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Selected Verse: 2 Samuel 17:25 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
2Sa 17:25	Strong Concordance	And Absalom [053] made [07760] Amasa [06021] captain of the host [06635] instead of Joab [03097]: which Amasa [06021] was a man's [0376] son [01121], whose name [08034] was Ithra [03501] an Israelite [03481], that went in [0935] to Abigail [026] the daughter [01323] of Nahash [05176], sister [0269] to Zeruiah [06870] Joab's [03097] mother [0517].
	King James	And Absalom made Amasa captain of the host instead of Joab: which Amasa was a man's son, whose name was Ithra an Israelite, that went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah Joab's mother.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
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.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

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.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
Ithra an Israelite - Or "Jether the Ishmeelite" Ch1 2:17. "Ithra" and "Jether" are practically the same names. "Israelite" in the text is wrong. It should be either "Ishmaelite" or "Jezreelite" Sa2 3:2. Abigail the daughter of Nahash - If Zeruiah and Abigail were Jesse's daughters, the only probable way of reconciling our text with Ch1 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.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]

Ithra an Israelite - Or "Jether the Ishmeelite" Ch1 2:17. "Ithra" and "Jether" are practically the same names. "Israelite" in the text is wrong. It should be either "Ishmaelite" or "Jezreelite" Sa2 3:2.

Abigail the daughter of Nahash - If Zeruiah and Abigail were Jesse's daughters, the only probable way of reconciling our text with Ch1 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.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
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 reading is evidently היּשׁמעאלי, an Ishmaelite, according to Ch1 2:17, where the name is written Jether, a contracted form of Jithra. From the description given of Abigail as a daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah, not of David, some of the earlier commentators have very justly concluded that Abigail and Zeruiah were only step-sisters of David, i.e., daughters of his mother by Nahash and not by Jesse.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

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 reading is evidently היּשׁמעאלי, an Ishmaelite, according to Ch1 2:17, where the name is written Jether, a contracted form of Jithra. From the description given of Abigail as a daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah, not of David, some of the earlier commentators have very justly concluded that Abigail and Zeruiah were only step-sisters of David, i.e., daughters of his mother by Nahash and not by Jesse.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
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.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]

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.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
Amasa captain of the host - From the account in this verse, it appears that Joab and Amasa were sisters' children, and both nephews to David.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826

Amasa captain of the host - From the account in this verse, it appears that Joab and Amasa were sisters' children, and both nephews to David.

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