1 Chronicles 12 · a question people ask
Is Amasai the same man as Amasa, the commander Absalom chose?
The text doesn't say so. 1 Chronicles 12:18 names "Amasai, who was chief of the thirty", and gives no father. 2 Samuel names "Amasa" whom "Absalom set" over the army, "the son of a man whose name was Ithra the Israelite" (2 Samuel 17:25). The names are spelled differently in Hebrew, and Brown-Driver-Briggs gives them separate entries, listing this Amasai as "warrior of David" and Amasa as "Absalom’s general". These notes keep them apart, as the text does.
The verses
“Then the Spirit came on Amasai, who was chief of the thirty, and he said, “We are yours, David, and on your side, you son of Jesse. Peace, peace be to you, and peace be to your helpers; for your God helps you.” Then David received them and made them captains of the band.”
“Absalom set Amasa over the army instead of Joab. Now Amasa was the son of a man whose name was Ithra the Israelite, who went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah, Joab’s mother.”