2 Samuel 13:4

4 Il lui dit: Pourquoi deviens-tu, ainsi chaque matin plus maigre, toi, fils de roi? Ne veux-tu pas me le dire? Amnon lui répondit: J'aime Tamar, soeur d'Absalom, mon frère.

2 Samuel 13:4 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 13:4

And he said unto him, why [art] thou, [being] the king's son,
lean from day today?
&c.] Or "morning by morning", ^F23; he was the king's eldest son, heir to the crown, fed at his table, had everything to make him gay and cheerful, and yet pined away; his flesh wasted ^F24, his countenance waxed wan and pale, and especially in the mornings; in the daytime he met with diversions which, in some measure, took off his thoughts from the object his mind was impressed with, but in the night season they were continually employed about it; so that he could have no rest and sleep, which made him look ruefully in the morning; and this man had a suspicion of his case, and therefore put this and the following question to him:

wilt thou not tell me?
who am so nearly related to thee, and who have such a particular value and affection for thee:

and Amnon said unto him, I love Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister;
he does not call her his sister, but Absalom's sister, to lessen his sin of unlawful love to her, which, being thus closely pressed, and by a friend, he could not conceal.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F23 (rqbb rqbb) , "in mane in mane", Montanus.
F24 "Fecit amor maciem -----". Ovid Metamorph. l. 11. Fab. 11. v. 793.

2 Samuel 13:4 In-Context

2 Amnon était tourmenté jusqu'à se rendre malade à cause de Tamar, sa soeur; car elle était vierge, et il paraissait difficile à Amnon de faire sur elle la moindre tentative.

3 Amnon avait un ami, nommé Jonadab, fils de Schimea, frère de David, et Jonadab était un homme très habile.

4 Il lui dit: Pourquoi deviens-tu, ainsi chaque matin plus maigre, toi, fils de roi? Ne veux-tu pas me le dire? Amnon lui répondit: J'aime Tamar, soeur d'Absalom, mon frère.

5 Jonadab lui dit: Mets-toi au lit, et fais le malade. Quand ton père viendra te voir, tu lui diras: Permets à Tamar, ma soeur, de venir pour me donner à manger; qu'elle prépare un mets sous mes yeux, afin que je le voie et que je le prenne de sa main.

6 Amnon se coucha, et fit le malade. Le roi vint le voir, et Amnon dit au roi: Je te prie, que Tamar, ma soeur, vienne faire deux gâteaux sous mes yeux, et que je les mange de sa main.