“And Absalom spake unto his brother Amnon neither good nor bad: for Absalom hated Amnon, because he had forced his sister Tamar. And it came to pass after two full years, that Absalom had sheepshearers in Baalhazor, which is beside Ephraim: and Absalom invited all the king's sons. And Absalom came to the king, and said, Behold now, thy servant hath sheepshearers; let the king, I beseech thee, and his servants go with thy servant. And the king said to Absalom, Nay, my son, let us not all now go, lest we be chargeable unto thee. And he pressed him: howbeit he would not go, but blessed him. Then said Absalom, If not, I pray thee, let my brother Amnon go with us. And the king said unto him, Why should he go with thee? But Absalom pressed him, that he let Amnon and all the king's sons go with him. Now Absalom had commanded his servants, saying, Mark ye now when Amnon's heart is merry with wine, and when I say unto you, Smite Amnon; then kill him, fear not: have not I commanded you? be courageous, and be valiant. And the servants of Absalom did unto Amnon as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king's sons arose, and every man gat him up upon his mule, and fled. And it came to pass, while they were in the way, that tidings came to David, saying, Absalom hath slain all the king's sons, and there is not one of them left. Then the king arose, and tare his garments, and lay on the earth; and all his servants stood by with their clothes rent. And Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David's brother, answered and said, Let not my lord suppose that they have slain all the young men the king's sons; for Amnon only is dead: for by the appointment of Absalom this hath been determined from the day that he forced his sister Tamar. Now therefore let not my lord the king take the thing to his heart, to think that all the king's sons are dead: for Amnon only is dead. But Absalom fled” (2 Samuel 13:22-34).
Introduction
Two years had passed before Absalom decided that the time was right to take revenge upon Amnon for what he had done to his sister Tamar. Absalom was far from being a saint here, but from a human perspective we can understand why he felt it was necessary to make Amnon pay for his wickedness.
Absalom’s wait
Absalom seemed to have played his ace card when he chose to wait until an opportune time to deal with Amnon. No doubt Amnon thought that Tamar had told no one and so had got away with his sin against her, but Absalom was simply and cleverly leading him into a false sense of security. This apparent indifference would pay off, for Amnon would drop his guard. For two years Absalom held his peace and kept his rage to himself, but he hated Amnon with a passion and dreamt only of putting him to death.
Absalom’s wish
As we saw in the story of Nabal, sheepshearing was an occasion to celebrate with family and friends (1 Samuel 25). Absalom realised that he could use this as a cover to murder Amnon. We might wonder why he had not done this the previous year, but we must remember that he was allowing Amnon to believe that all was forgiven and forgotten. If the invitation had been sent out in the first year then he would have become suspicious and not attended the feast.
Absalom invited his father David and all his brothers to the celebration, but it is likely that he knew the king would not attend. His plan almost falls through when David refused to let any of his sons go to the feast, but he pestered him until he gave in to his wishes and allowed Amnon to go. No doubt Absalom pretended to be insulted that none of his family was coming to rejoice with him. It is possible that David had his suspicions about the motives for requesting Amnon’s presence, but given the occasion Absalom was able to pull the wool over his father’s eyes. Once again David fails to discern the wicked nature of one of his son and allowed not only Amnon but also all his sons to go to Absalom’s house in the hopes “that it might tend to the promotion of brotherly harmony and union” (Jamieson, Fausset, Brown Bible Commentary).
Absalom commanded his servants to watch Amnon until he had become intoxiacated, and then kill him. It seems that Amnon’s reputation was well known for Absalom knew exactly what would happen when wine was on the table. In passing we note that David also used alcohol on Uriah. It was not long before Absalom’s will was carried out by his loyal servants. All his wishes had been carried out to the letter.
Absalom’s worry
Everyone fled from the scene of the crime. David’s sons, who had no reason to come armed to the feast, fled for their lives as they saw the assassination of their brother fearing an impending massacre. Absalom fled to his mother’s father Talmai, the king of Geshur, because he feared that David and his brothers would return to take revenge for Amnon’s cold-blooded murder.
Everyone was worried. Soon someone brought David a false report about the death of all his sons at the hand of Absalom. This news caused David to tear his garments and throw himself on the ground in grief, but he would soon learn that it was only Amnon that was dead. Jonadab, the person who encouraged Amnon to rape Tamar, explains to the king the reason why Absalom had killed him. For Jonadab to be near David that day reveals that he was never punished for his part in the humiliation of Tamar. It is obvious that he knew of Absalom’s plan to destroy Amnon, for even before David received a true account of what happened, Jonadab told him not to fret for only one son was dead. We have to assume then that he had changed sides and allied himself with Absalom to save his own skin.
Conclusion
Amnon never thought about what would happen once he had taken Tamar, but the aftermath of an isolated sin would reverberate for some time to come. Even secret sin leaves a legacy of misery and condemnation. One man’s sin affected so many other lives to the point of paving the way for civil war. As we saw in a previous study, if David had dealt with Amnon according to the Law, he would have avoided what followed. David did not do so because he loved Amnon as his firstborn and believed that he would ascend the throne after him.
© 14/6/2010