meir Leibush Wisser,{{Cite web|title=Malbim on Nehemiah 12:24|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Malbim_on_Nehemiah.12.24|access-date=2021-04-03|website=www.sefaria.org}} Julius Bate,{{Cite book|last=Bate|first=Julius|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-flcas8Rg5MC&pg=PA38|title=Critica Hebraea, Or, A Hebrew-English Dictionary, Without Points: In which the Several Derivatives are Reduced to Their Genuine Roots, Their Specific Significations from Thence Illustrated, and Exemplified by Passages Cited at Length from Scripture ... : the Whole Supplying the Place of a Commentary on the Words and More Difficult Passages in the Sacred Writings|date=1767|publisher=M. Folingsby|language=en}} the King James Version to Nehemiah, and some moderns (see § Modern consensus). The Targum to 1 Chronicles translates Asuppim as שקפיא threshold,{{Cite web|title=MT and targums for Chron1 26:15|url=http://cal.huc.edu/showtargum.php?bookname=34&chapter=26&verse=15&Peshitta=ON&Sam=ON|access-date=2021-04-04|website=cal.huc.edu|publisher=The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon}}{{Cite web|title=MT and targums for Chron1 26:17|url=http://cal.huc.edu/showtargum.php?bookname=34&chapter=26&verse=17&Peshitta=ON&Sam=ON|access-date=2021-04-04|website=cal.huc.edu|publisher=The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon}} the same translation used for ספפ elsewhere.{{Cite web|title=Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature by Marcus Jastrow|url=http://www.tyndalearchive.com/TABS/Jastrow/index.htm|access-date=2021-04-02|website=www.tyndalearchive.com}} The Peshitta to Nehemiah is missing the last three words of 12:25,{{Efn|Syriac: ܡܬܢܝܐ ܘܒܩܝ܂ ܘܥܘܒܕܝܐ܂ ܘܫܠܘܡ܂ ܘܐܛܠܡܢ ܘܥܩܘܦ ܢܿܛܪ ܬܪܥܐ܂

Translation: "Methanya, and Baqi, and Oubdaya, and Shalum, and Atlam, and Aquph, guards of the gates".}}{{Cite web|title=P Neh. 12|url=http://cal.huc.edu/get_a_chapter.php?file=62037&sub=12&cset=S|access-date=2021-04-04|website=cal.huc.edu|publisher=The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon}} but the Peshitta to 1 Chronicles translates ܣ̈ܦܐ{{Efn|In block script: ספא (סִפָּא). From ספפ.}} threshold. The Vulgate translates vestibulorum "entrances" (ספפ) in Nehemiah,{{Cite web|title=Latin Vulgate, chapter 12, verse 25|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0060:book=Nehemiah:chapter=12:verse=25|access-date=2021-04-04|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}} which Loring Woart Batten,{{Cite book|last=Batten|first=Loring Woart|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mB5VAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA277|title=A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah|date=1913|publisher=T. & T. Clark|isbn=9781590458464 |language=en}} Paul Mankowski,{{Cite book|last=Mankowski|first=Paul V.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rt6mDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA37|title=Akkadian Loanwords in Biblical Hebrew|date=2018-08-14|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-36970-2|language=en}} and Jonas C. Greenfield accept.{{cite journal |last1=Greenfield |first1=Jonas C. |title=The Small Caves of Qumran |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |date=1969 |volume=89 |issue=1 |pages=128–141 |doi=10.2307/598284 |jstor=598284 }} Confirmation for the classical conflation of אספ with ספפ or another root meaning "entrance structure" comes from Aramaic and Akkadian parallels and Dead Sea Scrolls, including the Temple Scroll, where אספ often means threshold.{{cite journal |last1=צרפתי |first1=גד בן-עמי |last2=Sarfatti |first2=G. |title=אסף = "portico" / "אסף" = בית שער |journal=Lĕšonénu: A Journal for the Study of the Hebrew Language and Cognate Subjects / לשוננו: כתב-עת לחקר הלשון העברית והתחומים הסמוכים לה |date=1966 |volume=לא |issue=א |pages=79 |jstor=24370256 }}{{cite journal |last1=Talshir |first1=David |title=A Reinvestigation of the Linguistic Relationship between Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah |journal=Vetus Testamentum |date=1988 |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=165–193 |doi=10.2307/1517655 |jstor=1517655 }}{{cite journal |last1=קימרון |first1=אלישע |last2=Kimron |first2=E. |title=The Vocabulary of the Temple Scroll / למילונה של מגילת המקדש |journal=Shnaton: An Annual for Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies / שנתון לחקר המקרא והמזרח הקדום |date=1980 |volume=ד |pages=239–262 |jstor=23412550 }}{{cite journal |last1=קוטשר |first1=יחזקאל |title=בשולי המילון המקראי |journal=Lĕšonénu: A Journal for the Study of the Hebrew Language and Cognate Subjects / לשוננו: כתב-עת לחקר הלשון העברית והתחומים הסמוכים לה |date=1964 |volume=כז/כח |issue=ג |pages=183–188 |jstor=24375740 }}

