2 Samuel 13:1-14

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Prayer- Lord, Open our hearts and open our minds and help us learn. Go-Fight-Win. Amen.

2 Samuel 13

Amnon and Tamar

¹ In the course of time, Amnon son of David fell in love with Tamar, the beautiful sister of Absalom son of David.

² Amnon became frustrated to the point of illness on account of his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and it seemed impossible for him to do anything to her.

³ Now Amnon had a friend named Jonadab son of Shimeah, David's brother. Jonadab was a very shrewd man. ⁴ He asked Amnon, "Why do you, the king's son, look so haggard morning after morning? Won't you tell me?"
Amnon said to him, "I'm in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister."

⁵ "Go to bed and pretend to be ill," Jonadab said. "When your father comes to see you, say to him, 'I would like my sister Tamar to come and give me something to eat. Let her prepare the food in my sight so I may watch her and then eat it from her hand.' "

⁶ So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill. When the king came to see him, Amnon said to him, "I would like my sister Tamar to come and make some special bread in my sight, so I may eat from her hand."

⁷ David sent word to Tamar at the palace: "Go to the house of your brother Amnon and prepare some food for him." ⁸ So Tamar went to the house of her brother Amnon, who was lying down. She took some dough, kneaded it, made the bread in his sight and baked it. ⁹ Then she took the pan and served him the bread, but he refused to eat.
"Send everyone out of here," Amnon said. So everyone left him. ¹⁰ Then Amnon said to Tamar, "Bring the food here into my bedroom so I may eat from your hand." And Tamar took the bread she had prepared and brought it to her brother Amnon in his bedroom. ¹¹ But when she took it to him to eat, he grabbed her and said, "Come to bed with me, my sister."

¹² "Don't, my brother!" she said to him. "Don't force me. Such a thing should not be done in Israel! Don't do this wicked thing. ¹³ What about me? Where could I get rid of my disgrace? And what about you? You would be like one of the wicked fools in Israel. Please speak to the king; he will not keep me from being married to you." ¹⁴ But he refused to listen to her, and since he was stronger than she, he raped her.

Remember 2 Samuel 12:11? This is the beginning of the "Trouble..in your own house." Amnon is David's oldest son. Tamar is his half sister. Absalom is Tamar's full brother. Jonadab was a trouble maker.

Amnon decides he is in love with Tamar. To be honest; at the time you could legally marry your half sister. He consults with his "friend" Jonadab and Jonadab gets an idea. He tells Amnon to pretend to be sick and have his sister Tamar come and cook for him to make him feel better.

Tamar goes and cooks bread for her brother, but he will not eat it unless she feeds it to him in person in his sick bed- with everyone gone! When she tries to feed him he springs up, takes her in his arms, and despite of her pleas, he lays with her. It may have been legal to marry your half sister, but is was not legal to rape her.

Questions:

1.Since Amnar was the oldest male child of David, what did that make him?

2. Absalom, Tamar's full brother was the second son. Would he be naturally jealous of Amnar?

3. What would David do about his problems at home?