Above: Amnon Forces Tamar to Leave in Humiliation
Image in the Public Domain
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READING 1-2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS, 2 KINGS 1-21, 1 CHRONICLES, AND 2 CHRONICLES 1-33
PART XL
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2 Samuel 13:1-39
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Thus said the LORD: “I will make a calamity rise against you in your own house….”
–2 Samuel 12:11a, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
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King David had a large, dysfunctional family. He had seventeen children by seven women.
For the purposes of this post, one needs to know the following:
- Tamar and Absalom were children of David and Maacah. One may remember Maacah from 2 Samuel 3:3 and 1 Chronicles 3:2.
- Amnon was the son of David and Ahinoam. One may remember Ahinoam from 1 Samuel 25:43; 1 Samuel 27:3; 1 Samuel 30:5; 2 Samuel 2:2; 2 Samuel 3:2; and 1 Chronicles 3:1.
This story assumes intergenerational punishment, consistent with Exodus 20:5-6 and contrary to Ezekiel 18.
Amnon was a sick puppy. He lusted after and raped his half-sister, Tamar. Then he sent her away, forcing her to remain unmarried for the rest of her life. Amnon disobeyed Deuteronomy 22:28-29, which secured a rape victim’s social position by requiring her rapist to marry her. As Amy-Jill Levine has said about certain aspects of the Hebrew Bible, people did things differently then.
Anyway, I refuse to defend Deuteronomy 22:28-29.
Tamar wore an ornamented tunic, which wound up torn. This was a garment a high-status person wore. The only other mention of such a garment in the Hebrew Bible was in Genesis 37. Joseph also became a victim of family violence and perfidy. And his ornamented tunic became torn, too.
Why did David not punish Amnon and sympathize with Tamar?
Absalom served up the cold dish of revenge; he ordered Amnon’s murder two years after the rape of Tamar. Then Absalom fled. He spent several years in exile as David grieved for Amnon.
This story presents David in an unflattering light. It makes clear that the monarch did not punish Amnon for raping Tamar. The story also depicts David as yielding to Absalom in verses 24-27.
Although I reject intergenerational punishment by God, I acknowledge both positive and negative intergenerational influences. Children learn what they live. Based on what I have read in 1 and 2 Samuel, I do not know how one could grow up in David’s family and not be warped.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
SEPTEMBER 27, 2020 COMMON ERA
PROPER 21: THE SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR A
THE FEAST OF SAINT FRANCES DE SALES, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF GENEVA; SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL, “THE APOSTLE OF CHARITY;” SAINT LOUISE DE MARILLAC, COFOUNDER OF THE DAUGHTERS OF CHARITY OF SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL; AND SAINT CHARLES FUGE LOWDER, FOUNDER OF THE SOCIETY OF THE HOLY CROSS
THE FEAST OF ELIZA SCUDDER, U.S. UNITARIAN THEN EPISCOPALIAN HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF THE MARTYRS OF MELANESIA, 1864-2003
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BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
David was a lot of things, but he may not have been the best parent. He didn’t hold Amnon accountable for his actions and make him do right by his half-sister. David suffered a lot because of his own actions and this may have been part of it. “The sword would never leave his house.” It definitely wasn’t handled correctly!
The authors of the composite works we call the Books of Samuel and Kings (or, as the Eastern Orthodox call them, 1-4 Kingdoms) were brutally honest about David’s shortcomings. The Chronicler, in 1 Chronicles, was not. Comparing the way the two different traditions told the stories and omitted or included material, as well as arranged it, is an interesting exercise.
Yes, for sure!