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Who is this person named "Rei" in the Haftarah of Parashat Chayei Sarah?
Melachim I - I Kings - Chapter 1:8 And Zadok the priest and Benaiahu the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Shimei and Rei, and the mighty men, who were with David, were not with Adoniahu.
https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/15885/showrashi/true
The name "Rei" appears suddenly in this Haftarah passage and gives an impression that the readers know who this person is.
The Metzudat David on the verse says "יתכן שהוא חושי הארכי, הנקרא ריע המלך" referencing Shmuel 2, 16:16
"It is possible that this is Chushai the Arkite who is called the King's (David's) friend."
Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky wrote in his commentary on this verse (Emet L'Yaakov on Nach) (my translation):
"I do not know who are Shim'i and Re'i who were probably important people in the household of the king...and it's possible that Shim'i was really Shim'i ben Gerah...and Re'i may be Chushai the Archite...
But my heart tells me that since the text mentions them in an obvious manner, then that means that they were a part of the secret of the crown [i.e., the plan to crown Shlomo], meaning that in Shmuel 2:20 from verse 23 and onwards the text lists the ministers of the kingdom and counted Yoav and Benayahu and mentioned there "Sheva was scribe...and Ira etc", so it's possible that this Sheva [שוא] was also called "Shim'i" [שמעי] and Ira [עירא] may have also been called "Re'i" [רעי]..."