Other early commentators, including pseudo-Solomon b. Isaac on b. Tamid,{{Efn|Authorship unknown, not the same as any pseudo-Solomon b. Isaac on the Bible, usually now printed under "Mefaresh" because it cites Solomon b. Isaac's genuine commentary to b. Shabbat{{Cite web|title=Rashi on Shabbat 19b:6:6|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Rashi_on_Shabbat.19b.6.6|access-date=2021-04-05|website=www.sefaria.org}} on b. Tamid 25b.{{Cite web|title=Mefaresh on Tamid 25b:2|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Mefaresh_on_Tamid.25b.2|access-date=2021-04-05|website=www.sefaria.org}} Bezalel Ashkenazi writes that it is assembled from Solomon b. Isaac's commentary on b. Yoma,Betzalel Ashkenazi, Šîṭâ Mǝqûbbeṣet on b. Tamid 33b (end of tractate). but the explanation of Asuppim is not found there. Variously attributed to Shemaiah of Soissons,Betzalel Ashkenazi, Šîṭâ Mǝqûbbeṣet on b. Tamid passim, though not in the redaction of Solomon Adeni. though there is a different commentary to b. Tamid under his name found MS Opp. 726 and published by Fuchs (2000), and Isaac b. Baruch, a Tosafist, "HebrewBooks.org Sefer Detail: [https://hebrewbooks.org/20964 חק נתן -- בורג'ל, נתן בן אברהם, נפ' 1791" pg. קסו (beginning of b. Tamid]. hebrewbooks.org. Retrieved 2021-04-04. though pseudo-Abraham b. David quotes a different commentary in his name.Pseudo-Abraham b. David on b. Tamid 27b, s.v. בית המוקד.}} pseudo-Gershom b. Judah,{{Efn|Abraham Epstein has shown that this commentary to the Talmud, commonly printed under Gershom b. Judah's name, is actually a collection of commentaries from the school of Isaac b. Judah of Mainz (c. 1064-1100).Epstein, Abraham (2000). [http://www.herzog.ac.il/vtc/tvunot/netuim6_epstein.pdf "פירוש התלמוד המיוחס לרבנו גרשום מאור הגולה"] (PDF). Netuim. 6 (in Hebrew): 107–133.}}{{Cite web|title=Rabbeinu Gershom on Tamid 27a:4|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Rabbeinu_Gershom_on_Tamid.27a.4|access-date=2021-04-02|website=www.sefaria.org}} pseudo-Abraham b. David (Baruch b. Isaac),{{Efn|This commentary to Tamid, attributed to Abraham b. David by printings, was instead written by a different German sage. Abraham Epstein proposed Baruch b. Isaac,{{cite journal |last1=אפשטיין |first1=י. נ. |last2=Epstein |first2=J. N. |title=Early German and Italian Tossafoth / תוספות אשכנזיות ואיטלקיות קדומות |journal=Tarbiz / תרביץ |date=1941 |volume=י"ב |issue=ג' |pages=190–204 |jstor=23583792 }}Abraham Epstein, Das talmudische Lexicon, MGWJ 39, pg. 452. though Ephraim Urbach disagrees.בעלי התוספות, תשמ"ו, עמ' 354-361.}} pseudo-Asher b. Jehiel.{{Efn|Abraham Epstein has challenged the printings' attribution of this commentary on Tamid to Asher b. Jehiel. It explicitly conflicts with the genuine Asher b. Jehiel commentary on b. Berakhot.{{cite journal |last1=Ginzberg |first1=Louis |title=TAMID: THE OLDEST TREATISE OF THE MISHNAH. (Continuation) |journal=Journal of Jewish Lore and Philosophy |date=1919 |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=197–209 |jstor=42956627 }}}}{{Cite web|title=Commentary of the Rosh on Tamid 27a|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Commentary_of_the_Rosh_on_Tamid.27a|access-date=2021-04-02|website=www.sefaria.org}} and the Anonymous German Commentary to b. Tamid,{{Efn|The AGCT apparently believed יספ and אספ were the same, describing the Assupim as "תוספות" but also that they "נתאספו".}}{{Cite journal|last=Fuchs|first=Uziel|title=שני פירושים חדשים על מסכת תמיד - פירוש ר' שמעיה, ופירוש אשכנזי אנונימי, קובץ על יד, תשס"א|url=https://www.academia.edu/8180438|language=en}} traced Asuppim to יספ append, for "additions," so-named because they had been added (יספ) onto the larger structure. Yechezkel Kutscher agreed יספ was the root of Assupim but translated "additions [next to entrances]" (see § Akkadian loanword).

The Vulgate{{Cite web|title=1 Chronicles, chapter 26, verse 15|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=1+Chronicles+26.15&fromdoc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0060|access-date=2021-04-04|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}{{Cite web|title=1 Chronicles, chapter 26, verse 17|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0060:book=1%20Chronicles:chapter=26:verse=17|access-date=2021-04-04|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}} (only on 1 Chronicles) and some early commentators, including Levi b. Gershon{{Cite web|title=Ralbag on Nehemiah 12:25:1|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Ralbag_on_Nehemiah.12.25.1|access-date=2021-04-02|website=www.sefaria.org}} and Menachem Meiri,{{Cite web|title=Middot 1:1 with Meiri|url=https://mishna.alhatorah.org/Full/Middot/1.1#e0n0|access-date=2021-04-05|website=mishna.alhatorah.org|language=he}} held to the plain etymology אספ gather, for "assembly". Levi b. Gershon thought they were so-named because they were the places "where Levites gathered (אספ) to guard the gates," which Richard Brown accepts.{{Cite book|last=Brown|first=Richard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wVhcAAAAcAAJ&pg=PR30|title=Sacred Architecture, Its Rise, Progress, and Present State: Embracing the Babylonian, Indian, Egyptian, Greek, and Roman Temples,--the Byzantine, Saxon, Lombard, Norman, and Italian Churches, with an Analytical Inquiry Into the Origin, Progress, and Perfection of the Gothic Churches in England ...|date=1845|publisher=Fisher, son, & Company|language=en}} Meiri thought they were so-called because "they were the places where the Levites gathered (אספ) to perform commandments". The translation of Asuppim as assembly (אספ) is used by the Vulgate for "assembly of elders" in 1 Chronicles (see below).

