World English Bible
- After this, Absalom the son of David had a beautiful sister, whose name was Tamar; and Amnon the son of David loved her.
- Amnon was so troubled that he became sick because of his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and it seemed hard to Amnon to do anything to her.
- But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David’s brother; and Jonadab was a very subtle man.
- He said to him, “Why, son of the king, are you so sad from day to day? Won’t you tell me?” Amnon said to him, “I love Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.”
- Jonadab said to him, “Lay down on your bed and pretend to be sick. When your father comes to see you, tell him, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come and give me bread to eat, and prepare the food in my sight, that I may see it and eat it from her hand.’”
- So Amnon lay down and faked being sick. When the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, “Please let my sister Tamar come and make me a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat from her hand.”
- Then David sent home to Tamar, saying, “Go now to your brother Amnon’s house, and prepare food for him.”
- So Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s house; and he was lying down. She took dough, kneaded it, made cakes in his sight, and baked the cakes.
- She took the pan and poured them out before him, but he refused to eat. Amnon said, “Have all men leave me.” Then every man went out from him.
- Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food into the room, that I may eat from your hand.” Tamar took the cakes which she had made, and brought them into the room to Amnon her brother.
- When she had brought them near to him to eat, he took hold of her and said to her, “Come, lie with me, my sister!”
- She answered him, “No, my brother, do not force me! For no such thing ought to be done in Israel. Don’t you do this folly!
- As for me, where would I carry my shame? And as for you, you will be as one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, please speak to the king; for he will not withhold me from you.”
- However, he would not listen to her voice; but being stronger than she, he forced her and lay with her.
- Then Amnon hated her with exceedingly great hatred; for the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her. Amnon said to her, “Arise, be gone!”
- She said to him, “Not so, because this great wrong in sending me away is worse than the other that you did to me!” But he would not listen to her.
- Then he called his servant who ministered to him, and said, “Now put this woman out from me, and bolt the door after her.”
- She had a garment of various colors on her, for the king’s daughters who were virgins dressed in such robes. Then his servant brought her out and bolted the door after her.
- Tamar put ashes on her head, and tore her garment of various colors that was on her; and she laid her hand on her head and went her way, crying aloud as she went.
- Absalom her brother said to her, “Has Amnon your brother been with you? But now hold your peace, my sister. He is your brother. Don’t take this thing to heart.” So Tamar remained desolate in her brother Absalom’s house.
- But when King David heard of all these things, he was very angry.
- Absalom spoke to Amnon neither good nor bad; for Absalom hated Amnon, because he had forced his sister Tamar.
- After two full years, Absalom had sheep shearers in Baal Hazor, which is beside Ephraim; and Absalom invited all the king’s sons.
- Absalom came to the king and said, “See now, your servant has sheep shearers. Please let the king and his servants go with your servant.”
- The king said to Absalom, “No, my son, let’s not all go, lest we be burdensome to you.” He pressed him; however he would not go, but blessed him.
- Then Absalom said, “If not, please let my brother Amnon go with us.” The king said to him, “Why should he go with you?”
- But Absalom pressed him, and he let Amnon and all the king’s sons go with him.
- Absalom commanded his servants, saying, “Mark now, when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine; and when I tell you, ‘Strike Amnon,’ then kill him. Don’t be afraid. Haven’t I commanded you? Be courageous, and be valiant!”
- The servants of Absalom did to Amnon as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king’s sons arose, and every man got up on his mule and fled.
- While they were on the way, the news came to David, saying, “Absalom has slain all the king’s sons, and there is not one of them left!”
- Then the king arose, and tore his garments, and lay on the earth; and all his servants stood by with their clothes torn.
- Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David’s brother, answered, “Don’t let my lord suppose that they have killed all the young men, the king’s sons, for Amnon only is dead; for by the appointment of Absalom this has been determined from the day that he forced his sister Tamar.
- Now therefore don’t let my lord the king take the thing to his heart, to think that all the king’s sons are dead; for only Amnon is dead.”
- But Absalom fled. The young man who kept the watch lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, many people were coming by way of the hillside behind him.
- Jonadab said to the king, “Behold, the king’s sons are coming! It is as your servant said.”
- As soon as he had finished speaking, behold, the king’s sons came, and lifted up their voices and wept. The king also and all his servants wept bitterly.
- But Absalom fled and went to Talmai the son of Ammihur, king of Geshur. David mourned for his son every day.
- So Absalom fled and went to Geshur, and was there three years.
- King David longed to go out to Absalom, for he was comforted concerning Amnon, since he was dead.
2 Samuel 13 — “When Desire Turns Violent and Silence Becomes
Complicity”
Devotion for 30 October 2025
Yesterday we watched David receive forgiveness yet still live under the shadow of consequences (see 2 Samuel 12, devotion dated 29 Oct 2025). Today that shadow lengthens over his household. Chapter 13 forces honest readers to sit with a narrative of rape, rage, and revenge inside the royal family. It is one of Scripture’s darkest domestic scenes—and therefore one of its most necessary mirrors.
