Amnon

Amnon
Prince of Israel
Amnon and Tamar, painted by Jan Steen
Born	Hebron, Judah, Israel
Died	Baal-hazor, Ephraim, Israel
Father	David
Mother	Ahinoam

Amnon (Hebrew: אַמְנוֹן‎ ’Amnōn, "faithful") was, in the Hebrew Bible, the oldest son of King David and his second wife, Ahinoam of Jezreel.^[1] He was born in Hebron during his father's reign in Judah.^[2] He was the heir apparent to the throne of Israel until he was assassinated by his half-brother Absalom to avenge the rape of Absalom's sister Tamar.^[3]

Biblical account[]

Amnon's background[]

Amnon was born in Hebron to Ahinoam and King David.^[4] As the presumptive heir to the throne of Israel, Amnon enjoyed a life of power and privilege.^[5]

Rape of Tamar[]

Although he was the heir-apparent to David's throne, Amnon is best remembered for the rape of his step-sister Tamar, daughter of David and Maachah. Despite the biblical prohibition on sexual relations between half siblings,^[6] Amnon had an overwhelming desire for her. He acted on advice from his cousin, Jonadab son of Shimeah, David's brother, to lure Tamar into his quarters by pretending to be sick and desiring her to cook a special meal for him. While in his quarters, and over her protests, he raped her, then had her expelled from his house. While King David was angry about the incident, he could not bring himself to punish his eldest son, while Absalom, Amnon's half-brother and Tamar's full brother, nursed a bitter grudge against Amnon for the rape of his sister.

According to the Babylon Talmud: "And Thou should not associate with a sinner:....And so we find with Amnon, who associated with Jonadab, the son of Shim'ah, David's brother; and Jonadab was a very sensible man--sensible in wickedness, as it is written [Jer. Iv .22]: Wise are they to do evil." According to others, it is meant that one shall not associate with the wicked,even to study the Torah."^[7]

According to Rav, Tamar was not, by Biblical law, David's daughter, nor Amnon's sister. Tamar, was the earlier born daughter of David's wife, and thus not biologically related to David, nor Amnon.^[8] According to Michael D. Coogan's claims, however, it would have been perfectly all right for Amnon to have married his sister (he claims that the Bible was incoherent about prohibiting incest).^[9] According to the Torah, per Leviticus 18, "the children of Israel" -- Israelite men and women alike -- are forbidden from sexual relations between people who are "near of kin" (cf. verse 6). Siblings and half siblings (cf. verses 9 and 11). Relationships between these are particularly singled out for a curse in Deuteronomy 27, and they are of the only two kinds incestuous relationships that are among the particularly-singled-out relationships—with the other particularly-singled-out relationships, being ones of non-incestuous family betrayal (cf. verse 20) and bestiality (cf. verse 21). Incestuous relationships are considered so severe among chillul hashem, acts which bring shame to the name of God, as to be, along with the other forbidden relationships that are mentioned in Leviticus 18, punishable by death as specified in Leviticus 20. Those who commited incest were subject to 2 curses-one for committing incest and the second for breaking the Torah law. [27 Deuteronomy 22 and 26]

The Banquet of Absalom, attributed to Niccolò De Simone.

Two years later, to avenge Tamar, Absalom invited all of David's sons to a feast at sheep-shearing time, then had his servants kill Amnon after he had become drunk with wine.^[10] As a result, Absalom fled to Geshur.

Although Absalom did avenge his sister defilement ironically he himself showed himself not to be very much different from Amnon; as Amnon had sought the advice of Jonadab in order to rape Tamar, Absalom had sought the advice of Ahitophel who advised Absalom to have incestuous relations with his father's concubines in order to show all Israel how odious he was to his father [2 Samuel 16:20]. In regard to Ahitophel motives "..and great as was his wisdom, it was equalled by his scholarship. Therefore David did not hesitate to submit himself to his instruction, even though Ahithophel was a very young man, at the time of his death not more than thirty-three years old. The one thing lacking in him was sincere piety, and this it was that proved his undoing in the end, for it induced him to take part in Absalom's rebellion against David. Thus he forfeited even his share in the world to come. To this dire course of action he was misled by astrologic and other signs, which he interpreted as prophecies of his own kingship, when in reality they pointed to the royal destiny of his granddaughter Bath-sheba. Possessed by his erroneous belief, he cunningly urged Absalom to commit an unheard-of crime. Thus Absalom would profit nothing by his rebellion, for, though he accomplished his father's ruin, he would yet be held to account and condemned to death for his violation of family purity, and the way to the throne would be clear for Ahithophel, the great sage in Israel."^[11]Despite the great sins they had committed, David wept twice upon hearing the report of the death of Amnon [2 Samuel 13; 31-36] and wept seven times upon hearing the death of Absalom. Absalom was consigned to the 7th circle of Gehenna; possibly Amnon was consigned to the 2d circle of Gehenna ^[12]

2 Samuel 13:39 records that in time David came to terms with the death of Amnon, his first-born. Methodist founder John Wesley is critical of David: "He can almost find in his heart to receive into favour the murderer of his brother. How can we excuse David from the sin of Eli, who honoured his sons more than God?"^[13]

In rabbinic literature[]

The sages of the Mishnah point out that Amnon's love for Tamar, his half-sister, did not arise from true affection, but from passion and lust, on which account, after having attained his desire, he immediately "hated her exceedingly." "All love which depends upon some particular thing ceases when that thing ceases; thus was the love of Amnon for Tamar" (Ab. v. 16). Amnon's love for Tamar was not, however, such a transgression as is usually supposed: for, although she was a daughter of David, her mother was a prisoner of war, who had not yet become a Jewess; consequently, Tamar also had not entered the Jewish community (Sanh. 21a). The incident of Amnon and Tamar was utilized by the sages as affording justification for their rule that a man must on no account remain alone in the company of a woman, not even of an unmarried one (Sanh. l.c. et seq.).^[14]
According to the Babylon Talmud, Amnon hatred of Tamar was because the contact of his manhood with her hair had caused him to become a eunuch^[15]
Amnon's death was a punishment from the L-D^[16]

Tomb[]

Ibn Kathir, a famous Islamic historian, notes Gujrat, Pakistan to be the burial place of Amnon. Khawaja Gohor din or Hafiz Sham-ud-din Ghulyanvi first identified the tomb.

Literary references[]

• The Spanish poet Federico García Lorca wrote a poem about Amnon's rape of his sister Tamar, included in Lorca's 1928 poetry collection Romancero Gitano (translated as Gypsy Ballads). Lorca's version is considerably different from the Biblical original – Amnon is depicted as being overcome by a sudden uncontrollable passion, with none of the cynical planning and premeditation of the original story. He assaults and rapes Tamar and then flees into the night on his horse, with archers shooting at him from the walls – whereupon King David cuts the strings of his harp.
• The Rape of Tamar, novel by Dan Jacobson (ISBN 1-84232-139-0)
• The Death of Amnon poem by Elizabeth Hands

References[]

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: McCurdy, J. Frederic; Ginzberg, Louis (1901–1906). "AMNON ("Steadfast")". In Singer, Isidore; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.

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