Immanuel Tremellius{{Cite book|last=Tremellius|first=Immanuel|url=https://archive.org/details/testamentiveteri00trem|title=Testamenti Veteris Biblia Sacra, sive, Libri canonici priscae Judaeoum ecclesiae a Deo traditi, latini recens ex hebraeo facti, brevibusq[ue] scholiis illustrati|date=1603|publisher=Hanoviae : typis Wechelianis, apud Claudium Marnium & haeredes Joannis Aubrii|others=Boston Public Library|language=Latin}} and most modern scholars, including Lightfoot, Julius Fürst,{{Cite book|last=Fürst|first=Julius|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eAYtAAAAYAAJ|title=Hebräisches und Chaldäisches Handwörterbuch über das Alte Testament: mit einer Einleitung eine kurze Geschichte der hebräischen Lexikographie enthaltend einem deutschen Index, sowie einem grammatischen und analytischen Anhange|date=1876|publisher=Tauchnitz|pages=120|language=de}} Carl Friedrich Keil,{{Cite book|last=Keil|first=Carl Friedrich|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=66cGAAAAQAAJ&pg=274|title=The books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, tr. by S. Taylor|date=1873|language=en}} Herbert Edward Ryle,{{Cite book|last=Ryle|first=Herbert Edward|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6ik2AAAAMAAJ&pg=298|title=The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah with Introduction, Notes and Maps|date=1893|publisher=University Press|language=en}} Wilhelm Gesenius,{{cite encyclopaedia|year=1863|encyclopaedia=A Dictionary of the Bible|publisher=Little, Brown, and Company|location=Boston|editor1-last=Smith|editor1-first=William|volume=3 Red Sea–Zuzims|article=Thresholds, The|author1-first=George|author1-last=Grove|author1-link=George Grove}} ({{Internet Archive|id=dictionaryofbibl03smituoft|page=n1492|name=A dictionary of the Bible}}) Charles Ellicott, Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg, Joshua Hughes-Games,{{Cite book|last=Hughes-Games|first=Joshua|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BpHiJI2n3ngC&pg=PA198|title=The First and Second Books of Chronicles|date=1902|publisher=J. M. Dent & Company|language=en}} Ernst Bertheau,{{Cite book|last=Bertheau|first=Ernst|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UT9aAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA204|title=Die Bücher der Chronik|date=1873|publisher=S. Hirzel|language=de}} George Williams,{{Cite book|last=Williams|first=Georges|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6gTxGdsN0lcC&pg=PA48|title=The Holy City: Historical, Topographical, and Antiquarian Notices of Jerusalem|date=1849|publisher=J. W. Parker|language=en}} Charles Cutler Torrey,{{Cite book|last=Torrey|first=Charles Cutler|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=glZOAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA71|title=Ezra Studies|date=1910|publisher=University of Chicago Press|language=en}} and Mitchell Dahood,{{cite journal |last1=Dahood |first1=Mitchell |title=The Phoenician Background of Qoheleth |journal=Biblica |date=1966 |volume=47 |issue=2 |pages=264–282 |jstor=43595241 }} use אספ gather but translate storehouses, where treasure or supplies were gathered (אספ); in support of this translation is 2 Chronicles 25:24, which describes "All the gold and the silver and all the vessels, which were found in the House of Yahweh with Obed-Edom",{{Efn|Hebrew: כָֽל־הַזָּהָ֣ב וְהַכֶּ֡סֶף וְאֵ֣ת כָּל־הַ֠כֵּלִים הַנִּמְצְאִ֨ים בְּבֵית־הָאֱלֹהִ֜ים עִם־עֹבֵ֣ד אֱד֗וֹם}} whose sons guard the Asuppim in 1 Chronicles.{{Cite book|last=LIGHTFOOT (D.D.)|first=John|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wmt4eKYk8BYC|title=The Whole Works of ... J. L. ... Edited by J. R. Pitman [With the Prefaces of Former Editions.]|date=1823|pages=229–233|language=en}}{{Cite book|last=Schomer|first=Justus Christoph|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QhXkl4kta_YC&pg=PP5|title=Disputatio Theologica De Collegiis Privatae Pietatis|date=1685|publisher=Richelius|language=la}} This is the approach of most modern translations and dictionaries (see § Modern consensus).

