Amasa (עמשא) or Amessai is a person mentioned in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Abigail Abigail () was an Israelite woman in the Hebrew Bible married to Nabal; she married the future King David after Nabal's death ( 1 Samuel ). Abigail was David's second wife, after Saul and Ahinoam's daughter, Michal, whom Saul later marri ...

(), a sister of King

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

(). Hence, Amasa was a nephew of David, and cousin of

Joab Joab (Hebrew Modern: ''Yōʼav'', Tiberian: ''Yōʼāḇ'') the son of Zeruiah, was the nephew of King David and the commander of his army, according to the Hebrew Bible. Name The name Joab is, like many other Hebrew names, theophoric - de ...

, David's military commander, as well as a cousin of Absalom, David's son. David calls him "my bone and my flesh" (). Amasa's father was

Jether Jether ( he, יֶ֣תֶר) is a name mentioned several times in the Hebrew Bible. It means "surplus" or "excellence". #The father-in-law of Moses (Exodus 4:18 marg.), called elsewhere Jethro or Jothor. #The oldest of Gideon's seventy sons, who wa ...

(, ) who was also called Ithra (). When Absalom rebelled against David and won over the

tribes of Israel The Twelve Tribes of Israel ( he, שִׁבְטֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל, translit=Šīḇṭēy Yīsrāʾēl, lit=Tribes of Israel) are, according to Hebrew scriptures, the descendants of the biblical patriarch Jacob, also known as Israel, thro ...

(), he appointed Amasa as commander over the army, in effect replacing Joab, who had served as commander for David. After the revolt was crushed and Absalom died (), David was invited back to Jerusalem and restored as king. David re-appointed Amasa "from now on" as his military commander () in place of Joab. The New International Version translates the Hebrew text as commander "for life". David's appointment of Amasa has been interpreted as "a bold stroke of policy, to promise the post of commander-in chief to the general of the rebel army". Kirkpatrick, A.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
on 2 Samuel 19, accessed 13 August 2017 While being fiercely loyal to David, Joab was also suspicious of any potential rivals for

's power or threats to David's kingdom, and had no qualms about taking the lives of any who might stand in his way (e.g., Abner: , and Absalom: ). So it was not difficult for Joab to also decide to murder Amasa (, ). Joab's own justification for killing Amasa may have been because he believed Amasa to be conspiring with

Sheba son of Bichri In the Old Testament, Sheba was a Benjaminite leader who revolted against King David, recounted in 2 Samuel. In the Bible Sheba was a son of Bichri, of the family of Becher, the son of Benjamin, and thus of the tribe of King Saul. When David r ...

the Benjamite, due to Amasa's slowness to mobilize the army against Sheba's rebels ().

References

{{Authority control Books of Samuel people People associated with David Ancient soldiers