Chú giải Kinh Thánh

And it came to pass after this, that Absalom the son of David had a fair sister, whose name [was] Tamar; and Amnon the son of David loved her.

And it came to pass after this. — God’s justice, which seemed to sleep, now beginneth to show itself in the punishment of David’s foul offences.

That Absalom the son of David. — By Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur, whom, say the Rabbins, David had taken prisoner, and knew her before she was proselyted. This haste God might punish in these miscarriages of his children by her.

Whose name was Tamar. — Which signifieth a palm tree; like as Absalom signifieth his father’s peace, and Amnon faithful, stable; but none of them answered their names.

“ Fallitur augurio spes bona saepe suo. ”

And Amnon the son of David. — His eldest son, but by another wife: he proved to be one of his tres vomicae, imposthumated ulcers, as Augustus said of his children. a

Loved her, — i.e., Lusted after her. Of this the poet speaketh,

“ Amor est amaror, et melle et felle faeeundissimus:

Gustu dat dulce, amarum ad satietatem usque aggerit. ”

• Plaut. Gist. Act. i.

And to the same sense another,

“ Non Amor antiquo fuerat sed Amaror ab aevo;

Dicendus cure sit semper amarus Amor. ”

a Sueton.

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And Amnon was so vexed, that he fell sick for his sister Tamar; for she [was] a virgin; and Amnon thought it hard for him to do any thing to her.

And Amnon was so vexed that he fell sick. — So did Antiochus, the son of Seleucus, king of Syria, for the love of his step-mother, Stratonice; so that he was near to death. a Mors et Amor comites sunt, et mutant et mutuant aliquando sagittas. Val Max., lib. v. cap. 7.

“ Mutarunt arma inter se Mors atque Cupido:

Haec falcem gestat, gestat at ille facem. ”

The reason hereof is given by some, and it is this: The affections are in the grossest and basest part of the mind, which hath greatest affinity with the body; and thence it is that the vehemency of the affections worketh such bodily distempers.

For she was a virgin. — And therefore of herself more averse from any such unchaste thoughts; and besides, she was strictly kept in, being the king’s daughter especially, and for aught we find, his only daughter.

And Amnon thought it hard. — He knew not how to compass his desire, and therefore lay broiling on the gridiron of his own unruly passions; but the devil found him out a broker.

a Appian. Syriat.

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But Amnon had a friend, whose name [was] Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David’s brother: and Jonadab [was] a very subtil man.

But Amnon had a friend. — A friend no friend; a carnal friend, but a spiritual enemy, who advised, for the recovery of his body, the ruin of his soul. Such a false friend to Antiochus was Erasistratus, the physician, who, finding him lovesick, persuaded his father Seleucus to part with his wife Stratonice to him, for the saving of his life.

And Jonadab was a very subtle man. — Ingeniose nequam, witty, but wicked; and therefore a fit tool for the devil to work with. Good natural parts abused prove to be as press money to impiety, - auctoramentum maioris infidelitatis, as one well phraseth it, - and their wisdom culpae suasoria, as Ambrose speaketh. Augustine, writing to such another as this Jonadab, telleth him that the devil desired to be tricked up by him. Diabolus cupit a te ornari.

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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.

Why art thou, being the king’s son? — And therefore needest not want for anything. But in addition Amnon should have considered, that in maxima libertate minima licentia, that although the king’s son, yet he should not have desired or done anything unbeseeming his dignity; and Jonadab, had he been a friend indeed, would have told him as much. Antigonus, being invited to a place where a notable harlot was to be present, asked counsel of Menedemus what he should do: he bade him only remember that he was a king’s son.

Lean from day to day. — Heb., Thin every morning; sc., For want of sleep, through thoughtful anxieties by night.

“ Invidia vel amore vigil torquebere. ” - Horat.