The Vulgate and some modern commentators, including Hengstenberg{{Cite book|last=Hengstenberg|first=Ernst Wilhelm|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yIlUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA261QAG|title=Commentary on Ecclesiastes: With Other Treatises|date=1860|publisher=Smith, English|language=en}} and Adolf Kamphausen,{{Cite book|last=Kamphausen|first=Adolf|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aDBBAAAAcAAJ|title=Commentatio de chronographi veteris testamenti nonnullis locís: (Gelegenheitsschrift der Universität Bonn.)|date=1868|publisher=Formis Car. Georgi|language=la}} associate Asuppim with the Ba'alei Asuppoth (Hebrew: בַּעֲלֵי אֲסֻפּוֹת, usually translated "masters of anthologies (אספ)"{{Cite web|title=Ecclesiastes 12:11 The words of the wise are like goads, and the anthologies of the masters are like firmly embedded nails driven by a single Shepherd.|url=https://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/12-11.htm|access-date=2021-04-02|website=biblehub.com}} but by the Vulgate, magistrorum concilium "masters of assemblies (אספ)"{{Cite web|title=Ecclesiastes, chapter 12, verse 11|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0060:book=Ecclesiastes:chapter=12:verse=11|access-date=2021-04-02|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}} and by Hengstenberg, "authors in the library (אספ)"), mentioned Ecclesiastes 12:11. The words Asuppim and Asuppoth are etymological equivalents, and the use of the female suffix{{Efn|Asuppim has the male plural suffix and Asuppoth the female.}} in Ecclesiastes enables a rhyme with dar'bonoth (דרבנות goads); variant Ba'alei Asuppim (בעלי אספים) is found in the poetry of Eleazar b. Kalir for a different rhyme.{{Cite web|title=קדושתות לשבתות מיוחדות - אלעזר הקליר {{!}} מפעל המילון ההיסטורי|url=https://maagarim.hebrew-academy.org.il/Pages/PMain.aspx?mishibbur=600006&mm15=012060008040%2060&mismilla=19|access-date=2021-04-02|website=maagarim.hebrew-academy.org.il}} The Vulgate uses the connection to translate Asuppim seniorum concilium "assembly (אספ) of elders" in 1 Chronicles 26:15.{{Cite web|title=1 Chronicles 26 Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers|url=https://biblehub.com/commentaries/ellicott/1_chronicles/26.htm|access-date=2021-04-02|website=biblehub.com}}

Mayer Sulzberger connects Asuppim to וַיֶּאֱסֹף and he gathered in Genesis 42:17, where Joseph "gathers" his brothers into prison, for the translation prison.{{cite journal |last1=Sulzberger |first1=Mayer |title=The Ancient Hebrew Law of Homicide: IV |journal=The Jewish Quarterly Review |date=1915 |volume=5 |issue=4 |pages=559–614 |doi=10.2307/1451297 |jstor=1451297 }} Many translate Genesis 42:17's use of אספ gather "imprisoned" from context,{{Cite web|title=Genesis 42:17 So Joseph imprisoned them for three days|url=https://biblehub.com/genesis/42-17.htm|access-date=2021-04-05|website=biblehub.com}} but this usage is otherwise unique. Rabbinic commentators understand the use of אספ gather to imply that force was not used,{{Cite web|title=Radak on Genesis 42:17:1|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Radak_on_Genesis.42.17.1|access-date=2021-04-05|website=www.sefaria.org}}{{Cite web|title=Gur Aryeh on Bereishit 42:17:1|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Gur_Aryeh_on_Bereishit.42.17.1|access-date=2021-04-05|website=www.sefaria.org}} and extrapolation is difficult because וַיֶּאֱסֹף wa-ye'esoph seems to be a deliberate pun on יוֹסֵף Yoseph. Onqelos, pseudo-Jonathan, and the Samaritan Targum render it כנש gathered,{{Cite web|title=Targums to Genesis 42:17|url=http://cal.huc.edu/showtargum.php?bookname=1&chapter=42&verse=17|access-date=2021-04-05|website=cal.huc.edu|publisher=The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon}} LXX has ἔθετο placed,{{Cite web|title=Septuagint Genesis, Ch. 42 - Part 2|url=https://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/physis/septuagint-genesis/42.asp?pg=2|access-date=2021-04-05|website=www.ellopos.net}} the Vulgate has "tradidit" delivered,{{Cite web|title=Genesis, chapter 42, verse 17|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0060:book=Genesis:chapter=42:verse=17|access-date=2021-04-05|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}} and the Peshitta has ܪܡܝ{{Efn|Block script: רמי (רְמֵי)}} cast down,{{Cite web|title=P Gen. 42|url=http://cal.huc.edu/get_a_chapter.php?file=62001&sub=42&cset=S|access-date=2021-04-05|website=cal.huc.edu|publisher=The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon}} but Neofiti renders חבש imprisoned.

The Akkadian word asuppu, of unknown etymology{{Cite book|last=Meissner|first=Bruno|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fg8ZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA9|title=Supplement zu den Assyrischen Wörterbüchern|date=1898|publisher=E.J. Brill|isbn=978-0-8370-8597-5|language=de}} but possibly related to ספפ terminate{{Efn|name=term}} or יספ append, was first connected to the phonologically similar Asuppim by Godfrey Rolles Driver{{cite journal |last1=Driver |first1=G. R. |title=Notes on Hebrew Lexicography |journal=The Journal of Theological Studies |date=1922 |volume=23 |issue=92 |pages=405–410 |doi=10.1093/jts/os-XXIII.92.405 |jstor=23950157 }} and this connection has since been widely acknowledged.Chicago Assyrian Dictionary A/2, 349{{Cite journal|last=Kaufman|first=Stephen A.|title=The Akkadian Influences on Aramaic 38|url=https://www.academia.edu/884032|journal=|date=January 1974 |language=en|pages=57}}{{Cite book|last=Gzella|first=Holger|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dwx-DwAAQBAJ|title=Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, Volume XVI|date=2018-11-30|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|isbn=978-1-4674-5130-7|language=en|chapter=תרע}} Mankowski argues the QaTuL pattern of אָסֹף asop, not indigenous to Biblical Hebrew for nouns, independently indicates that it is a loanword. However, David M. Clemens argues it might not be a loanword and could have formed from an indigenous QaTuL-pattern adjective which acquired a nominal usage.{{cite journal |last1=Clemens |first1=David M. |title=Akkadian Loanwords in Biblical Hebrew . By Paul V. Mankowski, S.J.. Harvard Semitic Museum Publications, Harvard Semitic Studies, no. 47. Winona Lake, Indiana, 2000. Pp. xviii + 232. $29.95. |journal=Journal of Near Eastern Studies |date=October 2003 |volume=62 |issue=4 |pages=290–294 |doi=10.1086/380360 }} Corey Michael Peacock also rejects any connection between Asuppim and asuppu, arguing the contexts in Nehemiah and 1 Chronicles demand a gate-specific definition for Asuppim.{{cite thesis |id={{ProQuest|1334956734}} |last1=Peacock |first1=Cory Ke Michael |date=2013 |title=Akkadian Loanwords in the Hebrew Bible: Social and Historical Implications }}

