2 Samuel 13:4

4 He asked Amnon, "Son of the king, why do you look so sad day after day? Tell me what's wrong!" Amnon told him, "I love Tamar, the sister of my half-brother Absalom."

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.

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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 Tamar was a virgin. Amnon made himself sick just thinking about her, because he could not find any chance to be alone with her.

3 Amnon had a friend named Jonadab son of Shimeah, David's brother. Jonadab was a very clever man.

4 He asked Amnon, "Son of the king, why do you look so sad day after day? Tell me what's wrong!" Amnon told him, "I love Tamar, the sister of my half-brother Absalom."

5 Jonadab said to Amnon, "Go to bed and act as if you are sick. Then your father will come to see you. Tell him, 'Please let my sister Tamar come in and give me food to eat. Let her make the food in front of me so I can watch and eat it from her hand.'"

6 So Amnon went to bed and acted sick. When King David came in to see him, Amnon said to him, "Please let my sister Tamar come in. Let her make two of her special cakes for me while I watch. Then I will eat them from her hands."