Ithra is a name found in the King James Bible, appearing 1 time in the text.
Who This Was
Ithra was the father of Amasa, a man who appears only in the account of Absalom’s rebellion against King David. When Absalom rose up against his father and seized power, he needed a commander for his army. Joab had long served as David’s general, so Absalom replaced him with Amasa, and 2 Samuel 17:25 identifies Amasa as “a man’s son, whose name was Ithra an Israelite.” Ithra himself never speaks or acts in the biblical text; he is named solely to establish his son’s identity and lineage.
The single verse that mentions Ithra also records that he “went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah Joab’s mother.” This makes Ithra the husband of Abigail and ties Amasa by blood to the same family as Joab, since Abigail and Zeruiah were sisters. The phrase “an Israelite” distinguishes him from being a foreigner, placing him within the covenant people even as his son took up arms against the Lord’s anointed king.
Ithra’s story is bound up entirely with the complicated family politics of David’s later years. His son Amasa became a central figure in the civil conflict, first commanding Absalom’s forces, and later, after Absalom’s death, being offered command of David’s army in Joab’s place. Ithra did not live to see any of this recorded for us; Scripture preserves only his name, his marriage, and his paternity, leaving him a quiet link in a chain of events he neither caused nor controlled.
The Name
The name Ithra is a Hebrew name, and its meaning is not clearly recoverable from the text or from standard Hebrew lexicons. Some suggest a possible connection to a root meaning “abundance” or “excellence,” and it may be a variant of the name Jether or Jethro, which appears elsewhere in the Old Testament. However, because the etymology is uncertain and the name is attested only here in the King James Bible, no meaning can be stated with confidence. It is better to say plainly that the meaning of this name is not well established than to assign it a definition the text does not support.
A Closing Thought
Ithra is one of those figures who appears in a single verse and then vanishes, known only as someone’s father and someone’s husband. Yet his brief mention reminds us that God’s story is carried along by ordinary people whose names we barely know. Ithra likely had no idea what his son would become or what turmoil would follow. Many of us will never see how our quiet faithfulness ripples into the lives of those who come after us. That is not a reason for despair but for trust: the God who records even a single verse about a man like Ithra also remembers every hidden life.
At a Glance
- Gender: Male
- Testament: Old
- Mentions in the KJV: 1
Where It Appears in Scripture
- 2 Samuel 17:25 — 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.