Bible Strands
2 Samuel 13:12
“No, my brother!” she cried. “Do not violate me, for such a thing should never be done in Israel. Do not do this disgraceful thing!
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Tamar speaks to Amnon in his bedroom immediately after he seizes her under the pretense of a meal. She issues a direct refusal to halt his demand for sexual intercourse.
The words — The Hebrew אַל־תְּעַנֵּנִי ('al-t'anne-ni) literally commands "do not humble me," while כִּי לֹא יֵעָשֶׂה (ki lo ye'aseh) declares "for it will not be done." These terms frame the proposed act as a violation of established boundaries.
The thread — The appeal mirrors the legal prohibition in Leviticus 20:17 regarding incest and echoes the elders' warning in Judges 19:23 against committing a "wicked thing" in Israel. Both references ground Tamar's plea in communal law rather than personal preference.
Why it lands — The verse demands acknowledgment that individual power cannot override institutional restraint. It forces the reader to confront the immediate cost of ignoring established legal boundaries.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And she answered him, Nay, my brother, do not force me; for no such thing ought to be done in Israel: do not thou this folly.
Cross-references
- Leviticus 20:17 If a man marries his sister, whether the daughter of his father or of his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off in the sight of their people. He has uncovered the nakedness of his sister; he shall bear his iniquity.
- Judges 19:23 The owner of the house went out and said to them, “No, my brothers, do not do this wicked thing! After all, this man is a guest in my house. Do not commit this outrage.
- Judges 20:6 Then I took my concubine, cut her into pieces, and sent her throughout the land of Israel’s inheritance, because they had committed a lewd and disgraceful act in Israel.
- Genesis 34:7 When Jacob’s sons heard what had happened, they returned from the field. They were filled with grief and fury, because Shechem had committed an outrage in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter—a thing that should not be done.
- Leviticus 18:9 You must not have sexual relations with your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere.
- Leviticus 18:11 You must not have sexual relations with the daughter of your father’s wife, born to your father; she is your sister.
- Genesis 34:2 When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the region, saw her, he took her and lay with her by force.
- Deuteronomy 22:29 then the man who lay with her must pay the young woman’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she must become his wife because he has violated her. He must not divorce her as long as he lives.
- Proverbs 5:22 The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him.
- Proverbs 7:7 I saw among the simple, I noticed among the youths, a young man lacking judgment,