| 2 Samuel 13 | |
|---|---|
 The pages containing theBooks of Samuel (1 & 2 Samuel)Leningrad Codex (1008 CE). | |
| Book | First book of Samuel |
| Hebrew Bible part | Nevi'im |
| Order in the Hebrew part | 3 |
| Category | Former Prophets |
| Christian Bible part | Old Testament |
| Order in the Christian part | 10 |
2 Samuel 13 is the thirteenthchapter of the Second Book of Samuel in theOld Testament of theChristianBible or the second part ofBooks of Samuel in theHebrew Bible.[1] According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the prophetSamuel, with additions by the prophetsGad andNathan,[2] but modern scholars view it as a composition of a number of independent texts of various ages from c. 630–540 BCE.[3][4] This chapter contains the account ofDavid's reign in Jerusalem.[5][6] This is within a section comprising 2 Samuel 9–20 and continued to1 Kings 1–2 which deal with the power struggles among David's sons to succeed David's throne until 'the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon' (1 Kings 2:46).[5]
This chapter was originally written in theHebrew language.It is divided into 39 verses.
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter inHebrew are of theMasoretic Text tradition, which includes theCodex Cairensis (895),Aleppo Codex (10th century), andCodex Leningradensis (1008).[7] Fragments containing parts of this chapter in Hebrew were found among theDead Sea Scrolls including 4Q51 (4QSama; 100–50 BCE) with extant verses 1–6, 13–34, 36–39.[8][9][10][11]
Extant ancient manuscripts of a translation intoKoine Greek known as theSeptuagint (originally was made in the last few centuries BCE) includeCodex Vaticanus (B;B; 4th century) andCodex Alexandrinus (A;A; 5th century).[12][a]
This chapter can be divided into two sections:[14]
The two sections parallel each other:[14]
Both sections opened with the same phrase constructionhyh + l + Absalom to report that Absalom "had" a sister (13:1) and Absalom "had" sheep shearers (13:23).[15] The victims in both sections unwittingly entered the domains of their attackers, made available to their assailants by King David, with the violence happening around food.[15] The difference is the lengthy description for Tamar's care to her predator before the rape in contrast to very little attention to Amnon before the murder, perhaps to show that Amnon was not an innocent victim.[15]
David played a key role in both episodes, in the first by providing Amnon access to Tamar and in the second by allowing Amnon and Absalom to get together, but crucially, David failed to exact justice for Tamar, and this incited Absalom, Tamar's brother, to take a role of "judge" to punish Amnon by killing him and later he openly took that role (2 Samuel 15) to bolster support for his rebellion against David.[16] These episodes involving Amnon, Tamar, and Absalom have direct bearing on David's succession issue.[17]
The crown-prince of Israel,Amnon, son of David and Ahinoam, was deeply attracted toTamar, full sister of Absalom, both children of David and Maacah. Apparently virgins were under close guard, so Amnon did not have direct access to Tamar (verse 3), so he had to use trickery suggested by his cousinJonadab (verses 3–5) to get Tamar come to take care of him (under the pretense of being sick) with David's permission.[17] When left alone with Tamar, Amnon raped his sister, ignoring Tamar's plea for having a proper way of marriage, because Amnon was driven not by love but by lust.[17] Although marriage between blood siblings was recorded in the early part of Hebrew Bible, cf. Genesis 20:12, it was later prohibited by Torah, cf. Leviticus 18:9, 11; 20:17; Deuteronomy 27:22.[17] However, the rabbis point out that Tamar was born from David's union with abeautiful captive woman, and that her mother conceived of her during the first act, in which case, the mother had not yet converted to Judaism and the child born of this union had also not yet entered the Jewish community.[18] Tamar required aconversion to the Jewish religion, and although Amnon and Tamar had the same biological father, they were not consideredbona-fide siblings and could actually marry each other, as she was aproselyte to the Jewish religion. For this reason, Tamar insisted that their father would not withhold her from him(2 Samuel 13:13).[19]
Whether this was known to Amnon or not, after the rape, Amnon felt an intense loathing of Tamar, and Tamar's expectation that Amnon would marry her (verse 16, cf. Exodus 22:16; Deuteronomy 22:28), she was expelled from his sight with contempt (verses 15,17–18).[20] Tamar immediately went into mourning, by tearing the long gown she was wearing as a virgin princess, as a sign of grief rather than lost virginity, as well as putting ashes on the head and placing a hand on the head (cf. Jeremiah 2:37).[21] Verse 21 notes that David was very angry when he heard, but he did not take any action against Amnon; the Greek text of Septuagint and 4QSama have a reading not found in the Masoretic Text as follows: 'but he would not punish his son Amnon, because he loved him, for he was his firstborn' (NRSV; note in ESV). Absalom would have resented David's leniency, but he restrained himself (verse 22) for two years (verse 23), while made a good plan for revenge.[21]
This section has a structure that meticulously places the rape at the center:[22]
The episode began with a description of the relationships among the characters (A), which is permanently ruptured at the end (A'). David's actions (B/B') and Tamar actions (C/C') bracket the center action which is framed by the entrance/exit of Tamar from the room (D/D') and the verbal confrontations between Amnon and Tamar (E/E').[22]
The revenge of Absalom toward Amnon was timed to coincide with sheep-shearing festivities at Baal-hazor near Ephraim, which was probably a few miles from Jerusalem, as it was perfectly reasonable for Absalom to invite the king and his servants to the celebrations. David was said to have a slight suspicion of Absalom's personal invitation (verse 24), so he did not go, but was persuaded by Absalom for his permission to allow Amnon to go (verses 25, 27).[21] Apparently David did not realize the extent of Absalom's hatred until he was briefed by Jonadab (cf. verse 32). According to the Septuagint and 4QSama, 'Absalom made a feast like a king's feast' (NRSV). The murderers were only identified as Absalom's servants (verse 29) and it is obvious that Absalom gave the order to kill and encouraged them.[21] An initial report that all the king's sons had been killed had to be corrected by Jonadab, asserting that it was only Amnon who had died and providing David the information of the reason for Absalom's action (verse 32), then the king's sons indeed returned along the 'Horonaim road' (the Septuagint Greek version reads 'the road behind him').[21] During the period of court mourning for Amnon (verses 36–37), Absalom took refuge withTalmai, king ofGeshur, his grandfather on his mother's side, and stayed there in exile for three years (verses 37–38).[21] Fast forward to the end of three years, the narrative records a change in David's 'change of heart' (following the LXX and 4QSama), attributed to his affection for all his sons and perhaps also the realization that Absalom was second in line for succession, thus preparing the way for Absalom's return which is reported in chapter 14.[21] Absalom's temporary exclusion from court was followed by brief reconciliation with David, but Absalom soon set a rebellion (chapters 15–19) which ultimately caused his death, a chain of events which is attributed to the clash of personalities shown in this chapter and chapter 14 between the vindictive (14:33) and determined (14:28–32) Absalom in contrast to the compliant (13:7), indecisive (14:1), and lenient (13:21) David.[17]
The structure in this section centers to the scene of Jonadab informing David that Absalom murdered Amnon for the rape of Tamar:[15]
Tamar tried to prevent Amnon from raping her by warning that the action would lead to him being considered anabal, a Hebrew word for "scoundrel" (2 Samuel 13:13). This epithet connects the story of Amnon's murder to the death of Nabal, the first husband of Abigail, (1 Samuel 25) as follows:[26]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Codex Sinaiticus".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.