Read 2 Samuel 13 here (text coming …) or at Bible Gateway.
The Hebrew paragraphs:
13:1-22 {p} Amnon, the firstborn and heir of David, forced his half-sister Tamar by deceit
13:23-27 {s} Absalom manipulated the king and contrived to get Amnon in his power
13:28-30 {p} Absalom’s servants killed Amnon, and it was told the king that all his sons were dead
13:31 {s} The king and all his servants rent their garments
13:32-33 {p} Jonadab the king’s nephew assured the king that only Amnon is dead
13:34-39 {s} Absalom fled to Geshur 3 years/ the mourning of the king
The Strong Themes:
13:23-30 {s+p} Absalom deceives the king, and his sons in order to kill Amnon
13:31-33 {s+p} The king and all his servants rent their garments, however only Amnon is dead
2 Samuel 13:1-39 Chiastic Structure:
(By the way, the kingdom of Geshur was an Aramean city-state roughly where the Golan Heights are today. Absalom’s mother was the daughter of Talmai the king of Geshur according to 2 Sam 3:3, so Absalom fled to his grandfather’s house.)
In chapter 12, David pronounced a fourfold judgment upon the rich man who took the poor man’s lamb. However, David was the rich man. Because David abused his power as king to wield a sword against Uriah, YHVH decreed that the sword would never depart from his house. The child was the first son of David to die. Now in this chapter, we see that Amnon was the second son of David to die.
It is true that if Amnon had not sinned against Tamar, Absalom would not have killed him. But I wonder about King David. He executed justice and righteousness to all his people (2 Sam 8:15), and yet for Tamar, he did not execute justice and righteousness.
If a man finds a young woman who is a virgin, who is not betrothed, and he seizes her and lies with her, and they are found out, then the man who lay with her shall give to the young woman’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife because he has humbled her; he shall not be permitted to divorce her all his days. Deu 22:28-29
Absalom may have felt compelled to act, because no action was taken according to the Law to uphold justice for Tamar, as her perpetrator was the crown prince. Ultimately, David was responsible for the growing strife within his family. His inaction to provide justice for Tamar provoked Absalom to wrath (Eph 6:4).
And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. Deu 6:6-7
According to Ussher, Solomon was born in 1033 BC, and the humiliation of Tamar took place in 1025 BC, when Solomon was 8 years old. The sin of Amnon may have been the impetus in David’s life to raise Solomon more carefully than he did his older sons. There is a tradition that Psalm 119 was written by David to teach Solomon his Hebrew alephbet, and love for the Word of YHVH.
If there are questions, this is a good resource:
Geshur – International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
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