Person Old Testament
Jether
Also known as Ithra =ESV, KJV; Jether =NIV
Jether, also known as Ithra, was an Ishmaelite and the father of Amasa, who was Absalom's commander and later killed by Joab. Mentioned in 4 verses across 3 books, first at 2 Samuel 17:25.
Why it matters. An Ishmaelite, father of Amasa.
- Primary passages
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Jether
Jether, also known as Ithra, was an Ishmaelite and the father of Amasa. Amasa was the son of Jether and Abigail, who was David's sister. Despite being David's nephew, Amasa sided with Absalom during his rebellion against David and was appointed as the commander of Absalom's army. After Absalom's death, David offered Amasa the position of commander over his army, replacing Joab. However, when Amasa failed to mobilize the troops quickly enough, David sent Abishai to pursue the rebel Sheba. Joab, who had been demoted, accompanied Abishai and took the opportunity to kill Amasa, viewing him as a threat to his position. The fact that Jether is described as an Ishmaelite suggests that he was not an Israelite, which may have contributed to Amasa's complex loyalties within David's family and kingdom.
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
Connections
No reviewed connections yet.
Family
Family links from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0). Where the dataset marks an identification as uncertain, the mark is kept. Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus; see the Lineage page, which never merges them.
Appears in Scripture
Named in 4 verses across 3 books. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.