The (Second) Book of Samuel: chapter 13

Welcome to 2 Samuel, Shmuel part Bet, chapter thirteen

Episode 41: Polyphonic Catastrophe

In chapter 13 there is a cacophony of intertextuality. References to other stories from Tanach abound, from the story of the rape of Dinah to the tragedy of Pilegesh b'Giveah, with references to the stories of Yosef and his brothers, Sodom and more. What all these incidents have in common with our story is that they are tales of how someone powerless is taken advantage of by those in a position of power. A fitting punishment for David after the incident with Batsheva and Uriah.

In our story Amnon uses deception to seclude himself with his half-sister Tamar whom he rapes. Afterwards the response of two men are wildly divergent. David, her father, may be seething with anger, but takes no action. Avshalom, her brother, on the other hand, bides his time for 2 years before exacting revenge and killing his naval of a brother. Avshalom, like his father before him, flees to his royal non-Jewish relatives in Geshur and we are left to ponder questions such as how much of these events were driven by the Machievellian guidance of Yonadav? Is Avshalom a hero, villain or both? Why does David not act? All this and more.

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