Second Book of Samuel 13

¹ After this, the following events took place. Absalom son of David had a beautiful sister whose name was Tamar; Amnon son of David fell in love with her.

² Amnon was so obsessed with his sister Tamar that it made him ill, for she was a virgin and it seemed to Amnon impossible to do anything to her.

³ But Amnon had a friend called Jonadab son of Shimeah, David’s brother, and Jonadab was a very shrewd man.

⁴ ‘Son of the king,’ he said ‘tell me why, morning after morning, you look so worn? Will you not tell me?’ Amnon answered, ‘I am in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister’.

⁵ Then Jonadab said, ‘Lie down on your bed, pretend to be ill and when your father comes to visit you, say, “Let my sister Tamar come and give me something to eat; let her prepare the food before my eyes for me to see; only at her hands will I eat”‘.

⁶ So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill. Then the king came to visit him and Amnon said to the king, ‘Let my sister Tamar come and make a cake or two; I will eat at her hands’.

⁷ David then sent word to Tamar at the palace, ‘Go to your brother Amnon’s house and prepare some food for him’.

⁸ Tamar went to the house of her brother Amnon who was lying there in bed. She took dough and kneaded it, and she made cakes there before his eyes and baked the cakes.

⁹ Then she took the pan and dished them up in front of him, but he refused to eat. ‘Let everyone leave me’ he said; so they all withdrew.

¹⁰ Then Amnon said to Tamar, ‘Bring the food to the inner room so that I can eat at your hands’. So Tamar took the cakes she had made and brought them to her brother Amnon in the inner room.

¹¹ And as she was offering the food to him, he caught hold of her and said, ‘Come; lie with me, my sister’.

¹² But she answered, ‘No, my brother! Do not violate me. This is not a thing men do in Israel. Do not commit such an outrage.

¹³ Wherever should I go, bearing my shame? While you would become an outcast in Israel. Go now and speak to the king; he will not refuse to give me to you.’

¹⁴ But he would not listen to her; he overpowered her and, raping her, lay with her.

¹⁵ Then Amnon was seized with extreme hatred for her; the hatred he now felt for her was greater than his earlier love. ‘Get up and go’ he said.

¹⁶ ‘No, my brother,’ she said ‘to send me away would be a greater wrong than the other you have done me.’ But he would not listen to her.

¹⁷ He called the soldier who was his servant. ‘Get rid of this woman for me,’ he said ‘throw her out and bolt the door after her.’

¹⁸ (She was wearing a long-sleeved gown, for this was what the king’s unmarried daughters wore in days gone by.) So the servant put her out and bolted the door after her.

¹⁹ Tamar took dust and put it on her head, tore the long-sleeved gown she was wearing, laid her hand on her head, and went away uttering cries as she went.

²⁰ Her brother Absalom said to her, ‘Has Amnon your brother been with you? Be quiet now, my sister; he is your brother; do not take this so much to heart.’ But Tamar remained disconsolate in her brother Absalom’s house.

²¹ When King David heard the whole story, he was very angry; but he had no wish to harm his son Amnon, since he loved him; he was his first-born.

²² Absalom however would not so much as speak to Amnon, for he hated Amnon for having raped his sister Tamar.

²³ Two years later, when Absalom had the sheep-shearers at Baal-hazor, which is near Ephraim, he invited the entire royal household.

²⁴ Absalom went to the king and said, ‘At this moment your servant has the sheep-shearers. Will the king and his officers be pleased to come with your servant?’

²⁵ ‘No, my son,’ the king replied ‘we must not all come and be a burden to you.’ And though Absalom was insistent, he would not go but dismissed him.

²⁶ Absalom persisted, ‘Then at least let my brother Amnon come with us’. The king said, ‘Why should he go with you?’

²⁷ But Absalom insisted, so he allowed Amnon and all the king’s sons to go with him. Absalom prepared a royal banquet

²⁸ and then gave this order to his servants: ‘Listen carefully; when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine and I say, “Strike Amnon down”, then kill him. Have no fear. I myself have given you the order. Take courage, be brave.’

²⁹ Absalom’s servants treated Amnon as Absalom had ordered. Then all the king’s sons started up, mounted their mules and took flight.

³⁰ While they were on the road, a rumour reached David, ‘Absalom has killed all the king’s sons; not one of them is left’.

³¹ The king rose and tore his garments and lay down on the ground. All his officers in attendance tore their garments too.

³² But Jonadab son of Shimeah, David’s brother, spoke up. ‘Let not my lord imagine’ he said ‘that they have killed all the young men, the sons of the king; Amnon alone is dead, for Absalom’s face gave warning of this ever since Amnon violated his sister Tamar.

³³ Let not my lord the king imagine that all the king’s sons are dead; Amnon alone is dead

³⁴ and Absalom has taken flight.’ The soldier on sentry duty looked up and saw a large troop advancing down the slope on the Bahurim road. The sentry came to tell the king. ‘I saw men’ he said ‘coming down the Bahurim road on the mountainside.’

³⁵ Then Jonadab said to the king, ‘Here come the king’s sons; it has turned out just as your servant said’.

³⁶ He had scarcely finished speaking when the king’s sons arrived, and they cried aloud and wept; the king and all his officers wept bitterly too.

³⁹ The king’s heart was now no longer set against Absalom, once he had recovered from Amnon’s death.

¹³ a. By ancient custom, Ammon could have married his half-sister. Such marriages were