INTRODUCTION TO SECOND SAMUEL 13 This chapter relates some of the evils that were to arise out of David's house, and which were similar to the evils committed by him; the deflowering of his daughter, and the murder of his eldest son: the story is this; Amnon falls in love with Tamar, his sister, and grew thin upon it, which being observed by a...
And it came to pass after this,.... After the sin of David with Bathsheba, his repentance for it, and pardon of it, and the birth of Solomon as a token of reconciliation; yet after all this the divine threatenings must take place; they had begun already in the death of the child begotten in adultery, and others here follow: that Absalom the son of...
The righteous God had lately told David, by Nathan the prophet, that, to chastise him for his son in the matter of Uriah, he would "raise up evil against him out of his own house," (ch. xii. 11). And here, in the very next chapter, we find the evil beginning to rise; henceforward he was followed with one trouble after another, which made the...
And Amnon was so vexed,.... Distressed, straitened, and perplexed in his mind through unruly and unbridled lusts that raged in him: that he fell sick for his sister Tamar; as Antiochus son of Seleucus did for his mother in law Stratonice, who, to cure him of it, was delivered to him by his father (s): for she [was] a virgin; and so kept very...
But Amnon had a friend,.... Though in the issue his friendship proved his ruin: whose name [was] Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David's brother; so that they were own cousins, the same with Shammah, 1 Samuel 16:9; and Jonadab [was] a very subtle man; a very penetrating man into the dispositions of men, and could judge by their countenances what they...
And he said unto him, why [art] thou, [being] the king's son, lean from day today?.... Or "morning by morning", (w); he was the king's eldest son, heir to the crown, fed at his table, had everything to make him gay and cheerful, and yet pined away; his flesh wasted (x), his countenance waxed wan and pale, and especially in the mornings; in the...
And Jonadab said unto him,.... Being a subtle man, he presently formed a scheme to relieve him, and open a way for the enjoyment of what he desired: lay thee down on thy bed, and make thyself sick; feign thyself sick, pretend that thou art so, by lying down on the bed, and making complaints of one kind or another: and when thy father cometh to see...
So Amnon lay down, and made himself sick,.... Took the advice of his cousin Jonadab, and acted according to it: and when the king was come to see him; as he quickly did, after he had heard of his illness: Amnon said unto the king; who perhaps inquired of his appetite, whether he could eat anything, and what: I pray thee let my sister Tamar come;...
Then David sent home to Tamar,.... Who perhaps was not in the king's palace, but at her brother Absalom's house, 2 Samuel 13:20; saying, go now to thy brother Amnon's house; who also had a separate house and equipage, being the king's son, and his eldest son: and dress him meat; such as he may desire, and his stomach will bear.
So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house,.... In obedience to the king's commands, and in affection to her brother, with an innocent breast, having no suspicion of any design upon her chastity: (and he was laid down); upon a couch or bed in his chamber, as being sick as was pretended, into which she was introduced: and she took flour, and...
And she took a pan, and poured [them] out before him,.... Out of the frying pan, in which they were, into another dish; and all this was done in his presence, that he might see and know of what, and in what manner it was made, that his stomach might not recoil at it: but he refused to eat: for that was not what he wanted: and Amnon said, have out...
And Amnon said unto Tamar, bring the meat into the chamber,.... An inner chamber, at a greater distance, where they might be more secret, and out of the reach of the hearing of any of his domestics: that I may eat of thine hand; this he pretended, though his design was of another kind: and Tamar took the cakes which she had made, and brought...
And when she had brought [them] unto him to eat,.... Not only into the chamber, but to the side of the bed or couch where he had laid himself, or sat, in a proper position to answer his purpose: he took hold of her; by the arm, or threw his hands about her: and said unto her, come, lie with me, my sister; one would think the relation he observes...
And she answered him, nay, my brother,.... Which carried in it a reason sufficient for her denial, that he was her brother, and she his sister, and therefore should not offer such an indignity to her: do not force me; which was another forbidding expression, signifying she would never freely yield to his will; and to force her, to defile her...
And I, whither shall I cause my shame to go?.... She desires him to consider hey reputation, which would be lost; was she to go into a corner, into a place the most private and retired, yet she would blush at the thought of the crime committed; and still less able would she be to lift up her face in any public company; nor could she ever expect to...
Howbeit, he would not hearken unto her voice,.... His lust was so inflamed and enraged, that he could not attend to any arguments, though ever so forcible, that were offered to him: but being stronger than she, forced her, and lay with her; whether she cried out or not, as the law directs in such cases, Deuteronomy 22:25; is not said; she might,...
Then Amnon hated her exceedingly,.... Having gratified his lust, his conscience stung him for it, that he could not bear the sight of the object that had been the instrument of it; and it may be the sharp words she had used, representing him as one of the fools in Israel, and perhaps she used sharper words still after he had abused her, filled him...
And she said unto him, [there is] no cause,.... For such treatment as this: this evil in sending me away [is] greater than the other that thou didst unto me; not that this was a greater sin, but it was a greater evil or injury to her, that being done secretly, this openly; being turned out in that open manner, it might look as if she was the...
Then he called his servants that ministered unto him,.... His domestic servants that waited on him: and said, put now this [woman] out from me; she not willing to depart at once, he ordered her to be put out immediately by force; using her and speaking of her in a very rude and scandalous manner, calling her this, leaving it to be supplied, as...
And [she had] a garment of divers colours upon her,.... Of embroidered work, which made her the more observable, and her shame the more manifest. Whether this was interwoven with threads of various colours, or embroidered with figures of flowers, animals, c. and wrought with the needle, or was painted with different colours, or made up of pieces...