2 Samuel 13:17 - Printer Friendly

ESV: He called the young man who served him and said, "Put this woman out of my presence and bolt the door after her."

NIV: He called his personal servant and said, "Get this woman out of my sight and bolt the door after her."

NASB: Then he called his young man who attended him and said, 'Now throw this woman out of my presence, and lock the door behind her!'

CSB: Instead, he called to the servant who waited on him: "Get this away from me, throw her out, and bolt the door behind her!"

NLT: He shouted for his servant and demanded, 'Throw this woman out, and lock the door behind her!'

KJV: Then he called his servant that ministered unto him, and said, Put now this woman out from me, and bolt the door after her.

NKJV: Then he called his servant who attended him, and said, “Here! Put this woman out, away from me, and bolt the door behind her.”

Tamar recently begged her half-brother to let her leave (). He refused and raped her, then ordered her to get out. Now, she's begging to stay so Amnon will fulfill her right to be married as the law of Moses required (Deuteronomy 22:28–29). A moment ago, Tamar was all that Amnon wanted. Now that he's had her, he feels nothing but hatred and disgust.

Amnon calls his closest servant and orders the man to put Tamar out of his rooms. He no longer calls her "my sister" (2 Samuel 13:11). Instead, he calls her "this woman," speaking of her with disdain. Worse, he orders his servant to lock her out, to bolt the door after her. Not only did Amnon take her future from her, now he wants absolutely nothing to do with providing or caring for Tamar. He just wants her gone.

As Tamar was fighting for her life, she warned Amnon, "You would be as one of the outrageous fools in Israel" (2 Samuel 13:13). In Scripture, a "fool" is someone who rejects God and His ways. After David sinned against Bathsheba and Uriah, he wrote to God, "Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight" (Psalm 51:4). Like David, Amnon hasn't just sinned against a woman. He has rebelled against God. David repented. Although God's punishment was still severe, He allowed David to live (2 Samuel 12:10–14). Amnon has no intention of repenting. God will allow Tamar's brother to give her justice.

In this chapter, God's curse that the sword will strike David's house (2 Samuel 12:10) begins to emerge. David's firstborn son Amnon lusts over half-sister Tamar. Tamar fights back, but Amnon first rapes her and then rejects her. David is angry but does nothing. Two years later, Tamar's full brother Absalom murders Amnon. Three years after that, Absalom returns and becomes the enemy in David's house who takes his wives in public (2 Samuel 12:11–12; 15:1–16; 16:21–23).

This begins fulfillment of some of God's curses against David (2 Samuel 12:10), and sets the scene for others (2 Samuel 12:11–12). David's oldest son, Amnon, rapes his own half-sister, Tamar. Her full brother Absalom murders Amnon, starting a five-year campaign of vengeance against David. By the end, two of David's sons will be dead, his daughter will be desolate, and David will be deeply humbled (2 Samuel 14—19).

Second Samuel continues the story of David, who will become king over Judah. The other tribes of Israel are resistant, eventually sparking a civil war. David wins and makes Jerusalem his capital. Early success is followed by moral failure and controversy in David's house. The book of 1 Kings will begin by detailing David's decline and death.