2 Samuel 17:25

“And Absalom made Amasa captain of the host instead of Joab, etc.] Who was along with David: which Amasa [was] a man’s son whose name [was] Ithra, an Israelite; he is called Jether the Ishmaelite, (<130217>1 Chronicles 2:17); either because he was an Ishmaelite by birth, and being proselyted to the Jewish religion, was called an Israelite; or rather he was an Israelite by birth, and having sojourned in the land of Ishmael some time, was called an Ishmaelite, as Uriah the Hittite, and others; and when Amasa is called a “man’s son”, it means a great man, as Kimchi observes: that went in to Abigail, the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah, Joab’s mother: so that Joab and Amasa, the generals of…”

“Amasa--By the genealogy it appears that this captain stood in the same relation to David as Joab, both being his nephews. Of course, Amasa was Absalom's cousin, and though himself an Israelite, his father was an Ishmaelite (Ch1 2:17). Nahash--is thought by some to be another name of Jesse, or according to others, the name of Jesse's wife.”

“Ithra an Israelite - Or “Jether the Ishmeelite” 1 Chronicles 2:17. “Ithra” and “Jether” are practically the same names. “Israelite” in the text is wrong. It should be either “Ishmaelite” or “Jezreelite” 2 Samuel 3:2. Abigail the daughter of Nahash - If Zeruiah and Abigail were Jesse’s daughters, the only probable way of reconciling our text with 1 Chronicles 2:16-17, is to suppose that Nahash was Jesse’s wife. If Zeruiah and Abigail were only sisters of David by the mother, then Nahash might be the name of her first husband. return to 'Top of Page'”

“Nahash - Nahash is the name of Jesse's wife, by whom he had this Abigail, as he had Zeruiah by another wife; so they were sisters by the father, but not by the mother. 2 Kings (2 Samuel) 17:27”

“17:25 According to 1 Chr 2:15-16, Abigail and Zeruiah were David’s sisters. But since Abigail is called the daughter of Nahash, she and Zeruiah were apparently David’s half sisters (Nahash was probably their father; his widow would then have married Jesse and given birth to David and his brothers).”

“Amasa: Sa2 19:13, Sa2 20:4, Sa2 20:9-12 Ithra: Ch1 2:16, Ch1 2:17, Jether the Ishmaelite Abigail: Heb. Abigal Nahash: or, Jesse. Ch1 2:13, Ch1 2:16 2 Kings (2 Samuel) 17:26”

“Absalom had made Amasa captain over his army instead of Joab, who had remained true to David, and had gone with his king to Mahanaim. Amasa was the son of a man named Jithra, היּשׂראלי, who had gone in to (i.e., had seduced) Abigail, the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah, Joab's mother. He was therefore an illegitimate cousin of Joab. The description given of Jithra as ישׂראלי is very striking, since there was no reason whatever why it should be stated that Amasa's father was an Israelite. The Seventy have therefore given ὁ Ἰεζραηλίτης, i.e., sprung from Jezreel, where David's wife Ahinoam came from ( Sa1 27:3); but they have done so apparently from mere conjecture. The true…”