There are a lot of scenes in 2 Samuel 13. Each scene has a different combination of 5 characters. They include David and 3 of his children, Amnon, Absalom, and Tamar and Jonadab, a no-good advisor.
Amnon is David’s firstborn, the son of his second wife, Ahinoam. David never had a child with his first wife, Saul’s daughter, Michal. Absalom is David’s 3rd son, he was born to Maakah, his 4th. Tamar was also born to Maakah, so Absalom and Tamar are close because they have the same mother and father. There is a second son between Amnon and Absalom, and his name is Kileab or Daniel. He is the son of Abigail and he must be wise like his mother because he manages to stay out of this sordid story. Or it is possible that he dies because he is never mentioned as a contender for the crown. David’s family dynamic seems complicated, and for good reason.
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More Insight
1 Chronicles 3 states that David had 19 sons by his wives, and it also states that there were more sons from concubines. How many, we don’t know. The Bible implies in this chapter that different households were established, and the half-siblings were probably more like cousins, with the added complication of having to vie for the same father’s attention. How much time David spent with each wife and child was probably a point of hot contention.
Like his forefathers before him, Abraham and Jacob, David had too many wives. The wives had too many sons, which meant too many heirs to the throne, which led to too much rivalry. And when you add to the rivalry a curse that the sword will never depart from your house, you end up with blood on your hands. And that is precisely where David is headed in this chapter.
The Overview
When the first scene opens, it begins with “in the course of time.” Remember, back in Episode 6, we discovered that the author subtly revealed important shifts in the story of David by using this phrase. The phrase is a transition indicator. It shifted at the beginning of chapter 9 and again at the beginning of chapter 10, both stories of David’s hesed or kindness. the phrase “in the course of time” will be repeated again here in chapter 13:1. But the story in 2 Samuel 13 is not about David’s hesed or kindness. It is the opposite.
It is the story of how the consequences of David’s sin…a passion for women, wives, and Bathsheba…destroy the peace in his dynasty. David took what he wanted, and David will pay for it with consequences inflicted on him and his family. These “in the course of time” transitions highlight David’s fall by bookending his fall with a before and an after. Before Bathsheba, David experienced victory and blessing from God. And in the overflow of his blessing, David offers hesed to others. After Bathsheba, David will experience waves of consequences to his family unleashed by his sin. And in the overflow of the consequences, David needs hesed from God.
Scene 1: Like Father Like Son, Amnon is Distracted By Women
Scene 2: Amnon + David + Tamar
In Scene 3: Tamar + Amnon
Scene 4: Tamar + Absalom
Scene 5: David Reacts But Fails to Act
In Scene 6: Absalom + David + Amnon
Scene 7: Absalom’s Revenge on Amnon
Verses Mentioned:
The author of this article is Hayley Mowatt, producer of Bible Book Club.
