2 Samuel 13:1

The Rape of Tamar

13:1 Now David’s son Absalom had a beautiful sister named Tamar. In the course of time David’s son Amnon fell madly in love with her. ¹ 

2 Samuel 13:20-28

13:20 Her brother Absalom said to her, “Was Amnon your brother with you? Now be quiet, my sister. He is your brother. Don’t take it so seriously!” ²  Tamar, devastated, lived in the house of her brother Absalom.

13:21 Now King David heard about all these things and was very angry. ³  13:22 But Absalom said nothing to Amnon, either bad or good, yet Absalom hated Amnon because he had humiliated his sister Tamar.

Absalom Has Amnon Put to Death

13:23 Two years later Absalom’s sheepshearers were in Baal Hazor, ⁴  near Ephraim. Absalom invited all the king’s sons. 13:24 Then Absalom went to the king and said, “My shearers have begun their work. ⁵  Let the king and his servants go with me.”

13:25 But the king said to Absalom, “No, my son. We shouldn’t all go. We shouldn’t burden you in that way.” Though Absalom ⁶  pressed ⁷  him, the king ⁸  was not willing to go. Instead, David ⁹  blessed him.

13:26 Then Absalom said, “If you will not go, ¹⁰  then let my brother Amnon go with us.” The king replied to him, “Why should he go with you?” 13:27 But when Absalom pressed him, he sent Amnon and all the king’s sons along with him.

13:28 Absalom instructed his servants, “Look! When Amnon is drunk ¹¹  and I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon down,’ kill him then and there. Don’t fear! Is it not I who have given you these instructions? Be strong and courageous!” ¹² 

2 Samuel 13:38

13:38 After Absalom fled and went to Geshur, he remained there for three years.

2 Samuel 18:14

18:14 Joab replied, “I will not wait around like this for you!” He took three spears in his hand and thrust them into the middle of Absalom while he was still alive in the middle of the oak tree. ¹³ 

2 Samuel 18:18

18:18 Prior to this ¹⁴  Absalom had set up a monument ¹⁵  and dedicated it to himself in the King’s Valley, reasoning “I have no son who will carry on my name.” He named the monument after himself, and to this day it is known as Absalom’s Memorial.

2 Samuel 18:33

18:33 (19:1) ¹⁶  The king then became very upset. He went up to the upper room over the gate and wept. As he went he said, “My son, Absalom! My son, my son, ¹⁷  Absalom! If only I could have died in your place! Absalom, my son, my son!” ¹⁸ 

2 Samuel 19:4-10

19:4 The king covered his face and cried out loudly, ¹⁹  “My son, Absalom! Absalom, my son, my son!”

19:5 So Joab visited ²⁰  the king at his home. He said, “Today you have embarrassed all your servants who have saved your life this day, as well as the lives of your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your concubines. 19:6 You seem to love your enemies and hate your friends! For you have as much as declared today that leaders and servants don’t matter to you. I realize now ²¹  that if ²²  Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, ²³  it would be all right with you. 19:7 So get up now and go out and give some encouragement to ²⁴  your servants. For I swear by the Lord that if you don’t go out there, not a single man will stay here with you tonight! This disaster will be worse for you than any disaster that has overtaken you from your youth right to the present time!”

19:8 So the king got up and sat at the city gate. When all the people were informed that the king was sitting at the city gate, they ²⁵  all came before him.

David Goes Back to Jerusalem

But the Israelite soldiers ²⁶  had all fled to their own homes. ²⁷  19:9 All the people throughout all the tribes of Israel were arguing among themselves saying, “The king delivered us from the hand of our enemies. He rescued us from the hand of the Philistines, but now he has fled from the land because of Absalom. 19:10 But Absalom, whom we anointed as our king, ²⁸  has died in battle. So now why do you hesitate to bring the king back?” ²⁹ 

[13:1]  ¹ tn Heb “Amnon the son of David loved her.” The following verse indicates the extreme nature of his infatuation, so the translation uses “madly in love” here.

[13:1]  sn Amnon was the half-brother of Tamar; Absalom was her full blood-brother.

[13:20]  ² tn Heb “Don’t set your heart to this thing!”

[13:21]  ³ tc The LXX and part of the Old Latin tradition include the following addition to v. 21, also included in some English versions (e.g., NAB, NRSV, CEV): “But he did not grieve the spirit of Amnon his son, because he loved him, since he was his firstborn.” Note David’s attitude toward his son Adonijah in 1 Kgs 1:6.

[13:23]  ⁴ map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 D3; Map3 A2; Map4 C1.

[13:24]  ⁵ tn Heb “your servant has sheepshearers.” The phrase “your servant” also occurs at the end of the verse.

[13:25]  ⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Absalom) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:25]  ⁷ tc Here and in v. 27 the translation follows 4QSam^a ויצפר (vayyitspar, “and he pressed”) rather than the MT וַיִּפְרָץ (vayyiprats, “and he broke through”). This emended reading seems also to underlie the translations of the LXX (καὶ ἐβιάσατο, kai ebiasato), the Syriac Peshitta (we’alseh), and Vulgate (cogeret eum).

[13:25]  ⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:25]  ⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:26]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and not.”

[13:28]  ¹¹ tn Heb “when good is the heart of Amnon with wine.”

[13:28]  ¹² tn Heb “and become sons of valor.”

[18:14]  ¹³ tn There is a play on the word “heart” here that is difficult to reproduce in English. Literally the Hebrew text says “he took three spears in his hand and thrust them into the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the heart of the oak tree.” This figure of speech involves the use of the same word in different senses and is known as antanaclasis. It is illustrated in the familiar saying from the time of the American Revolution: “If we don’t hang together, we will all hang separately.” The present translation understands “heart” to be used somewhat figuratively for “chest” (cf. TEV, CEV), which explains why Joab’s armor bearers could still “kill” Absalom after he had been stabbed with three spears through the “heart.” Since trees do not have “chests” either, the translation uses “middle.”

[18:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and.” This disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) describes an occurrence that preceded the events just narrated.

[18:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “a pillar.”

[18:33]  ¹⁶ sn This marks the beginning of ch. 19 in the Hebrew text. Beginning with 18:33, the verse numbers through 19:43 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 18:33 ET = 19:1 HT, 19:1 ET = 19:2 HT, 19:2 ET = 19:3 HT, etc., through 19:43 ET = 19:44 HT. From 20:1 the versification in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible is again the same.

[18:33]  ¹⁷ tc One medieval Hebrew ms, some mss of the LXX, and the Vulgate lack this repeated occurrence of “my son” due to haplography.

[18:33]  ¹⁸ tc The Lucianic Greek recension and Syriac Peshitta lack this repeated occurrence of “my son” due to haplography.

[19:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “with a great voice.”

[19:5]  ²⁰ tn Heb “came to.”

[19:6]  ²¹ tn Heb “today.”

[19:6]  ²² tc The translation follows the Qere, 4QSam^a, and many medieval Hebrew mss in reading לוּ (lu, “if”) rather than MT לֹא (lo’, “not”).

[19:6]  ²³ tc The Lucianic Greek recension and Syriac Peshitta lack “today.”

[19:7]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and speak to the heart of.”

[19:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “all the people.”

[19:8]  ²⁶ tn The Hebrew text has simply “Israel” (see 18:16-17).

[19:8]  ²⁷ tn Heb “had fled, each to his tent.”

[19:10]  ²⁸ tn Heb “over us.”

[19:10]  ²⁹ tc The LXX includes the following words at the end of v. 11: “And what all Israel was saying came to the king’s attention.” The words are misplaced in the LXX from v. 12 (although the same statement appears there in the LXX as well).