2 Samuel 13:21

_BUT WHEN KING DAVID HEARD OF ALL THESE THINGS, HE WAS VERY WROTH._ When king David heard of all these things, he was very wroth. It cannot be supposed but that David would be grieved and incensed at so gross an outrage, perpetrated by a member of his own family. In our version his indignation merely is declared, without the infliction of any penalty, whether by degradation or banishment from court. [A leniency so singular and misplaced is accounted for by a sentence which is found in the Septuagint version: kai ouk elupeese to pneuma Amnoon tou huiou autou hoti eegapa auton, hoti proototokos autou een, but he did not vex the mind of Amnon his son, because he loved him, because he was his firstborn son. (See also Josephus, 'Antiquities,' b. 7:, ch. 8:, sec. 2, where the same clause occurs, whence it may be referred that both drew it from the same source, the ancient Hebrew text of this...

21-29 Observe the aggravations of Absalom's sin: he would have Ammon slain, when least fit to go out of the world. He engaged his servants in the guilt. Those servants are ill-taught who obey wicked masters, against God's commands. Indulged children always prove crosses to godly parents, whose foolish love leads them to neglect their duty to God....

Verse 2 Samuel 13:21. _BUT WHEN KING DAVID HEARD_] To this verse the _Septuagint_ add the following words: Και ουκ ελυπησε το πνευμα Αμνων του υἱου αυτου, ὁτι ηγαπα αυτον, ὁτι πρωτοτοκος αυτου ην; "But he would not grieve the soul of Amnon his son, for he loved him, because he was his first-born." The same addition is found in the _Vulgate_ and in _Josephus_, and it is possible that this once made a part of the Hebrew text....

The Septuagint adds, what is a good explanation, “but he did not vex the spirit of Amnon his son, because he loved him, because he was his first-born.” This want of justice in David’s conduct, and favoritism to Amnon, probably rankled in Absalom’s heart, and was the first seed of his after rebellion....

EXPOSITION 2 SAMUEL 13:1 AFTER THIS. This phrase, as we have seen on 2 Samuel 10:1, has little chronological force, but the date of the sad event which formed the second stage in David's punishment can be settled with considerable certainty. Tamar was the daughter of Maacah, a princess of Geshur, and David's marriage with her, while still at Hebron, is mentioned as a proof of his growing power, and consequently some time must have elapsed after his appointment as king before this alliance took place. As Absalom was apparently older than Tamar, if she were now fifteen or sixteen years of age. David would have been king of all Israel at least thirteen or fourteen years, and would have reached the summit of his glory. His wars would be over, Rabbah capt

BUT WHEN KING DAVID HEARD OF ALL THESE THINGS,.... Of Amnon's ravishing Tamar, and turning her out of doors in that inhuman manner he did, and of her distress upon it: HE WAS VERY WROTH; with Amnon; but we read not of any reproof he gave him, nor of any punishment inflicted on him by him. Abarbinel thinks the reason why he was not punished was because his sin was not cognizable by a court of judicature, nor was punishable by any way, or with any kind of death inflicted by the sanhedrim, as stoning, burning, c. nor even by scourging, because there were no witnesses but the punishment of it was cutting off, i.e. by the hand of God. The Jews say e a law was made on this, that virgins or unmarried persons should not be alone; for if this was done to the daughter of a king, much more might it be done to the daughter of a private man; and if to a modest person, much more to an impudent one....

3. FURTHER CHASTISEMENT: AMNON, TAMAR, AND ABSALOM CHAPTER 13 _ 1. Amnon's wicked desire (2 Samuel 13:1)_ 2. The incest (2 Samuel 13:6) 3. His hatred (2 Samuel 13:15) 4. Amnon murdered (2 Samuel 13:19) 5. Absalom's flight (2 Samuel 13:37) “Behold I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house.” This was Jehovah's sentence and it is now carried out. The evil which he had nourished in his heart, the passion which he had fed now breaks out in his own family. His oldest

2 SAMUEL 13. AMNON, TAMAR, AND ABSALOM (J). 2 SAMUEL 13:1. Amnon, David's eldest son, forces his half-sister, Tamar, the full sister of Absalom. He might have married her (2 Samuel 3:5 *) but did not choose to do so. She rent her royal tunic, probably a garment reaching to the hands and feet (_cf._ Genesis 37:3 *); Joseph's coat of many colours represents the same Heb. word. David was angry, but he did not vex him by punishing him, for he loved him because he was his first-born (so LXX). 2 SAMUEL 13:23. Two years later, Absalom induced Amnon to be his guest at the sheepshearing (p. 101) at Baalhazor

_was very wroth_ The Sept. and the ordinary text of the Vulgate add, "and he vexed not the spirit of Amnon his son, because he loved him, because he was his firstborn," i.e. in spite of his anger he did not punish or even rebuke the offence, though the legal penalty of his crime was death. David's indulgent treatment of his sons was a fruitful source of mischief (cp. 1 Kings 1:6), and led in this case to the murder of Amnon, and ultimately to Absalom's rebellion. The consciousness of his own guilt moreover weakened his hands for dealing with Amnon's offence....

WHEN KING DAVID HEARD OF ALL THESE THINGS, HE WAS VERY WROTH— We may easily conceive what resentment and uneasiness David felt for this crime: but how he punished it we know not. The truth is, he could not punish it without exposing the infamy of his house, and cutting off his eldest son: and how hard was it for a father to do this. The LXX and the Vulgate, whom Houbigant follows, add these words to the present verse: _David, when he knew all these things, was very much afflicted: but he would not grieve the spirit of his son Amnon, for he loved him exceedingly, as being his first-born._ There can be no doubt but that David's consciousness of his own guilt with Bath-sheba, rendered him more backward to punish that of Amnon. However, the guilt which human justice or human infirmity did not chastise as it deserved, the divine vengeance did....