Bible Strands
2 Samuel 20:26
and Ira the Jairite was David’s priest.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator records administrative appointments during David’s consolidation of power following the suppression of Sheba’s rebellion. The text places Ira the Jairite in a roster alongside Sheva the scribe and the priests Zadok and Abiathar.
The words — The Hebrew כֹּהֵן (kohen) literally means "priest" and designates Ira’s official function. The prepositional phrase לְדָוִד (le-David) specifies that this priestly duty was performed directly for the king.
The thread — This record aligns with the official list in 2 Samuel 23:37-38, where Ira appears again, though the text there calls him the Ithrite. The pairing of priests and scribes in both passages reflects the standardized bureaucratic structure of David’s court.
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to note how biblical governance formally assigned named individuals to sustain royal administration. It demands recognition that religious and civil roles were documented as concrete historical facts rather than symbolic titles.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Ira also the Jairite was a chief ruler about David.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 23:38 Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite,
- Exodus 2:14 But 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 has surely become known.”
- Genesis 41:43 He had Joseph ride in his second chariot, with men calling out before him, “Bow the knee!” So he placed him over all the land of Egypt.
- Genesis 41:45 Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-paneah, and he gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. And Joseph took charge of all the land of Egypt.
- Exodus 2:16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock.
- Exodus 24:11 But God did not lay His hand on the nobles of Israel; they saw Him, and they ate and drank.
- Judges 10:4 He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys. And they had thirty towns in the land of Gilead, which to this day are called Havvoth-jair.
- 2 Samuel 8:18 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were priestly leaders.
- 1 Chronicles 11:40 Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite,
- 2 Chronicles 35:15 The singers, the descendants of Asaph, were at their stations according to the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer. And the gatekeepers at each gate did not need to leave their posts, because their fellow Levites made preparations for them.