2 Samuel 13:32 Comentario

The righteous God had lately told David, by Nathan the prophet, that, to chastise him for his son in the matter of Uriah, he would "raise up evil against him out of his own house," (Sa2 12:11). And here, in the very next chapter, we find the evil beginning to rise; henceforward he was followed with one trouble after another, which made the latter part of his reign less glorious and pleasant than the former part. Thus God chastened him with the rod of men, yet assured him that his "loving-kindness he would not utterly take away." Adultery and murder were David's sins, and those sins among his children (Amnon defiling his sister Tamar, and Absalom murdering his brother Amnon) were the beginnings of his punishment, and the more grievous because he had reason to fear that his bad example might help to bring them to these wickednesses. In this chapter we have, I. Amnon ravishing Tamar, assisted in his plot to do it by Jonadab his kinsman, and villainously executing it (v. 1-20). II. Absalom murdering Amnon for it (v. 21-39). Both were great griefs to David, and the more because he was unwittingly made accessory to both, by sending Tamar to Amnon and Amnon to Absalom.

INTRODUCTION TO SECOND SAMUEL 13 This chapter relates some of the evils that were to arise out of David's house, and which were similar to the evils committed by him; the deflowering of his daughter, and the murder of his eldest son: the story is this; Amnon falls in love with Tamar, his sister, and grew thin upon it, which being observed by a friend of his, inquires the reason of it, which having got out of him, forms a scheme for obtaining his desire, and which succeeded; for by it he had the opportunity of ravishing his sister, Sa2 13:1; the consequences of which were extreme hatred of her, hurrying her out of doors, lamentation and mourning on her part, grief to David, and enmity in the heart of Absalom to Amnon, which put him upon meditating his death, Sa2 13:15; and which was brought about after this manner. Absalom had a sheep shearing, to which he invited the king and all his sons, and to which they all came excepting the king, Sa2 13:23; when Absalom gave orders to his servants to observe Amnon when he was merry, and at his word smite him and kill him, as they did, Sa2 13:28; tidings of which soon came to the ears of David, and these aggravated, that all the king's sons were killed, which threw the king into an agony; but Jonadab endeavoured to pacify him, by assuring him that only Amnon was dead, the truth of which soon appeared by the coming of the king's sons, Sa2 13:30; but Absalom fled to Geshur, where he remained three years, when David's heart began to be towards him, and to long for him, who was to bring more evil against him, Sa2 13:37.

And Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David's brother,.... The same that advised Amnon to feign himself sick, to get Tamar sent to him, that he might enjoy her, Sa2 13:3, answered and said; said in answer to the report brought to the king, which threw him into such an agony: let not my lord suppose that they have slain all the young men the king's sons; he did not believe it himself, and would not have the king entertain such a thought, and distress himself with it: for Amnon only is dead; he is very positive, and speaks with great assurance; it looks as if he was in the secret, and knew of the plot against Amnon's life; and, if so, he must be a very wicked man, first to form a scheme whereby Amnon might come at Tamar to ravish her, and then be accessory to the murder of him, as he must, if he knew of the design against his life, and did not acquaint him and the king of it; and this seems to be confirmed by what follows: for by the appointment of Absalom this hath been determined, from the day that he forced his sister Tamar; that is, the slaying of Amnon; the meaning is, either that Absalom had given orders to his servants to slay him, whenever they had an opportunity; or it was "in the mouth of Absalom" (p), as it may be rendered; he used to declare it to his intimate friends, that it was the purpose and resolution of his heart to kill Amnon some time or another; and this he had taken up from the time of his sister Tamar's being forced, and because of that, of which Jonadab had intelligence by some means or another; and who speaks of this rape without any seeming emotion, as if he had no concern at all in it. (p) "in ore Absalom", V. L. Vatablus.

Amnon falls in love with his half-sister Tamar, and feigns himself sick, and requests her to attend him, Sa2 13:1-6. David sends her to him, and he violates her, Sa2 13:7-14. He then hates her, and expels her from his house, Sa2 13:15-17, She rends her garments, puts ashes on her head, and goes forth weeping, Sa2 13:18, Sa2 13:19. She is met by Absalom her brother, who, understanding her case, determines the death of Amnon, Sa2 13:20-22. Two years after, he invites all his brothers to a sheep-shearing, when he orders his servants to murder Amnon, Sa2 13:23-29. Tidings come to David that Absalom has slain all the king's sons, which fill him with the bitterest distress, Sa2 13:30, Sa2 13:31. The rest soon arrive, and he finds that Amnon only is killed, Sa2 13:32-36. Absalom flees to Talmai, king of Geshur, where he remains three years, Sa2 13:37, Sa2 13:38. David longs after Absalom, having become reconciled to the death of Amnon, Sa2 13:39.

And Jonadab - said - Amnon only is dead - This was a very bad man, and here speaks coolly of a most bloody tragedy, which himself had contrived.

AMNON LOVES TAMAR. (Sa2 13:1-5) Tamar--daughter of David by Maachah (Sa2 3:3).