Plato saith, He that is in love liveth in the body of another, but dieth in his own; whilst the whole man macrescit, marcescit et contabescit ex amoris vehementia. Hence Apollonius Tyanaeus the philosopher, when the king of Babylon - devising how to punish a certain young courtier who had lain with a concubine of his - asked him what was the greatest of all tortures, answered, that he could not punish him worse than by suffering him to live in the fire of lust, which would secretly but certainly devour him. Agnus curio, apud Plaut. Macilentus, quasi curis confectus. Spec. Hum Vit., p. 125. Hence that of the poet,

“ Tristatur, pallet, non dormit, nil edit, ardet,

Nec tamen aegrotat Calliodorus: amat. ”

Wilt thou not tell me? — Who can both keep counsel and give counsel. But what counsel gave he other than what Julia gave Caracalla, her son-in-law, when he said, O si liceret Oh that I might lie with thee! She impudently answered, Si libet licet: imperator dat leges, non aceipit, You may if you will: for an emperor giveth laws to others, he taketh none himself.

I love Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister. — He saith not, My sister, for shame. Sin is a blushful business. This filthy love is the disease which the physicians call Eρων , and is by one not unfitly compared to that shirt which Clytemnestra put upon her husband Agamemnon; or to those asps Plin., lib. ii. cap. 93. which Cleopatra applied to her body to suck out her lifeblood; or to those Charonean ditches, mortiferum spiritum exhalantes, that send out a deadly air. Good, therefore, is the tragedian’s counsel,

“ Recedat a te, temere ne credas, Amor:

Florem decoris singuli ne carpent dies. ”

• Sen. in Octav.

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And Jonadab said unto him, Lay thee down on thy bed, and make thyself sick: and when thy father cometh to see thee, say unto him, I pray thee, let my sister Tamar come, and give me meat, and dress the meat in my sight, that I may see [it], and eat [it] at her hand.

Lay thee down on thy bed, … — Pestilent counsel; such as is oft instilled into young princes, to their utter undoing, and the public mischief: Nero, for instance, and our Henry III, who was called Regni dilapadator; and another German prince, of whom it was said, Esset alius, si esset apud alios, he would have been better if he had had better men about him.

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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.

So Amnon lay down, and made himself sick. — He was Cereus in vitium flecti, easily drawn to do evil. He answered Jonadab, upon the matter, as Tiberius did Justinus, I am only thy clay and wax. Oh that we could find men so docile and ductile to that which is good! Sed hoc est magis optabile quam opinabile.

And when the king was come to see him. — As fearing to lose him, like as he had lately done the child of his adultery. But could he have foreseen what shortly followed, he would either have wished himself childless with Augustus, or else have said with Moses in another case, Lord, if thou deal thus with me, "kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness." Numbers 11:15

And make me a couple of cakes. — Laganet ante oculos meos duo lagana. Let her prepare me two cordial cakes, such as may refresh my heart; so the word signifieth.

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Then David sent home to Tamar, saying, Go now to thy brother Amnon’s house, and dress him meat.

Go now to thy brother Amnon’s house. — David might have suspected that there was something more than ordinary in this request of Amnon, that there was vipera sub veprecula, an ill intention in this petition. But God had a purpose to chastise him, and therefore suffereth him to be led blindling to do that which he should shortly repent with every vein of his heart, as we say. Sometimes both grace and wit are asleep in the holiest and wariest breasts.

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So Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s house; and he was laid down. And she took flour, and kneaded [it], and made cakes in his sight, and did bake the cakes.

So Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s house. — As an ox to the butcher, or as an innocent sheep to the ravenous wolf.

And she took flour, and kneaded it. — This she disdained not to do, though a king’s daughter; neither was she unused to such employments. Rebekah was a dainty cook; so was Sarah before her. Augustus wore no garments but what his wife and daughters made him. Our Queen Katharine, and her successor Anne Boleyn, are famous for their good housewifery; not taking leisure to follow such pastimes as are usual in princes’ courts.

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