The Chicago Assyrian Dictionary defines asuppu as "a type of building erected of less durable materials than a house, used in outbuildings and on top of buildings." Mankowski suggests, for "less durable materials," bound reeds or thatch (compare Hebrew סוף sup "reeds" and Egyptian ṭwfi "reeds"). Heather D. Baker says asuppus were unroofed and notes that "[I]nsubstantial structures have occasionally been excavated within house courtyards" and "It is possible, but not certain, that these remains correspond to the Akkadian term asuppu."{{Cite journal|last=Baker|first=Heather D.|title=Baker, H.D. 2015. Family Structure, Household Cycle, and the Social Use of Domestic Space in Urban Babylonia.|url=https://www.academia.edu/12033076|language=en}} Peacock suggests asuppu is synonymous with the Biblical Hebrew סכה sukkah. Holger Gzella translates אָסֹף asop and Akkadian asuppu "gate area". Kutscher translates asuppu "additions next to entrances", Markham Geller, "vestibule",{{Cite book|last=Geller|first=Markham J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lHDsCgAAQBAJ|title=The Archaeology and Material Culture of the Babylonian Talmud|date=2015-11-13|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-30489-5|pages=347|language=en}} and David B. Weisberg, "attic room".{{Cite book|last=Weisberg|first=David B.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t-YfEAAAQBAJ|title=Leaders and Legacies in Assyriology and Bible: The Collected Essays of David B. Weisberg|date=2013-02-08|publisher=Penn State Press|isbn=978-1-57506-688-2|pages=287|language=en}}

In place of the MT's Nehemiah 12:25,{{Efn|Hebrew: מַתַּנְיָ֧ה וּבַקְבֻּֽקְיָ֛ה עֹבַדְיָ֥ה מְשֻׁלָּ֖ם טַלְמ֣וֹן עַקּ֑וּב שֹׁמְרִ֤ים שֽׁוֹעֲרִים֙ מִשְׁמָ֔ר בַּאֲסֻפֵּ֖י הַשְּׁעָרִֽים׃

KJV: Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers keeping the watch at the [Asuppim] of the gates.}} LXX has only ἐν τῷ συναγαγεῖν με τοὺς πυλωροὺς When I gathered the gatekeepers,{{Cite web|title=1 Now these [are] the priests and the Levites that went up with Zorobabel the ... NEHEMIAH / ΝΕΕΜΙΑΣ12 - Bilingual Septuagint|url=https://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/septuagint/chapter.asp?book=17&page=12|access-date=2021-04-03|website=www.ellopos.net}} apparently lacking all but the final two words of the verse and reading{{Efn|Biblical Hebrew was consonantal in ancient times and באספי השערים can be fairly vocalized in either manner.}} בְּאַסְּפִי הַשֹׁעֲרִים When I gathered the gatekeepers instead of MT בַּאֲסֻפֵּי הַשְּׁעָרִים . . . at the Asuppim of the gates. LXX does not translate but rather transliterates the mentions in 1 Chronicles as {{lang|el|ἐσεφίμ}} (Vat.) Esephim or ασαφείν (Alex.) Asaphein.{{Efn|Other variants: ασαφ, ασαφίμ, αεσίμ, εσαφείν, ασαφείμ, εσεφη, ασαφεί, ασαφίν, αατίφ.{{Cite book|last=Allen|first=Leslie C.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y5Y3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA35|title=The Greek Chronicles I.: The Translator's craft.|date=1974|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-03913-1|language=en}}}}{{Cite book|last1=Pietersma|first1=Albert|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=--LQCwAAQBAJ&q=new+english+translation+lxx+chronicles|title=A New English Translation of the Septuagint|last2=Wright|first2=Benjamin G.|date=2007-11-02|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-972394-2|language=en}} David Altschuler{{Cite web|title=Metzudat David on Nehemiah 12:25:2|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Metzudat_David_on_Nehemiah.12.25.2|access-date=2021-04-03|website=www.sefaria.org}} and Alexander Bennett M'Grigor also assume Asuppim is a proper noun, as does pseudo-Solomon b. Isaac on 1 Chronicles.{{Efn|This commentary on Chronicles, attributed to Solomon b. Isaac by printings, was composed by neither him nor the author of pseudo-Solomon b. Isaac on Nehemiah (v.s.) nor the author of pseudo-Solomon b. Isaac on Tamid (v.s.), but rather a different 12th-century French sage. It may have been written by disciples of a certain 12th-century French Saadia (not Saadia b. Joseph); a commentary by "Saadia's disciples" is quoted by Tosafoth Yoma 9a, the quotation matches pseudo-Solomon b. Isaac on 1 Chronicles, and the author of that commentary makes repeated reference to his time learning in Narbonne; though H.J. Matthews doubts the value of this evidence.Matthews, H. J. (1882). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Vo1JAAAAYAAJ&pg=PT12 Anecdota Oxoniensia: Semitic series]}} Pseudo-Solomon b. Isaac on 1 Chronicles is followed there by Abraham Haym Ofman,{{Cite web|title=HebrewBooks.org Sefer Detail: חיי תמיד -- אברהם חיים|url=https://www.hebrewbooks.org/64063|access-date=2021-04-03|website=www.hebrewbooks.org}} the King James Version, Koren,{{Cite web|title=I Chronicles 26:15|url=https://www.sefaria.org/I_Chronicles.26.15|access-date=2021-04-04|website=www.sefaria.org}} and Artscroll.{{Cite book|last=Scherman|first=Nosson|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v5-0uAAACAAJ|title=The Artscroll English Tanach: Stone Edition: The Jewish Bible|date=2011|publisher=Mesorah Publications, Limited|isbn=978-1-4226-1065-7|language=en}}

