2 Samuel 13–18

Amnon Assaults His Sister Tamar

13It happened afterwards that Absalom the son of David had a beautiful sister whose name was Tamar, and Amnon the son of David fell in love with her. ²And Amnon was so frustrated that he felt ill^a because of Tamar his sister, because she was a virgin, and it was too difficult in Amnon’s eyes to do anything with her. ³Now Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab the son of Shimeah, the brother of David. (Now Jonadab was a very crafty man.) ⁴And he said to him, “Why are you so sullen every morning,^b O son of the king? Will you not tell me?” And Amnon said to him, “I am in love with Tamar, the sister of my brother Absalom.” ⁵Then Jonadab said to him, “Lie down on your bed and appear ill. If your father comes to see you, you shall say to him, ‘Please let Tamar my sister come and give me food to eat, and let her prepare the food before my eyes, in order that I may see it and eat from her hand.’ ” ⁶So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill, and the king came to see him. Amnon said to the king, “Please let Tamar my sister come, and let her bake two cakes before my eyes that I may eat from her hand.” ⁷So David sent to the house for Tamar, saying, “Please go to the house of Amnon your brother and prepare food for him.” ⁸Tamar went to the house of Amnon her brother. Now he was lying down, and she took the dough and kneaded it and made cakes before his eyes, and she baked the cakes. ⁹Then she took the pan and poured it out before him, but he refused to eat. Then Amnon said, “Let all the men go out from me.” So all the men went out from him. ¹⁰Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food to the private room that I may eat from your hand.” So Tamar took the cakes which she had made and brought them to Amnon her brother in^c the private room. ¹¹When she brought them near to him to eat, he took hold of her and said to her, “Come, lie with me, my sister!” ¹²Then Tamar said to him, “No, my brother! Do not force me, for such a thing has not been done in Israel. Do not do this disgraceful thing! ¹³As for me, where should I take my disgrace? You will be as one of the fools in Israel. So please, speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.” ¹⁴But he was not willing to listen to her voice. He was stronger than she, and he forced her and lay with her.

¹⁵Then Amnon hated her very deeply,^d for the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her. So Amnon said to her, “Get up and go.” ¹⁶She said to him, “No, because this evil in sending me away is greater than the other you have done to me.” But he was not willing to listen to her. ¹⁷Then he called his young man who was serving him and said, “Please send this woman from me to the outside, and bolt the door behind her!” ¹⁸Now there was a long-sleeved robe on her, for so they clothed the daughters of the king who were virgins, in robes. His servant put her outside, and he bolted the door behind her. ¹⁹Tamar put ashes on her head, and she tore the long-sleeved robe which was on her. She put her hand on her head, and she went away, crying out as she went.^{e 20}Absalom her brother said to her, “Was Amnon your brother with you? But now, my sister, be quiet; he is your brother. Do not take this matter to heart.”^f So Tamar remained a desolate woman in the house of Absalom her brother.

Absalom Kills Amnon

²¹Now King David heard all these things, and he became very angry.^{g 22}Absalom did not speak with Amnon either bad or good,^h for Absalom hated Amnon over the matter whenⁱ he raped Tamar his sister. ²³About two full years later,^j Absalom’s shearers were in Baal Hazor, which is near Ephraim, and Absalom summoned all the sons of the king. ²⁴Then Absalom went to the king and said, “Look, here are your servant’s shearers; please let the king and his servants go with your servant. ²⁵The king said to Absalom, “No my son, not all of us shall go, so that we not be a burden to you.” And he urged him, but he was not willing to go, but he blessed him. ²⁶So Absalom said, “But will you not let Amnon my brother go with us?” And the king said to him, “Why should he go with you?” ²⁷But Absalom pressed him, so he sent Amnon with him and all of the sons of the king. ²⁸Absalom commanded his servants, saying, “Please watch. At the moment the heart of Amnon is tipsy^k with wine, then I shall say to you, ‘Strike Amnon down,’ and you shall kill him! Don’t be afraid. Is it not I myself who has commanded you? Be courageous and be valiant!^{l 29}So Absalom’s servants did to Amnon just as Absalom commanded, and all the sons of the king got up, and each mounted his mule and fled.

