Ittai (אִתַּי, H863) is a personal name meaning 'with me,' 'near me,' or 'timely.' Two significant figures bear this name in Scripture: (1) Ittai the Gittite — a Philistine from Gath who followed David into exile during Absalom's rebellion, one of David's most devoted commanders; (2) Ittai son of Ribai — one of David's 'Thirty,' mighty warriors listed in 2 Samuel 23:29. The name derives from the preposition et (with/near) with the first-person suffix.
Ittai the Gittite stands as one of Scripture's most remarkable portraits of covenant loyalty and radical discipleship. When David urged him to return to Jerusalem during the crisis of Absalom's revolt (2 Samuel 15:19–22), Ittai responded in language that echoes Ruth's commitment to Naomi: 'As the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king may be, whether in death or life, even there also will your servant be.' A foreigner — a Philistine, no less — became a picture of the loyalty that surpasses ethnic and national identity. His devotion was not to a nation but to a person. This foreshadows the cross-cultural nature of the kingdom of God, where commitment to the King defines belonging far more than bloodline. Ittai's name ('with me') became a lived truth — he stayed when others fled.