A few commentators and translations distinguish between the mention in Nehemiah and the mentions in 1 Chronicles. The Vulgate translates vestibulorum, "entrances" (ספפ) in Nehemiah, seniorum concilium, "assembly (אספ) of elders" in 1 Chronicles 26:15, and concilium "assembly (אספ)" in 1 Chronicles 26:17. Pseudo-Solomon b. Isaac on Nehemiah translates the mention there thresholds (ספפ) and pseudo-Solomon b. Isaac on 1 Chronicles translates the mentions there "a place whose name is Asuppim."{{Cite web|title=Rashi on I Chronicles 26:17|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Rashi_on_I_Chronicles.26.17|access-date=2021-04-02|website=www.sefaria.org}} Pseudo-Solomon b. Isaac on Nehemiah and pseudo-Solomon b. Isaac on Chronicles were written by different people{{r|hjm}} but the King James Version{{Cite web|title=1 Chronicles 26:15 The lot for the South Gate fell to Obed-edom, and the lot for the storehouses to his sons.|url=https://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/26-15.htm|access-date=2021-04-02|website=biblehub.com}} and Artscroll follow the local commentary attributed to Solomon b. Isaac in each case. Robert Alter translates "thresholds" (ספפ) in Nehemiah and "storehouse" (אספ) in 1 Chronicles, as does George Grove.{{Cite book|last=Alter|first=Robert|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S75SDwAAQBAJ|title=The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary|date=2018-12-18|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|isbn=978-0-393-29250-3|language=en}} The New Heart English Bible translates "storehouses" (אספ) in Nehemiah 12:25 and "vestibules" (ספפ) in 1 Chronicles 26:15-17, presumably by accident. Distinguishing the two mentions in translation does not imply two distinct locations,{{Cite book|last=Barrett|first=Richard Arthur Francis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y-1JAAAAMAAJ|title=A Synopsis of Criticisms Upon Those Passages of the Old Testament in which Modern Commentators Have Differed from the Authorized Version: Together with an Explanation of Various Difficulties in the Hebrew English Texts|date=1847|publisher=Brown, Green & Longmans|language=la}} as 2 Kings 22:4 describes, "The silver brought to the House of Yahweh, which the threshold (ספפ) guards gathered (אספ)".{{Efn|Hebrew: הַכֶּ֔סֶף הַמּוּבָ֖א בֵּ֣ית יְהוָ֑ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר אָסְפ֛וּ שֹׁמְרֵ֥י הַסַּ֖ף}}{{Cite web|title=2 Kings 22:4 "Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him count the money that has been brought into the house of the LORD, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people.|url=https://biblehub.com/2_kings/22-4.htm|access-date=2021-04-02|website=biblehub.com}} The vast majority of scholars agree the mentions in Nehemiah and 1 Chronicles intend the same referent.{{Cite web|title=Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon by Friedrich Wilhelm Gesenius|url=http://www.tyndalearchive.com/TABS/Gesenius/index.htm|access-date=2021-04-02|website=www.tyndalearchive.com}}{{Cite web|title=Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon|url=http://www.ericlevy.com/revel/bdb/bdb/1/al-Index.html|url-status=live|access-date=2021-04-02|website=www.ericlevy.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111116154504/http://www.ericlevy.com/Revel/BDB/BDB/1/al-Index.html |archive-date=2011-11-16 }}

Most modern translations follow the plain etymology (אספ gather) for "storehouses." Exceptions include: JPS 1985 (which uses ספפ terminate{{Efn|name=term}} for "vestibules"), Robert Alter's translation (which uses ספפ in Nehemiah 12:25 for "thresholds"), Artscroll (which uses ספפ in Nehemiah 12:25 for "gateposts" and treats it as a proper noun in 1 Chronicles 26:15-17), Koren (which treats it as a proper noun in 1 Chronicles 26:15-17), and the New Heart English Bible (which uses ספפ in 1 Chronicles 26:15-17 for "vestibules"). Most dictionaries do the same, with the exception of Smith's Bible Dictionary (which uses ספפ in Nehemiah 12:25 for "thresholds"). Most modern scholars accepted אספ gather for "storehouses" (see § Proposal of אספ), with exceptions (see § Proposal of סספ and § As a proper noun), though recent research suggests Asuppim is related to Akkadian asuppu and means "insubstantial structures" (see § Akkadian loanword).

Levite guards were stationed at the Asuppim. In Nehemiah, the guards of the Asuppim are given as follows: Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub. In 1 Chronicles, the guarding of the Asuppim is given to "the sons of Obed-Edom" who guard it "two by two (שנים שנים)".

