Nathan had said the sword would not leave David’s house, and it begins with his own children. Amnon, the crown prince, rapes his half-sister Tamar and then throws her out. David hears, and is “very wroth” — and does nothing. Tamar is left “desolate.” Absalom says not a word to Amnon, good or bad, and waits two years. Then, at a sheepshearing feast, he has him killed. The sword shall never depart from thine house.
A study in 2 Samuel 13 · Arthur Baldwin · StandUp4Jesus.Org · 9 min read
Do Not Thou This Folly
“And she answered him, Nay, my brother, do not force me; for no such thing ought to be done in Israel: do not thou this folly… Howbeit he would not hearken unto her voice: but, being stronger than she, forced her, and lay with her.”
2 Samuel 13:12-14
The narrator does not spare the reader and neither should we: this is a rape, inside the royal family, and Scripture records it plainly as a crime. Tamar pleads — it is folly, it is not done in Israel, it will ruin them both — and reasons with him even to the point of asking him to go through the king. Amnon, “stronger than she,” does not listen. God’s law required death for this; the whole sequel turns on whether anyone will enforce it.
Then Amnon Hated Her Exceedingly
“Then Amnon hated her exceedingly; so that the hatred wherewith he hated her was greater than the love wherewith he had loved her. And Amnon said unto her, Arise, be gone… And Tamar put ashes on her head, and rent her garment of divers colours that was on her, and laid her hand on her head, and went on crying.”
2 Samuel 13:15-19
What Amnon had called love was appetite, and the moment it is fed it curdles into contempt — he now hates her more than he had wanted her, and has her put out and the door bolted behind her. Tamar tears the long robe that marked her as a virgin daughter of the king, puts ashes on her head, and goes away crying aloud. She “remained desolate” for the rest of her life. The text keeps her grief in view; it does not move on quickly.
He Was Very Wroth
“And Absalom her brother said unto her, Hath Amnon thy brother been with thee? but hold now thy peace, my sister… But when king David heard of all these things, he was very wroth. And Absalom spake unto his brother Amnon neither good nor bad: for Absalom hated Amnon, because he had forced his sister Tamar.”
2 Samuel 13:20-22
Three responses, all wrong in their way. Absalom tells Tamar to keep quiet and takes her into his house — protective, but it buries the crime. David is furious and stops there: no trial, no punishment, nothing. Ellen White is blunt about why. And Absalom says “neither good nor bad” to Amnon, which is not peace; it is a decision made and postponed.
“The shameful crime of Amnon, the first-born, was permitted by David to pass unpunished and unrebuked. The law pronounced death upon the adulterer, and the unnatural crime of Amnon made him doubly guilty. But David, self-condemned for his own sin, failed to bring the offender to justice.”
Ellen G. White · Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 727
By The Appointment Of Absalom
“Now Absalom had commanded his servants, saying, Mark ye now when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine, and when I say unto you, Smite Amnon; then kill him, fear not… for Amnon only is dead: for by the appointment of Absalom this hath been determined from the day that he forced his sister Tamar.”
2 Samuel 13:28-32
Two years later Absalom throws a feast, gets Amnon drunk, and has his servants cut him down at the table. The first news to reach David is that all his sons are dead; the truth is bad enough. Absalom flees to his grandfather in Geshur and stays three years, and David — grieving Amnon, then “comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead” — begins to long for the son who killed him. Where God’s justice is not done, God lets sin punish sin, and the house of David starts to come apart from the inside.
“David had neglected the duty of punishing the crime of Amnon, and because of the unfaithfulness of the king and father and the impenitence of the son, the Lord permitted events to take their natural course, and did not restrain Absalom… When parents or rulers neglect the duty of punishing iniquity, God Himself will take the case in hand… so that a train of circumstances will arise which will punish sin with sin.”
Ellen G. White · Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 728
