2 Samuel 13 Introduction

Structure and Formatting

This chapter continues the story of what David did as the king of Israel. The prophet Nathan had told him that as a consequence of his sins of adultery and murder, there would be perpetual violence within his family. This chapter tells how that violence began. David’s oldest son Amnon committed sexual violence against one of David’s daughters, Amnon’s half-sister Tamar. Another of David’s sons, Absalom, Tamar’s full brother, then murdered Amnon for revenge and fled to another country.

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Chapter

“keep silent, he is your brother”

When Absalom learned that his half-brother Amnon had raped his sister Tamar, he told Tamar, “keep silent, he is your brother.” Absalom did not mean that women should say nothing about sexual violence when it is committed by a family member. The Bible warns that sexual violence is a serious sin, and it forbids sexual relations between close family members. So what Absalom says here should not be taken as approval of either of those things. Instead, as the rest of the story indicates, Absalom wanted to pretend that he was not going to try to get revenge against Amnon. That way Amnon would be unsuspecting, and Absalom would be able to murder him. The author describes in [13:23–29](../13/23.md) how he did that. Absalom needed Tamar not to make Amnon’s crime public. The reason he gave Tamar, “he is your brother,” may have been intended to suggest to her that making the crime public would have brought shame to the whole family. To carry out his own treacherous murder plot, Absalom appealed to Tamar’s wish for her family to have a good reputation, and in the process, he left her feeling shame for the rest of her life.

Why did Absalom flee to Talmai, the son of Ammihud, the king of Geshur?

The author reports in [13:37](../13/37.md) that after he murdered Amnon, Absalom fled to Talmai, the son of Ammihud, the king of Geshur. The author records in [3:3](../03/03.md) that Absalom was “the son of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, the king of Geshur.” So Talmai was Absalom’s grandfather, his mother’s father. In many cultures in which a woman goes to live with her husband’s family when she marries, a person in trouble can flee for safety back to where his mother’s family lives. That is what Absalom did. You may have some way of indicating this naturally in your translation, in the text or in a footnote, particularly if your readers would be familiar with this cultural practice. The UST models one way to do this.

Translation Issues in This Chapter

“brother,” “sister”

Frequently in this chapter, the author and characters refer to someone as the “brother” or “sister” of someone who has the same father but not the same mother. Your language may have its own term or expression for this relationship, such as “half-brother” and “half-sister.” (See: translate-kinship)