Some Rabbinic commentators explain that the Temple was only guarded by Levites at night,{{Cite web|title=R' Shemaiah on Mishnah Middot 1:1:1|url=https://www.sefaria.org/R%27_Shemaiah_on_Mishnah_Middot.1.1.1|access-date=2021-04-05|website=www.sefaria.org}} and that it was an honor guard.{{Cite web|title=Bartenura on Mishnah Middot 1:1:1|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Bartenura_on_Mishnah_Middot.1.1.1|access-date=2021-04-05|website=www.sefaria.org}}{{Cite web|title=Yachin on Mishnah Middot 1:1:1|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Yachin_on_Mishnah_Middot.1.1.1|access-date=2021-04-05|website=www.sefaria.org}} Others explain that it was guarded by day as well.See {{Cite web|title=Rashash on Mishnah Middot 1:1:2|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Rashash_on_Mishnah_Middot.1.1.2|access-date=2021-04-05|website=www.sefaria.org}} And bibliography there quoted.{{Cite web|title=Tosafot Yom Tov on Mishnah Middot 1:1:2|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Tosafot_Yom_Tov_on_Mishnah_Middot.1.1.2|access-date=2021-04-05|website=www.sefaria.org}}

The Talmud (b. Tamid 27a) discusses the number of guards stationed at the Asuppim.{{Cite web|title=Tamid 27a|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Tamid.27a|access-date=2021-04-02|website=www.sefaria.org}} The Mishnah (m. Middot 1:1) had described 21 Levite guard stations at the Temple; this apparently conflicts with 1 Chronicles 26, which lists 20 guards in addition to those "at the Asuppim, two by two (שנים שנים)," a total of 24.{{Efn|This is reduced to 23 by a separate argument}} Abaye resolves the issue by interpreting שנים שנים as a repetition not to be summed: "At the Asuppim, two, two".{{Efn|Vilna and post-Vilna printings erroneously read אמר אביי ה"ק לאסופים שנים Said Abaye, This is what it means: at the Asuppim, two. This is due to confusion over an emendation in the Venice printing, which read 'אמר אביי ה"ק לאסופים שנים ב instead of MSS אמר אביי ה"ק לאסופים שנים שנים; Vilna removed the 'ב without adding back the second שנים.}} Pseudo-Asher b. Jehiel understood Abaye's cryptic statement to imply shifts of two, which explanation was accepted by Isidore Epstein{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qXyNa3EMxPAC|title=Seder Kodashim. 6 v|date=1948|publisher=Soncino Press|language=en}} and Matthias Asp.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_p1CAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA23|title=Tractatus talmudici Tāmîd sive de sacrificio iugi caput primum, ex Mischna et Gemara Babylonica|date=1727|publisher=Werner|language=la}} Pseudo-Abraham b. David and the Anonymous German Commentary to b. Tamid understood Abaye to imply one guard at each of two Asuppim, which explanation was accepted by David Altschuler{{Cite web|title=Metzudat David on I Chronicles 26:17:3|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Metzudat_David_on_I_Chronicles.26.17.3|access-date=2021-04-04|website=www.sefaria.org}} and David Qimḥi.{{Cite web|title=Radak on I Chronicles 26:15:1|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Radak_on_I_Chronicles.26.15.1|access-date=2021-04-02|website=www.sefaria.org}} Pseudo-Solomon b. Isaac on b. Tamid understood Abaye to imply a repetition for emphasis,{{Cite web|title=Mefaresh on Tamid 27a:5:1|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Mefaresh_on_Tamid.27a.5.1|access-date=2021-04-02|website=www.sefaria.org}} which explanation was accepted by Adin Steinsaltz,{{Cite web|title=Steinsaltz on Tamid 27a:5|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Steinsaltz_on_Tamid.27a.5|access-date=2021-04-03|website=www.sefaria.org}} Koren, Yaakov Shulevitz,{{Cite web|title=חברותא - תמיד {{!}} בלי הערות|url=http://www.toratemetfreeware.com/online/f_02450.html?dyn|access-date=2021-04-03|website=www.toratemetfreeware.com}} and the Encyclopedia Talmudit.{{Cite web|title=אנציקלופדיה יהודית דעת - בית המקדש - ב ;|url=https://www.daat.ac.il/encyclopedia/value.asp?id1=3241|access-date=2021-04-05|website=www.daat.ac.il}}

