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a-sem´bliz, (בּעלי ×ספות, ba‛ăleÌ„ 'ăsÌ£uppoÌ„th, ): the American Revised Version, margin “collectors of sentences,†thus KÌ£imhÌ£i, Grotius and others. This has been variously interpreted. Tyler translates “editors of collections.†Klienert renders “protectors of the treasure-chambers,†'ăsÌ£uppoÌ„th being considered equivalent to the 'ăsÌ£uppı̄m of , ; (see ASSUPPIM). The proverbs are like nails guarding the sacred storehouse, the book closing with this warning against touching the collection (compare , ). Delitzsch translates “like fastened nails which are put together in collections.†“As ba‛ăleÌ„ berı̄th () signifies 'the confederates,' ba‛ăleÌ„ shebhū‛aÌ„h () 'the sworn,' and the frequently occurring ba‛ăleÌ„ haÌ„-‛ı̄r 'the citizens': so ba‛ăleÌ„ 'ăsÌ£uppoÌ„th means, the possessors of assemblies and of the assembled themselves, or the possessors of collections and of things collected. Thus ba‛ăleÌ„ 'ăsÌ£uppoÌ„th will be a designation of the 'words of the wise' (as in shaÌ„lı̄shı̄m, “choice men†= choice proverbs, , in a certain measure personified), as of those which form or constitute collections and which stand together in order and rank†(“Eccl,†English translation, 434).
The Jerusalem Talmud takes 'ăṣuppōth as the Sanhedrin. On the whole it is better to interpret the phrase “persons skilled in collections†of wise sayings, grouped in a compact whole (compare Wright, Eccl, 102).