<strong>REI</strong> (rē'ī, Heb. <em>rē‘î, friendly</em>). One who did not join Adonijah in rebelling against David (<bibleref ref="1Kgs.1.8">1Kgs.1.8</bibleref>).<br /><br />

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<strong>REI</strong> <strong>re, re’ ī</strong> (<span class="hebrew">רֵעִ֔י</span>. <em>friendly</em>). One of the supporters of Solomon at the time Adonijah attempted to secure the throne of David (<bibleref ref="1Kgs.1.8">1 Kings 1:8</bibleref>). He was a Judean, and prob. an officer in the royal guard.<br /><br />

<h2>International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)</h2>

Rei, Shimei and the Gibborim who belonged to David are listed among those who did not join Adonijah in his attempt on the throne (<bibleref ref="1Kgs.1.8">1Ki 1:8</bibleref>). The name is very uncertain. Winckler (Geschichte, II, 247) identifies him with Ira, the Jairite, who was a "priest to David" (<bibleref ref="2Sam.20.26">2Sa 20:26</bibleref> the <span class="auto-link">[[Revised Version]]</span> margin); he tries to prove that this Ira (or Jair) was a priest of Bethlehem. Stade (GVI, I, 293, note 1) holds that Shimei and Rei were two officers of David’s bodyguard. Josephus (Ant., VII, xiv, 4) has ho Daouidou philos, thus making Shimei a "friend," the courtier of <bibleref ref="2Sam.15.37">2Sa 15:37</bibleref>; <bibleref ref="2Sam.16.16">16:16</bibleref>, and omitting Rei entirely. This would call for an original reading re`h ha-melekh, or re`eh ha-melekh, and is too wide a variant from the Massoretic Text. Assuming that Rei belongs in the text, it is safe to conjecture that he was an officer of the royal guard.<br /><br />

Horace J. Wolf<br /><br />