Then the king ordered Amasa, “Call up the army of Judah. Have them come to me within three days, and you come too.”
Absalom had put Amasa in charge of the army to replace Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra, the Ishmaelite who lived with Abigail, the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah, Joab's mother.
Tell Amasa, ‘Aren't you my flesh and blood too? May God punish me very severely if from now on you're not the commander of my army instead of Joab!’”
Amasa convinced all the people of Judah to unitedly support David, so they sent a message to the king: “Please come back, you and everyone with you.”
Abigail gave birth to Amasa, and the father of Amasa was Jether the Ishmaelite.