Le royaume uniPrinceHeir apparentDavid's firstborn sonc. 1010–990 BC
Amnon was the eldest of King David's sons and was born in Hebron. His mother was Ahinoam from Jezreel. As the firstborn, he initially held a prominent position in the line of succession, but his actions led to his own downfall. He violated his half-sister Tamar through a cunning plan devised together with his cousin Jonadab. The assault triggered a chain of violence and grief within David's royal family: Absalom harbored silent hatred for two years before he had his servants kill Amnon during a sheep-shearing feast at Baal-Hazor. This entire tragic sequence of events reflects the judgment that the prophet Nathan pronounced over David's house after the king's own sin with Bathsheba, and shows how violence and injustice are passed from generation to generation when justice is absent.
Amnon was seized by an intense lust for his beautiful half-sister Tamar, Absalom's sister. The desire tormented him so severely that he fell ill, since she was a virgin and it seemed impossible for him to approach her.
Amnon's cousin Jonadab, described as a cunning man, advised him to pretend to be sick and ask King David to send Tamar to prepare food at his bedside—so that he could have her alone.
4He said to him, "Why are you, the king's son, so haggard morning after morning? Won't you tell me?" Amnon answered, "I am in love with Tamar, the sister of my brother Absalom."
5Jonadab said to him, "Lie down on your bed and pretend to be 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 the food where I can see it, so that I may watch and eat from her hand.'"
Amnon brought Tamar into his bedroom and raped her despite her earnest pleas and protests. Immediately afterward, the lust turned into intense hatred, and he drove her away in disgrace.
15Then Amnon was seized with a violent hatred for her; the hatred he felt for her was greater than the love he had felt. "Get up and get out!" he said to her.
When King David learned what had happened, he was greatly angered, but he did not intervene to punish Amnon. This passivity contributed to Absalom taking revenge into his own hands.
Two years after the assault, Absalom invited all the king's sons to a sheep-shearing festival in Baal-Hazor. When Amnon had become drunk, Absalom ordered his servants to kill him—a long-planned act of revenge for what he had done to Tamar.
25"No, my son," the king replied. "We should not all go; we would only be a burden to you." Although Absalom pressed him, he still refused to go, but he gave him his blessing.
28Absalom ordered his men, "Watch closely. When Amnon is in high spirits from the wine and I say to you, 'Strike Amnon down,' then kill him. Have no fear. Have I not given you the order myself? Be strong and courageous."