2 Samuel 13:19

19 Tamar put ashes on her head and tore the long-sleeved garment she was wearing. She put her hand on her head^[a] and went away weeping.

2 Samuel 13:19 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 13:19

And Tamar put ashes on her head
In token of sorrow and distress; see ( Joshua 7:6 ) ;

and rent her garment of divers colours that [was] on her;
signifying that her virginity was rent from her in a forcible manner, or that she was ravished:

and laid her hand on her head;
through grief and shame; see ( Jeremiah 2:37 ) ;

and went on crying;
from Amnon's house to her brother Absalom's, as one abused and injured.

2 Samuel 13:19 In-Context

17 Instead, he called to the servant who waited on him: "Throw this woman out and bolt the door behind her!"

18 Amnon's servant threw her out and bolted the door behind her. Now Tamar was wearing a long-sleeved garment, because this is what the king's virgin daughters wore.

19 Tamar put ashes on her head and tore the long-sleeved garment she was wearing. She put her hand on her head and went away weeping.

20 Her brother Absalom said to her: "Has your brother Amnon been with you? Be quiet for now, my sister. He is your brother. Don't take this thing to heart." So Tamar lived as a desolate woman in the house of her brother Absalom.

21 When King David heard about all these things, he was furious.

Footnotes

• [a]. Jr 2:37