1 – 5 Amnon’s sick longing and Jonadab’s wicked counsel
6 – 14 Tamar enticed, violated, and discarded
15 – 20 Love turns to loathing; Tamar’s public grief
21 David’s anger that leads to no action
22 – 29 Absalom’s two-year plot and deadly feast
30 – 39 Flight to Geshur and a father’s silent sorrow
• Half-Siblings and Succession: In a polygamous royal household, sons of different mothers jockeyed for the throne. Amnon (firstborn), Absalom (third), and Tamar shared David as father but not the same mother. Ancient Near-Eastern law gave the firstborn enormous advantages; Amnon’s sense of entitlement is therefore political as well as sexual.
• The “Robe of Many Colors”: Verse 18 describes Tamar’s ketonet passim—a long-sleeved, ornamented garment (the same phrase used for Joseph in Genesis 37). It marks royalty and virginity. By tearing it (v. 19), Tamar shows the loss of both status and security.
• Healing Cakes: The word usually rendered “cakes” (v. 8, levivot) appears in Ugaritic texts for heart-shaped pastries made with pressed figs—a common convalescent food. The tender domestic picture underscores the horror to come.
• Desolate (Hebrew shamem, v. 20): More than “lonely,” it carries a sense of being laid waste, like a ruined city after battle (cf. Lamentations 1 : 4).
Desire Disordered
Lies about love stand at the chapter’s core. Amnon is “tormented”
(tsar, squeezed) by lust (v. 2). Augustine called such desire
cupiditas—love curved inward, consuming the other rather than
giving life. Compare James 1 : 14-15; Matthew 5 : 27-28.
Abuse of Power
This is not merely sexual sin; it is royal sin. As David once
exploited Bathsheba, Amnon now exploits Tamar. Walter Brueggemann notes
that the narrator repeatedly says “his brother’s sister” (vv. 6, 8, 10,
12) to intensify the betrayal.
Silence That Protects the Violent
David is “very angry” (v. 21) yet does nothing. Augustine linked this to
David’s own moral compromise: “He blushed to punish what he had himself
done.” Calvin warned that passive fathers “educate tyranny in their own
houses.” Silence also pervades Tamar’s life; after verse 22 we never
hear her voice again, but God makes sure her story is written.
Unchecked Bitterness
Absalom “spoke neither good nor bad” (v. 22, a Semitic idiom for total
avoidance) for two years. Outward calm hid internal fury that will
eventually tear the kingdom apart. Heb 12 : 15 warns that roots of
bitterness defile many.
Echoes of Covenant Hope
The gospel does not shine by minimizing evil but by out-shining it.
Tamar’s tears anticipate another royal daughter’s lament—Zion herself
(Lam 1 : 12-16). Yet through that line of sorrow God will still bring
Messiah (Matt 1 : 1-6 includes Bathsheba and points past family disgrace
to redemption).
Excavations at the “Large Stone Structure” in today’s Jerusalem (possible Davidic palace levels, 10th century BC) reveal multi-room buildings with private quarters—supporting the biblical picture of separate wings for women, a setting where deception such as Amnon’s could occur unnoticed.
The passage forms a rough chiastic arc:
A Amnon loves Tamar (vv. 1-2)
B Jonadab’s plot (vv. 3-5)
C Deception enacted (vv. 6-9)
C′ Violation enacted (vv. 10-14)
B′ Jonadab’s report (vv. 32-35)
A′ David mourns Amnon (vv. 36-39)
The structure highlights Jonadab’s role as the hinge—worldly wisdom that fuels tragedy (contrast Prov 13 : 20).
• Chrysostom: “See how lust, once indulged, becomes crueler than
hatred.”
• Teresa of Ávila (on Tamar’s desolation): “The soul violated by sin
finds no cloister but the wounds of Christ.”
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer: “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil.”
Genesis 34 (Dinah)
Judges 19 (the Levite’s concubine)
Deuteronomy 22 : 25-29 (law protecting violated women)
Psalm 55 : 4-6 (heart racing, longing for escape)
Galatians 5 : 19-24 (works of the flesh vs. fruit of the Spirit)
Hebrews 4 : 15-16 (a High Priest who knows our wounds)
“Heal Us, Emmanuel, Hear Our Prayer” (William Cowper / Kevin Twit arrangement). Its refrain—“We long to feel Thy touch”—gives voice to Tamar’s unspoken ache and to our need for healing community.
Holy and lamenting God,
You are the defender of the violated and the judge of secret
violence.
Expose any curved-in love within us, silence the sly counsel of Jonadab
in our ears,
and make us guardians, not bystanders, of the Tamar-souls near us.
Where bitterness festers, plant the cross;
where desolation reigns, pour Your Spirit of comfort.
May our homes and churches mirror the kingdom
in which every tear is wiped away by nail-scarred hands.
Through Jesus Christ, the true Son of David who heals all broken
families.
Amen.