2 Samuel 20:26
in 2 Samuel 20and Ira the Jairite was David’s priest.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and also Ira the Jairite was chief minister unto David.
KJV
And Ira also the Jairite was a chief ruler about David.
⋯
This verse in 2 Samuel 20
Commentary
5 notes on this verseIra - was a chief ruler about David - The Hebrew is כהן לדויד cohen ledavid, a priest to David; and so the Vulgate, Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic. The Chaldee has רב rab, a prince, or chief. He was probably a sort of domestic chaplain to the king. We know that the kings of Judah had their seers, which is nearly the same: Gad was David’s seer, 2Sa 24:11, and Jeduthun was the seer of King Josiah, 2Ch 35:16. The conclusion of this chapter is very similar to the conclusion of 2Sa 8:16-18 (note), where see the notes.
This site's exposition
Now Joab was over all the host of Israel
on 2 Samuel 20:23-26
The chapter closes with an officer list that answers the one at 8:16-18 almost office for office, Joab over the host again, Benaiah over the Cherethites and Pelethites, Zadok and Abiathar still the priests. Two differences stand out: Adoram now stands over the tribute David collects from conquered peoples, an office the first list did not have, and Sheva holds the scribe's post Seraiah held before. David's sons no longer close the list as chief rulers; Ira the Jairite does, a change the text does not explain, and the repetition marks a fresh start after two rebellions, Absalom's and Sheba's, closing the bracket the first list opened.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
When a reconciliation is newly made, it ought to be handled with great tenderness and caution, lest the peace break again before it be settled. A broken bone, when it is set, must have time to knot. That the ring-leader of this rebellion was Sheba, a Benjamite by birth (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
And Ira also the Jairite,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Ira the Jairite - Not mentioned before: perhaps the same as “Ira an Ithrite” (marginal reference), i. e., an inhabitant of Jattir in the hill country of Judah Jos 15:48; 1Sa 30:27. Perhaps we ought to read “Ithrite,” for “Jairite.” A chief ruler ... about David - More simply and clearly, “was David’s kohen” (2Sa 8:18 note). In the early part oph David’s reign his own ons were כהן kôhên (chief rulers). The deaths of Amnon and Absalom, and the dissensions in the family, had probably caused the change of policy in this respect.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְגַ֗ם | vegam | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| עִירָא֙ | ʾira' | Ira | H5896 → | 6 times |
| הַיָּ֣אִרִ֔י | haiyairi | the Jairite | H2972 → | |
| הָיָ֥ה | hayah | he was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כֹהֵ֖ן | khohen | a priest | H3548 → | 750 times |
| לְדָוִֽד׃ ס | ledavid | of David | H1732 → | 999 times |
וְגַ֗םand also
vegamH1571 →769 times
עִירָא֙Ira
ʾira'H5896 →6 times
הַיָּ֣אִרִ֔יthe Jairite
haiyairiH2972 →
הָיָ֥הhe was
hayahH1961 →3559 times
כֹהֵ֖ןa priest
khohenH3548 →750 times
לְדָוִֽד׃ סof David
ledavidH1732 →999 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Exodus 2:14But the man replied, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you planning to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “This thing I have done…
it leads to
- Luke 12:14
But Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed Me judge or executor between you?”
- Matthew 21:23
When Jesus returned to the temple courts and began to teach, the chief priests and elders of the people came up to Him. “By what authority are You doing these things?” they asked. “And…
- Luke 12:14
Through
Exodus 2:16Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock.
it leads to
- Genesis 24:11
As evening approached, he made the camels kneel down near the well outside the town at the time when the women went out to draw water.
- Exodus 3:1
Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
- 1 Samuel 9:11
And as they were climbing the hill to the city, they met some young women coming out to draw water and asked, “Is the seer here?”
- Genesis 24:14–20
Now may it happen that the girl to whom I say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who responds, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels as well’—let her be…
- Genesis 29:6–10
“Is he well?” Jacob inquired. “Yes,” they answered, “and here comes his daughter Rachel with his sheep.”
- Genesis 24:11
Through
2 Samuel 23:38Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite,
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 2:53
Haroeh, half the Manahathites, and the clans of Kiriath-jearim—the Ithrites, Puthites, Shumathites, and Mishraites. From these descended the Zorathites and Eshtaolites.
- 1 Chronicles 2:53
About 2 Samuel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.