2 Samuel 17:25

Amasa. — Joab having adhered to David and gone away with him, Absalom chose his cousin to succeed him as commander-in-chief.

Ithra an Israelite. — Called in 1 Chronicles 2:17. Jether the Ishmeelite. Jether and Ithra are merely different forms of the same name; but Israelite is probably an error for Ishmeelite. The LXX. has, in the Alexandrian copy, Ishmaelite, and in the Vatican, Jezreelite.

Abigail the daughter of Nahash. — Since this Abigail is said to be “sister to Zeruiah,” and in 1 Chronicles 2:16 both Abigail and Zeruiah are said to be the sisters of Jesse’s sons, it follows, either that sister is used in the sense of half-sister, or else that Nahash, usually a man’s name, was the name of Jesse’s wife. It is impossible to decide certainly. The Jewish tradition that Nahash is another name for Jesse has no support.