Bible in a Year April 11 - 2 Sam 13-14

 

April 11 - 2 Sam 13-14

We don’t know how much time has passed, but the calamity within David’s family that was foretold in 2 Sam 12:11 has started. Oh, today’s reading hurts my heart.

First we have Amnon’s cousin, Jonadab, who encourages the rape, and Amnon, who seems to love Tamar, but doesn’t care enough to marry her. David seems to be ignorant of the whole situation, and sends Tamar into the lion’s den. Why did Amnon, David’s firstborn, need the king’s permission to be served by Tamar? Wouldn’t it have been ok to just ask her or her mother? Was she already wary of Amnon?

Absalom learns of the rape, and one commentary says he “attempted to comfort her but was  unsuccessful.” REALLY? He just tells her to blow it off! Oh my, the world has tried to cover up sexual atrocities for centuries. At this point, in those times, Tamar’s dreams of a family were crushed and she was essentially forced into a lifetime of singleness.

Two years later Absalom gets his revenge. Did you see that Jonadab is still an advisor to the king? He was obviously aware of the rape (and surely denied any part in it). He mentions the rape and the anger of Absalom to David – had David known about all of this in the past? If so, do you think his actions with Bathsheba caused him to have a ‘boys will be boys’ perspective?

After killing his brother, Absalom flees the country and takes up residence in Geshur. This land is actually within the territory of Manasseh and was a people group that was not eliminated years earlier when the Israelites conquered the land. It turns out that Absalom and Tamar’s mother, Maacah, was from Geshur and Talmai, the king, was his grandfather.

Joab knows David is missing Absalom, but why was it necessary to create the ruse of the widowed woman to get him to agree to Absalom’s return? Perhaps, like the story Nathan told about the man with the lamb, David responds better to situations where he makes the decision himself.

We don’t hear any more about Tamar – just that she lived with her brother. Did she travel to Geshur with him? We see that he has several children, and names his beautiful daughter Tamar after his sister. Was she involved in the girls’ upbringing?

Why do you think this story was included in the Bible? These two chapters could have easily been eliminated -- they aren’t terribly key to the rest of the story.

TOMORROW’S TEXT: 2 Samuel 15-17