2nd Shamu'AL (2 Samuel) — 13

The Rape of Tamar

1 Now Daud’s son Absalum had a beautiful sister named Tamar. And Amnun, her half brother, fell desperately in love with her. 

2 Amnun became so obsessed with Tamar that he became ill. She was a virgin, and Amnun thought he could never have her.

3 But Amnun had a very crafty friend, his cousin Yunadab, he was the son of Daud’s brother Shimaa. 

4 One day Yunadab said to Amnun, “What’s the trouble? Why should the son of a king look so dejected morning after morning?” So Amnun told him, “I am in love with Tamar, my brother Absalum’s sister.”

5 “So Yunadab said to Ammun, “I will tell you what to do. Go back to bed and pretend you are ill. When your father comes to see you, ask him to let Tamar come and prepare some food for you. Tell him you will feel better if she prepares it as you watch and feeds you with her own hands.”

6 So Amnun lay down and pretended to be sick. And when the king came to see him, Amnun asked him, “Please let my sister Tamar come and cook my favorite dish as I watch. Then I can eat it from her own hands.” 

7 So Daud agreed and sent Tamar to Amnun’s house to prepare some food for him.

8 When Tamar arrived at Amnun’s house, she went to the place where he was lying down so he could watch her mix some dough. Then she baked his favorite dish for him. 

9 But when she set the serving tray before him, he refused to eat. “Everyone get out of here,” Amnun told his servants. So they all left.

10 Then he said to Tamar, “Now bring the food into my bedroom and feed it to me here.” So Tamar took his favorite dish to him.

11 But as Tamar was feeding Amnun, he grabbed her and demanded, “Come to bed with me, my darling sister.”

12 “No, my brother!” she cried. “Do not be foolish! Do not do this to me! Such wicked things are not done in Yashar'AL. 

13 Where could I go in my shame? And you would be called one of the greatest fools in Yashar'AL. Please, just speak to the king about it, and he will let you marry me.”

14 But Amnun did not listen to her, and since he was stronger than her, he succeeded in raping her. 

15 Then suddenly Amnun’s love turned to hate, and he hated her even more than he had loved her. “Get out of here!” he snarled at her.

16 “No, no!” Tamar cried. “Sending me away now is worse than what you have already done to me.” But Amnun would not listen to her. 

17 Amnun shouted for his servant and demanded, “Throw this woman out, and lock the door behind her!”

18 So the servant put her out and locked the door behind her. She was wearing a long, beautiful robe, as was the custom in those days for the king’s virgin daughters. 

19 But now Tamar tore her robe and put ashes on her head. And then, with her face in her hands, she went away crying.

20 Her brother Absalum saw her and asked, “Is it true that Amnun has been with you? Well, my sister, keep quiet for now, since he is your brother. Do not worry about it.” So Tamar lived as a desolate woman in her brother Absalum’s house.

21 When King Daud heard what had happened, he was very angry. 

22 And though Absalum never spoke to Amnun about this, he hated Amnun deeply because of what he had done to his sister.

Absalum’s Revenge on Amnun

23 Two years later, when Absalum’s sheep were being sheared at Baal-hazur near Aphraim, Absalum invited all the king’s sons to come to a feast. 

24 He went to the king and said, “My sheep-shearers are now at work. Would the king and his servants please come to celebrate the occasion with me?”

25 The king replied, “No, my son. If we all go with you, we would be too much of a burden on you.” Absalum pressed him, but the king would not come, though he gave Absalum his Barakah.

26 “Well, then,” Absalum said, “if you can not come, how about sending my brother Amnun with us? “Why Amnun?” the king asked. 

27 But Absalum kept on pressing the king until he finally agreed to let all his sons attend, including Amnun. So Absalum prepared a feast fit for a king.

28 Absalum told his men, “Wait until Amnun gets drunk; then at my signal, kill him! Do not be afraid. I am the one who has given the command. Take courage and do it!” 

29 So at Absalum’s signal they murdered Amnun. Then the other sons of the king jumped on their mules and fled.

30 As they were on the way back to Yahushalam, this report reached Daud: “Absalum has killed all the king’s sons; not one is left alive!” 

31 The king got up, tore his robe, and threw himself on the ground. His advisers also tore their clothes in horror and sorrow.

32 But just then Yunadab, the son of Daud’s brother Shimaa, arrived and said, “No, do not believe that all the king’s sons have been killed! It was only Amnun! Absalum has been plotting this ever since Amnun raped his sister Tamar. 

33 No, my master the king, your sons are not all dead! It was only Amnun.” 

34 Meanwhile Absalum escaped. Then the watchman on the Yahushalam wall saw a great crowd coming down the hill on the road from the west, he ran to tell the king, “I see a crowd of people coming from the Hurunaim road along the side of the hill.”

35 “Look!” Yunadab told the king. “There they are now! The king’s sons are coming, just as I said.”

36 They soon arrived, weeping and sobbing, and the king and all his servants wept bitterly with them. 

37 And Daud mourned many days for his son Amnun. Absalum fled to his grandfather, Talmai son of Ammihud, the king of Gashur. 

38 He stayed there in Gashur for three years. 

39 And King Daud, now reconciled to Amnun’s death, longed to be reunited with his son Absalum.