Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

13:1-22 After a time suggests that some time has passed since the end of ch. 12. This is an account of both rape and incest--the brother-sister relationship between Tamar and Amnon is referred to a dozen times. This rape was an outrageous thing (see Gen. 34:7; Deut. 22:21; Judg. 20:6; Jer. 29:23) that was not done in Israel (2 Sam. 13:12). Since it occurred in the royal family, it had implications for the whole nation.

13:1-2 Tamar was Absalom's full sister and the half sister of Amnon, David's eldest son. he made himself ill. Amnon's "love" could better be described as "lust."

13:3 The term crafty (Hb. khakam) is normally translated as "wise" or "skillful." Here, however, it is used in a negative sense.

13:6-8 The word for cakes (Hb. lebibah) is used only here in Scripture. It is related to the word "heart" (Hb. lebab), so it may have been thought of as a food for the sick. The word translated baked (v. 8) usually means "boiled" (see 1 Sam. 2:13), so it may be a type of dumpling. It apparently never occurred to David to be suspicious, and Tamar, of course, would obey her father.

13:12-13 such a thing is not done in Israel. Intercourse between brother and sister, even half brother and half sister, was forbidden in Lev. 18:9, and the stress on the outrageousness makes it seem likely that this prohibition was accepted at the time of David. he will not withhold me from you. Perhaps Tamar is saying that David would be willing to bend the rules, or perhaps she is just trying to escape.

13:15-17 While Amnon's response to Tamar may be an archetypal example of a "blame the victim" mentality, it is particularly striking in the context of sexual lust. wrong in sending me away. Tamar's appeal is based on the fact that within this ancient Near Eastern cultural setting Amnon's actions required marriage (Deut. 22:28-29). Put this woman out. Amnon's hatred and contempt of his sister is expressed by his final refusal to heed her wishes or even use her name.

13:16 this wrong . . . is greater than the other. If a man seduced an unmarried (or unbetrothed) woman, he had to marry her, unless her father refused; if he raped her, he was not permitted to divorce her (Ex. 22:16; Deut. 22:28-29). Having ruined her life, he had a responsibility toward her.

13:18 The only other place this kind of robe appears in the Bible is in the Joseph story (Gen. 37:3, as the ESV footnote explains).

13:19 Putting ashes (or dirt) on one's head and tearing one's clothes were expressions of grief or humiliation (see note on 1 Sam. 4:12), as was covering the head with the hand(s) or a garment (2 Sam. 15:30; Est. 6:12; Jer. 2:37).

13:20 Do not take this to heart, perhaps because it would be easier to remain quiet, or perhaps because Absalom was determined to take vengeance in his own time. Absalom himself did take it to heart (cf. vv. 23-29).

13:21 David was very angry, but he did not do anything. He showed favoritism toward his eldest son (see ESV footnote; cf. 3:2), which was the source of many of the later problems in David's family (cf. 1 Kings 1:6). Heads of households have to deal justly with members of their household, but because of his sin with Bathsheba, David had lost his moral courage and clarity of judgment.

13:22 Spoke . . . neither good nor bad may mean "do nothing against" (see Gen. 31:24, 29).

13:23 As seen in 1 Samuel 25, sheepshearing was a time of feasting. Absalom invited all the king's sons, and the next four verses explain how he gives the invitation. Absalom invited David, probably guessing that he would decline, in order to lend an aura of importance to the occasion and to mask his true intentions. If he had started out by inviting Amnon, it could have seemed suspicious.

13:29 The king's sons seem to have normally ridden mules. Absalom even rides one into battle (18:9).

13:37 Talmai was Absalom's maternal grandfather (3:3).

13:39 The Hebrew for the spirit of the king longed to go out to Absalom is difficult. It could also mean "the spirit of the king ceased to go out against Absalom" (cf. ESV footnote). The Hebrew lacks the word "spirit," but the verb "longed" or "ceased" is feminine and thus implies that the spirit or soul is properly inferred as the subject. (Some manuscripts of the Septuagint, together with a text from Qumran, explicitly have "the spirit of the king," though this may also be an inference.) The author is thus telling readers either that David yearned to see his son or that he no longer wanted to take vengeance on him; in either case, readers are set up for Absalom's return in the next chapter.

14:1-3 the king's heart went out to Absalom. This does not necessarily imply that his thoughts were positive, just that he was thinking about the matter. Joab recruited a wise woman and put the words in her mouth in an effort to push the king toward reconciliation with Absalom. (Later, however, Joab certainly does not seem to favor Absalom; cf. 18:10-18.) Tekoa, hometown of Amos (Amos 1:1), is in the Judean hills about 10 miles (16 km) south of Jerusalem, near Bethlehem.

14:4-7 The woman, using a "parable" as Nathan did (cf. 12:1-7), appeals to the king to set aside the ordinary laws demanding the death of a murderer (e.g., Num. 35:31), not because of any extenuating circumstances in the killing but for the good of the family. David must have first associated the woman's account with the story of Cain and Abel, and then soon realized that it would apply to Absalom's murder of Amnon.

14:7 heir. Apparently Absalom was now considered the heir, at least in popular sentiment. The idea of a smoldering coal is an image of "hope for the family." Neither name nor remnant means "no remaining posterity."

14:8-17 Perhaps David already suspects that Joab is involved in the woman's coming to him, so he deliberately uses the vague word "anyone" (If anyone says anything to you) in v. 10. The woman, however, sticks to her own story by referring to my son, while she uses a very sensitive term, avenger of blood (v. 11), which would apply to the king himself, who has been thinking about his own son (v. 1). She asks for an immediate ruling on her own (bogus) case so that she can comment on it (cf. vv. 13-14). By his words in v. 11b, David indirectly expresses his determination (As the Lord lives) to bring back his own lost son. The woman says what Joab has sent her to say (vv. 13-14) and then goes back to her made-up story (vv. 15-17). This in v. 15 would refer both to her real message in vv. 13-14 and to her "family problem" in vv. 5-7. This woman wisely finishes her dialogue with King David by mentioning her own problem, thus placing herself on the side of the needy and helpless, not in the position of an accuser of the king.

14:18-20 David suspects the woman's real purpose (cf. vv. 1-17). Having patiently heard her out, he now asks her straightforwardly if Joab was involved in her coming to him with her story.

14:24 he is not to come into my presence. David's forgiveness is incomplete, as Absalom complains in v. 32. David is confused: he is unwilling to punish, but also unwilling to forgive fully, so the situation festers.

14:25-27 These verses prepare readers for what is told later about Absalom, especially how he "stole the hearts of the men of Israel" (15:6) by his personal charms. The reference to his abundant hair looks ahead to his manner of death, i.e., by being caught by his head in a tree (see 18:9). The king's weight indicates that there was a royal standard at the Israelite court.

14:27 Since the three sons are unnamed and Absalom says he had no sons (18:18), these sons probably died young. His daughter, Tamar, was probably named for his sister (see note on 13:1-2).

14:28-32 Believing that Joab could orchestrate a long-awaited audience with the king, Absalom compels Joab's attention by setting his field on fire. He finds his current status unsatisfactory and wants either restoration to the royal household or, if guilty, execution (v. 32).

14:33 the king kissed Absalom. The kiss points to Absalom's restoration and closes the section consisting of chs. 13-14, which is a prologue to the revolt of Absalom in chs. 15-19. Clearly the king's kiss was less than full restoration since Absalom himself will soon "kiss away" the hearts of Israel (15:5-6).