2 Samuel 13:15

2Sa 13:15 Then Amnon hated her exceedingly; so that the hatred wherewith he hated her [was] greater than the love wherewith he had loved her. And Amnon said unto her, Arise, be gone.

Ver. 15. Then Amnon hated her exceedingly.] Heb, With great hatred greatly; so did Nero, that shame of mankind, hate his own mother, after that he had carnally known her. So did Semiramis hate her son Ninus; Phaedra her Hippolitus; Medea her Jason, &c. Of these filthy pleasures, a man may break his neck before his fast:

“ Labor est etiam ipsa voluptas. ”

At the last, howsoever, it biteth] like a serpent, and stingeth like a cockatrice. {Pro 23:32} Amnon was now pricked in conscience, and ashamed of his horrible sin; hence this extreme hatred. Neither was it without the Lord that this foul crime might come abroad to David’s grief, as Martyr noteth, that he might further feel what "an evil and bitter thing sin is."

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Sa 13:15-17. Then Amnon hated her exceedingly — His mind, which at first had been impelled by lust, was now agitated by remorse, which drove it to a different extreme, like the vibration of a pendulum. The horror of his guilt struck him with a sudden detestation of her whom he deemed the cause of it, and he hated his sister when he should have hated himself. Thus, through God’s abandoning him, in just judgment, to the tumult of his own intemperate mind, this other punishment of David’s adultery became more flagrant; and the prophet’s prediction, of evil being raised up to him out of his own house, more conspicuous. For Amnon’s barbarous behaviour now precluded all possibility of concealing his guilt. The moment his brutality was indulged, he commanded his sister out of his sight. And she said, There is no cause — For me to go, or for this hard usage. She had given him no cause for aggravating his first offence, by loading it with an immediate and public scandal, and indelible reproach upon her, himself, and his house; upon religion, and the people of God. This evil is greater than the former — Not a greater sin, but an act of greater cruelty, and a greater calamity to her; because it exposed her to general infamy and contempt. And, besides, it turned a private offence into a matter of public scandal, to the great dishonour of God and of his people, and especially of all the royal family. But he would not hearken to her —

He was now as deaf to decency and humanity as he had been before to all sense of shame and conscience, and, therefore, called to his servant that attended him, and bid him turn out that woman from him, and bolt the door after her.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13:15 That Amnon’s feelings for Tamar so quickly turned to hate shows that his so-called “love” for her (13:4) was really only selfish lust.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Then Amnon hated her exceedingly--It is not unusual for persons instigated by violent and irregular passions to go from one extreme to another. In Amnon's case the sudden revulsion is easily accounted for; the atrocity of his conduct, with all the feelings of shame, remorse, and dread of exposure and punishment, now burst upon his mind, rendering the presence of Tamar intolerably painful to him.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 15. Hated her exceedingly] Amnon's conduct to his sister was not only brutal but inexplicable. It would be easy to form conjectures concerning the cause, but we can arrive at no certainty.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(15) Hated her exceedingly.—“It is characteristic of human nature to hate one whom you have injured” (Tacitus, quoted by Kirkpatrick), This result shows that Amnon was governed, not by love, but by mere animal passion.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

15. hated her exceedingly] “Proprium humani ingenii est odisse quem laeseris.” “It is characteristic of human nature to hate one whom you have injured.” Tac. Agric. c. 42.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then Amnon hated her exceedingly,.... Having gratified his lust, his conscience stung him for it, that he could not bear the sight of the object that had been the instrument of it; and it may be the sharp words she had used, representing him as one of the fools in Israel, and perhaps she used sharper words still after he had abused her, filled him with hatred to her:

so that the hatred wherewith he hated her was greater than the love wherewith he had loved her; a like instance of love being changed into hatred, after the gratification of lust, we have in Honorius towards his sister Placidia (b):

and Amnon said unto her, arise, be gone; without calling her by her name, or owning the relation she bore to him, using her as the basest and vilest of creatures. This conduct was very brutish, as well as imprudent, and foolish to the last degree; had he had any regard to his own reputation, he would never have turned her out of doors so soon, and in such a public manner; but so it was ordered by divine Providence, that his sin might be made known, and so the murder of him for it by Absalom was brought on, and both were suffered as a correction and chastisement to David for his sins of adultery and murder, Sa2 12:11.

