Bible Strands
2 Samuel 13:4
and he asked Amnon, “Why are you, the son of the king, so depressed morning after morning? Won’t you tell me?” Amnon replied, “I am in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jonadab, David’s shrewd nephew, questions Amnon about his persistent morning depression. Amnon responds directly to him by confessing his illicit desire for his half-sister Tamar.
The words — The Hebrew word דַּל (dal) translates literally to “weak” or “depressed,” describing Amnon’s prolonged physical and emotional state. Jonadab uses מַדּוּעַ (ma.Du.aʿ), meaning “why?,” to press Amnon for the cause of his decline.
The thread — The narrative of royal family dysfunction parallels the incest prohibitions in Leviticus 18:9 and 20:17, while the theme of unresolved royal ambition echoes the tension in Esther 5:13.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition of how concealed desire and familial enablement accelerate moral collapse. It requires readers to examine how unaddressed passions corrupt judgment and destroy relational 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 he said unto him, Why art thou, being the king’s son, lean from day to day? wilt thou not tell me? And Amnon said unto him, I love Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.
Cross-references
- 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 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.
- Esther 5:13 Yet none of this satisfies me as long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”
- Isaiah 3:9 The expression on their faces testifies against them, and like Sodom they flaunt their sin; they do not conceal it. Woe to them, for they have brought disaster upon themselves.
- Jeremiah 8:12 Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will collapse, says the LORD.
- Micah 7:3 Both hands are skilled at evil; the prince and the judge demand a bribe. When the powerful utters his evil desire, they all conspire together.
- Luke 12:32 Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.
- 1 Kings 21:7 But his wife Jezebel said to him, “Do you not reign over Israel? Get up, eat some food, and be cheerful, for I will get you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”