Amasa
Mentioned 1751–1013 BC traditional (Jones)
The son of Abigail, a sister of king David (1 Chr. 2:17; 2 Sam. 17:25). He was appointed by David to command the army in room of his cousin Joab (2 Sam. 19:13), who afterwards treacherously put him to death as a dangerous rival (2 Sam. 20:4-12).
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897).
- Mentioned in the era of the Judges, 1450–1051 BC.
- Named in the same verses as Joab, Jether, Abigail, Abner, Ner, Zeruiah, Abishai, and Absalom.
Computed from the data. Years are traditional (Jones).
Family
Two generations up and the children. Gold lines join partners; grey lines run from parent to child; a dotted line marks a parent named in the text but not by descent.
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Places
Places named in the same verses as Amasa, with the number of verses they share; a larger marker means more. Locations follow OpenBible.info, which grades each identification.
- likely location: Gibeon1
Timeline
The strip runs from Creation to AD 100; the shaded part, 1935–829 BC, is drawn below at a larger scale around these mentions, with 6 contemporaries. Years are traditional (Jones), shown as recorded, not as settled fact.
Mentions
11 tagged verses in 3 books. Select a book to read its verses.
The name in each translation
| Text | Occurrences of each name |
|---|---|
| BSB | Amasa 17 |
| KJV | Amasa 16 |
| ASV | Amasa 16 |
Whole-word, case-sensitive count of the name string (regex \bName\b, so possessives like "Abraham's" count) across the whole Bible text of each translation; this counts the string, not the person, so other people who share the name are included and pronoun references are not. How Begat counts
Every verse
All 11 tagged verses, by book, in canonical order. The Berean Standard Bible is shown; switch to the King James or American Standard Version.
2 Samuel8 verses
- 17:25
Absalom had appointed Amasa over the army in place of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra, the Ishmaelite who had married Abigail, the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah the mother of Joab.
- 19:13
And say to Amasa, ‘Aren’t you my flesh and blood? May God punish me, and ever so severely, if from now on you are not the commander of my army in place of Joab!’”
- 20:4
Then the king said to Amasa, “Summon the men of Judah to come to me within three days, and be here yourself.”
- 20:5
So Amasa went to summon Judah, but he took longer than the time allotted him.
- 20:8
And while they were at the great stone in Gibeon, Amasa joined them. Now Joab was dressed in military attire, with a dagger strapped to his belt. And as he stepped forward, he slipped the dagger from its sheath.
- 20:9
“Are you well, my brother?” Joab asked Amasa. And with his right hand Joab grabbed Amasa by the beard to kiss him.
- 20:10
Amasa was not on guard against the dagger in Joab’s hand, and Joab stabbed him in the stomach and spilled out his intestines on the ground. And Joab did not need to strike him again, for Amasa was dead. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bichri.
- 20:12
But Amasa wallowed in his blood in the middle of the road, and when the man saw that all the troops were stopping there, he dragged the body off the road into a field and threw a garment over it.
1 Kings2 verses
- 2:5
Moreover, you know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me—what he did to Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether, the two commanders of the armies of Israel. He killed them in peacetime to avenge the blood of war. He stained with the blood of war the belt around his waist and the sandals on his feet.
- 2:32
The LORD will bring his bloodshed back upon his own head, for without the knowledge of my father David he struck down two men more righteous and better than he when he put to the sword Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army.
1 Chronicles1 verse
- 2:17
Abigail was the mother of Amasa, whose father was Jether the Ishmaelite.
Easton’s Bible Dictionary
The full entry, public domain, as printed in 1897.
The son of Abigail, a sister of king David (1 Chr. 2:17; 2 Sam. 17:25). He was appointed by David to command the army in room of his cousin Joab (2 Sam. 19:13), who afterwards treacherously put him to death as a dangerous rival (2 Sam. 20:4-12).