A variety of other commentators reject Abaye and accept the explanation of the Stam,{{Cite web|title=Tamid 27a:8|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Tamid.27a.8|access-date=2021-04-05|website=www.sefaria.org}} which is that the three places m. Middot 1:1 assigns to Priestly guards are not included among the 21 Levite stations, and when summed they produce the 24 listed in 1 Chronicles.{{Cite web|title=Bartenura on Mishnah Middot 1:1:3|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Bartenura_on_Mishnah_Middot.1.1.3|access-date=2021-04-05|website=www.sefaria.org|language=he}}{{cite journal |title=Middoth, or the Measurements of the Temple |journal=Palestine Exploration Quarterly |date=January 1887 |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=60–63 |doi=10.1179/peq.1887.19.1.60 }}{{Cite web|title=Rambam on Mishnah Middot 1:1:1|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Rambam_on_Mishnah_Middot.1.1.1|access-date=2021-04-05|website=www.sefaria.org}} Menachem Meiri, Levi b. Gershon,{{Cite web|title=Ralbag on I Chronicles 26:14|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Ralbag_on_I_Chronicles.26.14|access-date=2021-04-05|website=www.sefaria.org}} and Meir Leibush Wisser{{Cite web|title=Malbim on I Chronicles 26:17:2|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Malbim_on_I_Chronicles.26.17.2|access-date=2021-04-05|website=www.sefaria.org}} assume that they are to be summed, and explain that there were two Levites for each Asop. The Peshitta to 1 Chronicles 26:17 has only one "two (ܬܪܝܢ)"{{Efn|This word in block script: תרי (תְּרֵי). Full verse in Peshitta: ܠܡܕܢܚܐ܂ ܠܘ̈ܝܐ ܫܬܐ ܠܡܕܢܚܐ܂ ܠܝܘܡ̈ܐ ܐܪ̈ܒܥܐ܂ ܠܬܝܡܢܐ ܝܘܡ̈ܐ ܐܪ̈ܒܥܐ܂ ܘܠܒܝܬ ܣ̈ܦܐ ܬܪܝܢ}} and LXX has only one "two (δύο)".{{Efn|Greek: πρὸς ἀνατολὰς ἕξ τὴν ἡμέραν, βορρᾶ τῆς ἡμέρας τέσσαρες, νότον τῆς ἡμέρας τέσσαρες, καὶ εἰς τὸν ἐσεφὶν δύο. Translation: Eastward [were] six [watchmen] in the day; northward four by the day; southward four by the day; and two at the Esephim.}} The Vulgate to 1 Chronicles 26:17 has bini et bini, "two and two", which Tremellius shortens to a single bini, "two". Most modern translations of 1 Chronicles 26:17 assume the twos are to be summed, but the New International Version follows pseudo-Asher b. Jehiel's explanation of Abaye.{{Cite web|title=1 Chronicles 26:17 Each day there were six Levites on the east, four on the north, four on the south, and two pairs at the storehouse.|url=https://biblehub.com/1_chronicles/26-17.htm|access-date=2021-04-02|website=biblehub.com}}

Guards were not usually stationed individually in the Temple, because it was considered torturous.{{Cite web|title=Tamid 27a:6|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Tamid.27a.6|access-date=2021-04-04|website=www.sefaria.org}} However, according to the interpretation of Abaye advanced by pseudo-Abraham b. David and the Anonymous German Commentary to b. Tamid (and accepted by David Qimḥi and David Altschuler), the Asuppim guards were each alone; this was permitted either because the Asuppim were close together or because they were located along a public thoroughfare.

It is clear from MT Nehemiah 12:25 אֲסֻפֵּי הַשְּׁעָרִים Asuppim of the gates that, irrespective of the word's etymology, the Asuppim lay at the gates to the Temple. David Qimḥi, pseudo-Abraham b. David, David Altschuler, and Alexander Bennett M'Grigor assume they were to the south of the Temple based on the context in 1 Chronicles 26, where "The south [gate fell to] Obed-Edom, and the Assupim to his sons" and "for the South, four daily; and for the Asuppim, two by two".

John Lightfoot argues the Asuppim was instead located along the western wall of the Temple, based on the fact that only two gates are named in 1 Chronicles 26, Shallecheth and Parbar, and the Asuppim must be at the most important gates, and these gates are along the western wall. However, פַּרְבָּר parbar, which was left as "Parbar" in the King James Version, was never treated as a proper noun by Rabbinic commentaries,{{Cite web|title=Mefaresh on Tamid 27a:7:1|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Mefaresh_on_Tamid.27a.7.1|access-date=2021-04-06|website=www.sefaria.org}}{{Cite web|title=Malbim on I Chronicles 26:18:1|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Malbim_on_I_Chronicles.26.18.1|access-date=2021-04-06|website=www.sefaria.org}}{{Cite web|title=Rashi on I Chronicles 26:18:1|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Rashi_on_I_Chronicles.26.18.1|access-date=2021-04-06|website=www.sefaria.org}}{{Cite web|title=Rashi on Zevachim 55b:11:5|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Rashi_on_Zevachim.55b.11.5|access-date=2021-04-06|website=www.sefaria.org}}{{Cite web|title=Rabbeinu Gershom on Tamid 27a:3|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Rabbeinu_Gershom_on_Tamid.27a.3|access-date=2021-04-06|website=www.sefaria.org}}{{Cite web|title=Bartenura on Mishnah Middot 1:1:8|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Bartenura_on_Mishnah_Middot.1.1.8|access-date=2021-04-06|website=www.sefaria.org}} who relied on the opinion of Abbah b. Shela that it is a contraction of כלפי בר k'lapei bar "toward the outside,"{{Cite web|title=Tamid 27a:7|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Tamid.27a.7|access-date=2021-04-06|website=www.sefaria.org}}{{Cite web|title=Zevachim 55b:11|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Zevachim.55b.11|access-date=2021-04-06|website=www.sefaria.org}} nor by the VSS, the Targum to 1 Chronicles also having כלפי ברא k'lapei bara "toward the outside" and the Vulgate having cellulis "cells" (though the Peshitta transliterates ܦܪܒܪ),{{Cite web|title=Targums to 1 Chronicles 26:18|url=http://cal.huc.edu/showtargum.php?bookname=34&chapter=26&verse=18&Peshitta=ON&Sam=ON|access-date=2021-04-06|website=cal.huc.edu|publisher=The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon}} and is no longer seen as a proper noun by most scholars, who instead translate it "colonnade" based on the Persian parallel فَرْوَار farwār.

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Category:Temple Mount

Category:Second Temple