Week 16 2 Samuel 13
The story of Amnon & Tamar is one of those stories where I wonder: why-in-the-world is it even in the bible? It’s the story of how Amnon wanted to have sexual intercourse with his half-sister Tamar and so he & a friend cooked-up a seduction-scheme to make that happen but when the romantic-enticement element didn’t pan-out Amnon raped Tamar. It’s a repellant story.
But I think the Amnon-Tamar story is a bit like the Lot-&-his-daughters scandal and the Judah-Tamar boondoggle. All three are a) stories about illicit sexual intercourse and b) told not just for their story but to explain about something else. So Lot’s incest story explains where Ammon & Moab came from. Judah & his daughter-in-law account for Perez. And Amnon-Tamar is the backstory to Absalom the Usurper.
It was like this. David had several sons: the oldest was Amnon…the second was Kileab…the third was Absalom.
Tamar happened to be Son #3’s sister and when Amnon – Son #1 – raped Tamar Absalom was infuriated and (eventually) assassinated Amnon.
But as it turned out Absalom was not only avenging his sister…he was also eliminating the First Heir. Meaning Absalom was just one-step-removed from the crown.
The Amnon-Tamar story is nasty but it accounts for Absalom’s ascent. It’s its own small story…and explains what was behind the bigger story of Absalom’s treason.
Note: quote from 2 Samuel 3:2-3 (NLT). The Lot account is in Genesis 19:30-38 & Judah-Tamar in Genesis 38. Question: what happened to Kileab (Son #2)? Good question!