2 Samuel 13:10

13:1-20 From henceforward David was followed with one trouble after another. Adultery and murder were David's sins, the like sins among his children were the beginnings of his punishment: he was too indulgent to his children. Thus David might trace the sins of his children to his own misconduct, which must have made the anguish of the chastisement worse. Let no one ever expect good treatment from those who are capable of attempting their seduction; but it is better to suffer the greatest wrong than to commit the least sin.

And Amnon said unto Tamar, bring the meat into the chamber,.... An inner chamber, at a greater distance, where they might be more secret, and out of the reach of the hearing of any of his domestics: that I may eat of thine hand; this he pretended, though his design was of another kind: and Tamar took the cakes which she had made, and brought them into the chamber to Amnon her brother; being quite innocent herself, and having no suspicion of a brother having any ill design upon her, she made no scruple of going into an inner chamber alone with him.

2 Samuel 13:10 . Amnon said, Bring the meat into the chamber — It is probable that when Tamar first came, Amnon had received her in an outward room, but that, pretending now to be fatigued, he retired into his chamber, desiring her to go along with him, that he might put his design upon her in execution without being interrupted; it being an inner chamber probably, remote from any other room.

2 Samuel 10:13-14 . Joab drew nigh unto battle against the Syrians — He acted very wisely in assaulting the mercenary army first; for they that are hired to fight generally take great care to save themselves, having little regard to the cause for which they fight. Then fled they also — They seem not to have struck a stroke, but provided for their safety by retiring into the city, near to which their army was drawn up. So Joab returned — Here is no account of the number of the slain, who, probably, were few, because they did not fight, but flee. The year also seems to have been so far spent that it was not a fit season for laying siege to the city. See 2 Samuel 11:1 .

Into the chamber; an inner chamber; either, 1. That wherein he lay sick upon his bed, where also Tamar made the cakes in his sight, who then carried them out into the next room, to bring them in again when he called for them. Or rather, 2. Another chamber; Ammnon lying upon his couch in one chamber where the company were with him, where also she made the cakes before him, first sendeth all out of that room, and then riseth from his couch, and, upon some pretence, goes into another secret chamber, where he might have the better opportunity for his intended wickedness.

2Sa 13:6-27. He Defiles Her. 6-8. Amnon lay down, and made himself sick—The Orientals are great adepts in feigning sickness, whenever they have any object to accomplish. let Tamar my sister come and make me a couple of cakes—To the king Amnon spoke of Tamar as "his sister," a term artfully designed to hoodwink his father; and the request appeared so natural, the delicate appetite of a sick man requiring to be humored, that the king promised to send her. The cakes seem to have been a kind of fancy bread, in the preparation of which Oriental ladies take great delight. Tamar, flattered by the invitation, lost no time in rendering the required service in the house of her sick brother.

"And she took the pan and shook out (what she had prepared) before him. The ἁπ. λεγ. משׂרת signifies a frying-pan or sauce-pan, according to the ancient versions. The etymology is uncertain. But Amnon refused to eat, and, like a whimsical patient, he then ordered all the men that were with him to go out; and when this had been done, he told Tamar to bring the food into the chamber, that he might eat it from her hand; and when she handed him the food, he laid hold of her, and said, "Come, lie with me, my sister!"

The earthquake ( 2 Samuel 22:8 ); the distant lightnings ( 2 Samuel 22:9 ); the gathering darkness of the storm ( 2 Samuel 22:10-12 ); the final outburst of its fury ( 2 Samuel 22:13-16 ); are pictured in regular succession. Psalms 29 may be compared as illustrating David’s sense of the grandeur and significance of natural phenomena.