Bible Strands
2 Samuel 13:28
Now Absalom had ordered his young men, “Watch Amnon until his heart is merry with wine, and when I order you to strike Amnon down, you are to kill him. Do not be afraid. Have I not commanded you? Be courageous and valiant!”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Absalom commands his young men to watch Amnon until he is intoxicated, then strike him down on his signal. This instruction follows King David’s decision to send Amnon and his brothers to Absalom’s banquet.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַיְצַו (va/y.Tzav) literally means “and he commanded,” marking Absalom’s direct order. The phrase רְאוּ נָא כְטוֹב (re'u na ke-tov) translates as “look, please, when it is good,” directing the servants to monitor the precise moment of the feast.
The thread — The pattern of violence erupting after shared dining runs through Judges 19:6, 19:9, and 19:22, where eating and drinking precede sudden threat. These passages parallel Absalom’s use of a communal meal to mask his assassination plot.
Why it lands — The text requires readers to observe how calculated deception exploits hospitality to execute premeditated harm. It demands a clear-eyed recognition that authority can weaponize trust without moral justification.
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
Now Absalom had commanded his servants, saying, Mark ye now when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine, and when I say unto you, Smite Amnon; then kill him, fear not: have not I commanded you? be courageous, and be valiant.
Cross-references
- Judges 19:6 So they sat down and the two of them ate and drank together. Then the girl’s father said to the man, “Please agree to stay overnight and let your heart be merry.”
- Judges 19:9 When the man got up to depart with his concubine and his servant, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Look, the day is drawing to a close. Please spend the night. See, the day is almost over. Spend the night here, that your heart may be merry. Then you can get up early tomorrow for your journey home.”
- Judges 19:22 While they were enjoying themselves, suddenly the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they said to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house, so we can have relations with him!”
- Ruth 3:7 After Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then Ruth went in secretly, uncovered his feet, and lay down.
- 1 Samuel 25:36 When Abigail returned to Nabal, there he was in the house, holding a feast fit for a king, in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing until morning light.
- Nahum 1:10 For they will be entangled as with thorns and consumed like the drink of a drunkard—like stubble that is fully dry.
- Genesis 9:21 But when he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and uncovered himself inside his tent.
- Genesis 19:32 Come, let us get our father drunk with wine so we can sleep with him and preserve his line.”
- Exodus 1:16 “When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them on the birthstools. If the child is a son, kill him; but if it is a daughter, let her live.”
- Numbers 22:16 They came to Balaam and said, “This is what Balak son of Zippor says: ‘Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me,