(b) Olympiodorus apud Grotium in loc.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Before. Such changes are not unfrequent in those who give way to disordered passions, as Aristotle (prob. iv.) proves. Semiramis slew her lovers, and among the rest her own son. (Tirinus) --- God caused Amnon to be stung with remorse, and the evil spirit pushed him on to extremities, which filled the palace with scandal and bloodshed. (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Then Amnon hated her exceedingly; partly because, his lust being now satisfied, his mind and conscience had a true and clear prospect and deep sense of the natural turpitude and baseness of the action, and of that shame, and contempt, and loss, and mischief which was likely to follow it, and consequently an utter aversion from her who had been the instrument and occasion of his sin; and principally by the just judgment of God, both upon Amnon and David, that so the sin might be made public, and way made for the succeeding tragedies; for otherwise it would probably produce love and kindness to her, as it did in another, Gen 34:2,3; especially, in him, whom both nature, and interest, and even lust itself, obliged to allay her grief and shame by all possible demonstrations of kindness.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

15. Hated her exceedingly — His love had been the offspring of his foul desire, and when that was satiated his sin, his danger, and shame all rushed upon his thoughts, and generated this hatred in his soul. “He now feels for the first time,” says Ewald, “the sinfulness of his deed, and the impossibility of his love being ever reciprocated.”

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Anmon hated her exceedingly. Ashen had not really ever loved Tamar; his passion had been mere animal desire, which, by a well known psychological law, when gratified turned to hatred. Had he possessed any dignity of character or self-respect, he would have resisted this double wrong to one so near to him, and whom he had so terribly disgraced; but he can only remember the indignant words she had spoken her comparison of him to "the fools in Israel," and her obstinateresistance to his wishes. With coarse violence he orders her away; and when, humbled and heartbroken, she begs for milder treatment, he adds insult to the wrong, and bids his manservant push her out, am! belt the door after her. By such an order the manservant and all Amnon"s people would be led to believe that she was the guilty person, and Ashen the victim of her enticements.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hated her - By the just judgment of God both upon Amnon and David, that so the sin might be made publick, and way for the succeeding tragedies.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Amnon Spurns Tamar

v. 15. Then Amnon, having gratified his bestial lust, hated her exceedingly, this being the usual consequence of a relation such as pictured in this chapter, so that the hatred wherewith he hated her was greater than the love wherewith he had loved her; he now loathed the object of his former intense passion. And Amnon said unto her, Arise, be gone!

v. 16. And she said unto him, there is no cause; this evil in sending me away is greater than the other that thou didst unto me. The Hebrew text shows an unfinished sentence, spoken in great agitation: On account of this greater evil than the other which thou didst to me in sending me away-. If he persisted in driving her from his house, men might believe that she had given him occasion to act toward her in such a manner, and the disgrace would be all the greater. But he would not hearken unto her, did not, in fact, even let her finish her protest.

v. 17. Then he called his servant that ministered unto him, his own private attendant, and said, Put now this woman out from me, and bolt the door after her, just as if she had tempted him to a shameful act and he wanted to insure against a repetition of her shamelessness.

v. 18. And she had a garment of divers colors upon her, a coat or upper garment with long sleeves; for with such robes were the king’s daughters that were virgins appareled. Although she was a virgin and a princess, Amnon treated Tamar like a common prostitute. Then his servant brought her out, and bolted the door after her.

v. 19. And Tamar, as a sign of her great grief over the shame laid upon her, put ashes on her head, and rent her garment of divers colors that was on her, and laid her hand on her head, as a token of the fact that the hand of God lay heavily on her in this visitation, and went on crying, bewailing the greatness of her shame and disgrace.

v. 20. And Absalom, her brother, said unto her, Hath Amnon, thy brother, been with thee? He guessed the state of affairs at once, expressing his opinion thus delicately. But hold now thy peace, my sister; he is thy brother; regard not this thing, lay it not to heart. He feigned a carelessness which he was far from feeling, because he wanted to conceal his purpose to revenge himself in the sight of all men. If Tamar would act in the same manner, he would have a better opportunity to carry out his design. So Tamar remained desolate in her brother Absalom’s house, literally, "as desolated," as one whose happiness in life had been destroyed.

v. 21. But when King David heard of all these things, he was very wroth. His anger, unfortunately, did not cause him to act, to punish Amnon. Either the consciousness of his own recent sin held him back, or he practiced a false indulgence toward his first-born son.

v. 22. And Absalom, true to his plan of hiding his feelings for the time being and lulling Amnon to security, spake unto his brother Amnon neither good nor bad, he simply avoided him; for Absalom hated Amnon because he had forced his sister Tamar. Such examples of sin as here narrated instill a loathing and a horror of sin. They show that every sin and especially such sins of the flesh are an abomination in the sight of God, evils which cause only sorrow and heartache among men.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Because this great evil of making me leave is even worse

The abstract noun "this great evil" can be expressed as a verb. AT: "It would be very evil to make me leave! It would be even worse" (See: Abstract Nouns)

bolt the door after her

This means to lock the door so that she will not be able to come back in again. AT: "lock the door so that she cannot come back in" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

translationWords

evil

call

servant

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Amnon hated her. Our Rabbis say she tied a hair for him [in his genital area] and caused him to have a severed organ.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.