³⁰While they were on the way,^m the message came to David, “Absalom has killed all the sons of the king, and not one of them was left.” ³¹Then the king rose and tore his garments, and he lay on the ground, and all his servants standing by were tearing their garments. ³²Then Jonadab the son of Shimeah, the brother of David, responded and said, “My lord should not think that all the young men, the sons of the king, are dead, because only Amnon is dead. Absalom was talking about it,ⁿ as it was being determined from the day he^o raped Tamar his sister. ³³So then, let not my lord the king set his heart on this matter, thinking, ‘All the sons of the king are dead,’ for only Amnon alone is dead.”

Absalom Flees

³⁴So Absalom fled, and the young man who was keeping watch lifted up his eyes and saw, and there were many people coming from the road behind him from the side of the mountain. ³⁵Jonadab said to the king, “Look, the sons of the king have come. According to the word of your servant, so it has come about.” ³⁶When he finished speaking, look, the sons of the king came and they lifted up their voice and wept. Also, the king and all his servants wept a very great weeping. ³⁷Absalom fled and went to Talmai the son of Ammihud, the king of Geshur. David mourned over his son day after day.^{p 38}But Absalom had fled and went to Geshur, and he was there three years. ³⁹King David longed to go out to Absalom, for he was consoled that Amnon had died.

Joab Plots to Reconcile David with Absalom

14Joab the son of Zeruiah realized that the mind of the king was on Absalom. ²So Joab sent to Tekoa and took from there a wise woman, and he said to her, “Please pretend to mourn and put on garments of mourning. You should not anoint yourself with oil, and you must act like this woman who has been mourning over the dead for a long time.^{a 3}Then you must go to the king and speak to him according to this word.” Thus Joab put the words in her mouth.

⁴So the Tekoite woman spoke to the king, and she fell on her face to the ground and did obeisance. She said, “Help me, O king!” ⁵Then the king asked her, “What do you want?”^b And she said, “Truly I am a widow, and my husband is dead. ⁶Your servant had two sons, and they both fought in the open field, and there was no one to part them.^c One struck the other and killed him. ⁷And look, all of the family has risen up against your servant, and they said, ‘Give up the one who struck his brother, that we may kill him in exchange for the life of his brother whom he murdered. We will also wipe out the heir,’ and so they would put out my embers which remain, by not preserving for my husband a name and a remnant on the face of the earth.”

⁸Then the king said to the woman, “Go to your house, and I myself will give the command concerning you.” ⁹The Tekoite woman said to the king, “On me, my lord the king, is the guilt, and on the house of my father, but the king on^d his throne is innocent.” ¹⁰The king said, “Whoever has spoken to you, bring him to me, and he will not touch you again.” ¹¹Then she said, “Please may the king remember Yahweh your God, to prevent the increase of blood avengers who kill,^e so that they not wipe out my son.” He said, “As Yahweh lives,^f surely not one hair shall fall from your son to the ground.” ¹²The woman said, “Please let your servant speak a word to my lord the king.” And he said, “Speak.” ¹³The woman said, “But why have you plotted like this against the people of God? By speaking this word, he is guilty not to bring back his banished one. ¹⁴For we must certainly die,^g and we are as the waters spilled to the ground which cannot be gathered. God will not take a life but devises plans for a banished person not to be cast out from him. ¹⁵Now I have come to speak this word to my lord the king, because the people made me afraid, and your servant thought, ‘I will speak to the king, perhaps the king will grant^h the request of his servant. ¹⁶For the king will listen, to deliver his servant from the hand of the man who seeks to destroy me and my son together from the inheritance of God.’ ¹⁷Your servant also thought, ‘May the word of my lord the king bring rest,ⁱ for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king, to sense what is good and what is bad.’^j May Yahweh your God be with you.” ¹⁸The king answered and said to the woman, “Please do not withhold from me a thing which I am about to ask you.” The woman said, “Please let my lord the king speak.” ¹⁹The king asked, “Was the hand of Joab with you in all of this?” The woman answered and said, “As your soul lives,^k my lord the king, surely one cannot go to the right or to the left from all that my lord the king has spoken. Yes, your servant Joab himself commanded me, and he put all of these words in the mouth of your servant. ²⁰In order to change the situation,^l your servant Joab did this thing. But my lord has wisdom, as the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all that is on the earth.” ²¹Then the king said to Joab, “Look, please, I will grant this thing. Go and bring back the young man Absalom.” ²²Joab fell with his face to the ground and did obeisance. And he blessed the king, and he^m said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your eyes, my lord the king, in that the king has granted the request of his servant.”

Absalom Returns to…