Tamar was the beautiful daughter of King David and full sister of Absalom (2Sa.13.1; 1Ch.3.9). She was raped by her half-brother Amnon, who then rejected her (2Sa.13.1-19). Tamar's tragedy led to Absalom's murder of Amnon and eventual rebellion against David (2Sa.13.20-39). Her story illustrates the dysfunctional relationships and violence within David's family.
Amnon, David's firstborn, raped his half-sister Tamar, encouraged by his cousin Jonadab. David was angry but did nothing; Tamar's full brother Absalom killed Amnon two years later and fled. The narrative presents this as the first fulfilment of Nathan's word that the sword would not leave David's house.
and he asked Amnon, “Why are you, the son of the king, so depressed morning after morning? Wonʼt you tell me?” Amnon replied, “I am in love with Tamar, my brother Absalomʼs sister.”
Jonadab told him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend you are ill. When your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come and give me something to eat. Let her prepare it in my sight so I may watch her and eat it from her hand.’”
So Amnon lay down and feigned illness. When the king came to see him, Amnon said, “Please let my sister Tamar come and make a couple of cakes in my sight, so that I may eat from her hand.”
Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food into the bedroom, so that I may eat it from your hand.” Tamar took the cakes she had made and went to her brother Amnonʼs bedroom.
Her brother Absalom said to her, “Has your brother Amnon been with you? Be quiet for now, my sister. He is your brother. Do not take this thing to heart.” So Tamar lived as a desolate woman in the house of her brother Absalom.
But Jonadab, the son of Davidʼs brother Shimeah, spoke up: “My lord must not think they have killed all the sons of the king, for only Amnon is dead. In fact, Absalom has planned this since the day Amnon violated his sister Tamar.
These were all the sons of David, besides the sons by his concubines. And Tamar was their sister.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.