2 Samuel 13:18

So Amnon’s attendant threw her out and bolted the door behind her. Now Tamar was wearing a robe of many colors, because this is what the king’s virgin daughters wore.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — The narrator records Amnon’s servant ejecting Tamar and bolting the door immediately after Amnon’s command. This occurs at the moment of her forced removal from Amnon’s house.

The words — The Hebrew כְּתֹנֶת פַּסִּים (k'tonet pasim) literally denotes a "long garment of palms and soles." The text states this specific attire identified the king’s virgin daughters.

The thread — This distinctive garment marks royal virgin daughters and appears in Genesis 37:3 and Genesis 37:23 as Joseph’s coat, and in Judges 5:30 as plundered spoils.

Why it lands — The text records the garment’s presence and subsequent tearing as a public marker of Tamar’s violated status. It demands recognition of how legal and social protections were stripped through violence and institutional abandonment.

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

וְעָלֶ֙יהָ֙ve./'a.Lei./haand/ [was] on/ her כְּתֹ֣נֶתke.To.neta long garment of פַּסִּ֔יםpa.Simpalms and soles כִּי֩kifor כֵ֨ןkhenthus תִּלְבַּ֧שְׁןָtil.Bash.nathey wore בְנוֹת־ve.not-[the] daughters of הַמֶּ֛לֶךְha./Me.lekhthe/ king הַבְּתוּלֹ֖תha./be.tu.Lotthe/ virgins מְעִילִ֑יםme.'i.Limrobes וַיֹּצֵ֨אva/i.yo.Tze'and/ he made go out אוֹתָ֤הּ'o.Ta/h<obj.>/ her מְשָֽׁרְתוֹ֙me.sha.re.T/oservant/ his הַח֔וּץha./Chutzthe/ outside וְנָעַ֥לve./na.'Aland/ he locked הַדֶּ֖לֶתha./De.letthe/ door אַחֲרֶֽיהָ׃'a.cha.Rei./haafter/ her

King James Version

And she had a garment of divers colours upon her: for with such robes were the king’s daughters that were virgins apparelled. Then his servant brought her out, and bolted the door after her.

Cross-references

Genesis 37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than his other sons, because Joseph had been born to him in his old age; so he made him a robe of many colors.
Judges 5:30 ‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoil—a girl or two for each warrior, a plunder of dyed garments for Sisera, the spoil of embroidered garments for the neck of the looter?’
Genesis 37:23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the robe of many colors he was wearing—
Genesis 37:32 They sent the robe of many colors to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe or not.”
Psalms 45:13 All glorious is the princess in her chamber; her gown is embroidered with gold.