2 Samuel 13:5

5 Then Jonadab told him, "Lie down on your bed. Act sick, and when your father comes to see you, say to him, 'Please let my sister Tamar come to feed me. She can prepare a meal in front of me as I watch her, and she can feed me.'"

2 Samuel 13:5 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 13:5

And Jonadab said unto him
Being a subtle man, he presently formed a scheme to relieve him, and open a way for the enjoyment of what he desired:

lay thee down on thy bed, and make thyself sick;
feign thyself sick, pretend that thou art so, by lying down on the bed, and making complaints of one kind or another:

and when thy father cometh to see thee;
as he quickly would, after hearing of his illness, being very affectionate to his children:

say unto him, I pray thee let, my sister Tamar come, and give me meat;
here he is directed to call her not Absalom's sister, but his own, the more to cover his ill design upon her:

and dress the meat in my sight, that I may see [it], and eat [it] at
her hand;
pretending that his stomach was very weak and squeamish, that he could not eat anything which his servants dressed for him, and which he did not see done with his own eyes.

2 Samuel 13:5 In-Context

3 Amnon had a friend by the name of Jonadab, a son of David's brother Shimea. Jonadab was a very clever man.

4 He asked Amnon, "Why are you, the king's son, so worn out morning after morning? Won't you tell me?" "I'm in love with Absalom's sister Tamar," he answered.

5 Then Jonadab told him, "Lie down on your bed. Act sick, and when your father comes to see you, say to him, 'Please let my sister Tamar come to feed me. She can prepare a meal in front of me as I watch her, and she can feed me.'"

6 So Amnon lay down and acted sick, and the king came to see him. Amnon asked the king, "Please let my sister Tamar come and make some bread in front of me, and she can feed me."

7 David sent for Tamar at the palace. "Please go to your brother Amnon's home," he said, "and prepare some food for him."