Amnon's Incest, and Absalom's Fratricide - 2 Samuel 13 The judgments threatened to king David in consequence of his sin with Bathsheba soon began to fall upon him and upon his house, and were brought about by sins and crimes on the part of his own sons, for which David was himself to blame, partly because of his own indulgence and want of discipline, and partly because of the bad example that he had set them. Having grown up without strict paternal discipline, simply under the care of their different mothers, who were jealous of one another, his sons fancied that they might gratify their own fleshly lusts, and carry out their own ambitious plans; and from this there arose a series of crimes, which nearly cost the king his life and throne. Amnon, David's eldest son, led the way with his forcible violation of his step-sister Tamar (vv. 1-22). The crime was avenged by her own brother Absalom, who treacherously assassinated Amnon, in consequence of which he was obliged to flee to Geshur and take refuge with his father-in-law (vv. 23-39).

Then Jonadab, the same person who had helped Amnon to commit his crime, said, "Let not my lord say (or think) that they have slain all the young men the king's sons, but Amnon alone is dead; for it was laid upon the mouth of Absalom from the day that he forced his sister Tamar." The meaning is either "they might see it (the murder of Amnon) by his mouth," or "they might gather it from what he said." שׂימה היתה: it was a thing laid down, i.e., determined (vid., Exo 21:13). The subject, viz., the thing itself, or the intended murder of Amnon, may easily be supplied from the context. אם כּי is undoubtedly used in the sense of "no but." The negation is implied in the thought: Let the king not lay it to heart, that they say all the king's sons are dead; it is not so, but only Amnon is dead. Jonadab does not seem to speak from mere conjecture; he is much too sure of what he says. He might possibly have heard expressions from Absalom's lips which made him certain as to how the matter stood. Sa2 13:34 "And Absalom fled." This statement follows upon Sa2 13:29. When the king's sons fled upon their mules, Absalom also took to flight. Sa2 13:30-33 are a parenthesis, in which the writer describes at once the impression made upon the king and his court by the report of what Absalom had done. The apparently unsuitable position in which this statement is placed may be fully explained from the fact, that the flight of Absalom preceded the arrival of the rest of the sons at the king's palace. The alteration which Bttcher proposes to make in the text, so as to remove this statement altogether on account of its unsuitable position, is proved to be inadmissible by the fact that the account of Absalom's flight cannot possibly be left out, as reference is made to it again afterwards (Sa2 13:37, Sa2 13:38, "Absalom had fled"). The other alterations proposed by Thenius in the text of Sa2 13:34, Sa2 13:37, Sa2 13:38, are just as arbitrary and out of place, and simply show that this critic was ignorant of the plan adopted by the historian. His plan is the following: To the account of the murder of Amnon, and the consequent flight of the rest of the king's sons whom Absalom had invited to the feast (Sa2 13:29), there is first of all appended a notice of the report which preceded the fugitives and reached the king's ears in an exaggerated form, together with the impression which it made upon the king, and the rectification of that report by Jonadab (Sa2 13:30-33). Then follows the statement that Absalom fled, also the account of the arrival of the king's sons (Sa2 13:34-36). After this we have a statement as to the direction in which Absalom fled, the king's continued mourning, and the length of time that Absalom's banishment lasted (Sa2 13:37, Sa2 13:38), and finally a remark as to David's feelings towards Absalom (Sa2 13:39). Jonadab's assertion, that Amnon only had been slain, was very speedily confirmed (Sa2 13:34). The young man, the spy, i.e., the young man who was looking out for the return of those who had been invited to the feast, "lifted up his eyes and saw," i.e., saw as he looked out into the distance, "much people (a crowd of men) coming from the way behind him along the side of the mountain." אחריו מדּרך, ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ ὄπισθεν αὐτοῦ (lxx), per iter devium (Vulg.), is obscure; and אהר, "behind," is probably to be understood as meaning "to the west:" from the way at the back of the spy, i.e., to the west of his station. The following words, ההר מצּד, also remain obscure, as the position of the spy is not given, so that the allusion may be to a mountain in the north-west of Jerusalem quite as well as to one on the west. (Note: The lxx have very comprehensive additions here: first of all, after ἐκ πλευρᾶς τοῦ ὄρους, they have the more precise definition ἐν τῇ καταβάσει, and then the further clause, "and the spy came and announced to the king," Ἄνδρας ὲώρακα ἐκ τῆς ὁδοῦ τῆς ὠρωνῆν (?) ἐκ μέρους τοῦ ὅρους, partly to indicate more particularly the way by which the king's sons came, and partly to fill up a supposed gap in the account. But they did not consider that the statement in Sa2 13:35, "and Jonadab said to the king, Behold, the king's sons are coming," does not square with these additions; for if the spy had already informed the king that his sons were coming, there was no necessity for Jonadab to do it again. This alone is sufficient to show that the additions made by the lxx are nothing but worthless glosses, introduced according to subjective conjectures and giving no foundation for alterations of the text.) When the spy observed the crowd of men approaching, Jonadab said to the king (Sa2 13:35), "Behold, the king's sons are coming: as thy servant said, so has it come to pass."