Bible Strands
2 Samuel 13:6
So Amnon lay down and feigned illness. When the king came to see him, Amnon said, “Please let my sister Tamar come and make a couple of cakes in my sight, so that I may eat from her hand.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Amnon addresses his father King David after following Jonadab’s advice to feign sickness. The request occurs during a private visit when the king comes to check on his ill son.
The words — וַיִּתְחַל (va-yit.Khal, H2470) literally means “he made himself sick,” indicating deliberate deception rather than natural illness. The verb וַיִּשְׁכַּב (va-yish.Kav, H7901) establishes the physical posture of feigned vulnerability.
The thread — The tactic of exploiting familial concern to isolate a victim appears in the immediate context of 2 Samuel 13:5–7, while the theme of concealed intent parallels the deceptive preparation in Genesis 18:6 and the hidden influence described in Matthew 13:33.
Why it lands — The verse demands recognition of how religious or familial authority can be weaponized through calculated vulnerability. It requires the reader to identify the precise moment when a request masks predatory intent.
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
So Amnon lay down, and made himself sick: and when the king was come to see him, Amnon said unto the king, I pray thee, let Tamar my sister come, and make me a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat at her hand.
Cross-references
- Genesis 18:6 So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Prepare three seahs of fine flour, knead it, and bake some bread.”
- Matthew 13:33 He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and mixed into three measures of flour, until all of it was leavened.”