David's neglect of the law in the matter of Amnon's rape.

[ALAYMAN]

2Sa 13:1  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.
2Sa 13:2  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.
2Sa 13:3  But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David's brother: and Jonadab was a very subtil man.
2Sa 13:4  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.
2Sa 13:5  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.
2Sa 13:6  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.
2Sa 13:7  Then David sent home to Tamar, saying, Go now to thy brother Amnon's house, and dress him meat.
2Sa 13:8  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.
2Sa 13:9  And she took a pan, and poured them out before him; but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, Have out all men from me. And they went out every man from him.
2Sa 13:10  And Amnon said unto Tamar, Bring the meat into the chamber, that I may eat of thine hand. And Tamar took the cakes which she had made, and brought them into the chamber to Amnon her brother.
2Sa 13:11  And when she had brought them unto him to eat, he took hold of her, and said unto her, Come lie with me, my sister.
2Sa 13:12  And she answered him, Nay, my brother, do not force me; for no such thing ought to be done in Israel: do not thou this folly.
2Sa 13:13  And I, whither shall I cause my shame to go? and as for thee, thou shalt be as one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, I pray thee, speak unto the king; for he will not withhold me from thee.
2Sa 13:14  Howbeit he would not hearken unto her voice: but, being stronger than she, forced her, and lay with her.
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.
2Sa 13:16  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. But he would not hearken unto her.
2Sa 13:17  Then he called his servant that ministered unto him, and said, Put now this woman out from me, and bolt the door after her.
2Sa 13:18  And she had a garment of divers colours upon her: for with such robes were the king's daughters that were virgins apparelled. Then his servant brought her out, and bolted the door after her.
2Sa 13:19  And Tamar put ashes on her head, and rent her garment of divers colours that was on her, and laid her hand on her head, and went on crying.
2Sa 13:20  And Absalom her brother said unto her, Hath Amnon thy brother been with thee? but hold now thy peace, my sister: he is thy brother; regard not this thing. So Tamar remained desolate in her brother Absalom's house.
2Sa 13:21  But when king David heard of all these things, he was very wroth.

Do you have an opinion as to why David was disobedient to the law in the matter of Amnon's rape of Tamar, ie, why he got angry but never made Amnon marry her?

 

[wheatpenny]

Because a brother and sister can't marry (I don't remember the exact Bible reference).

 

[ALAYMAN]

Because a brother and sister can't marry (I don't remember the exact Bible reference).

Leviticus 18:9 The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, whether she be born at home, or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover.


I suppose that's a fair inference, given the fact that one law would have to be violated to make up for the crime that had been committed.

 

[Wisdoms Friend]

David lost the moral authority to condemn Amnon when he violated Bathsheba and then murdered Uriah.  For the rest of David's life, he was silent on all matters of morality. 

 

[Reformed Guy]

For the rest of David's life, he was silent on all matters of morality.

From reading the Psalms, I don't get that at all.

 

[Ransom]

Do you have an opinion as to why David was disobedient to the law in the matter of Amnon's rape of Tamar, ie, why he got angry but never made Amnon marry her?

Nope.

 

[T-Bone]

Could it possibly be that David is like so many...it is only to be punished to the greatest extent when it is somebody else's family that does wrong. 8)

 

[Winston]

For the rest of David's life, he was silent on all matters of morality.

From reading the Psalms, I don't get that at all.

When I read David, I think that I concur. However, we can not be absolutely certain when certain psalms were written.  But if you read the narrative portions of David, there are several morality questions he does not address. I would probably not be bold enough to say that he was silent on all matters of morality.  We only have little snippets from his life as King.  Can you imagine how many questions and situations he had to deal with as King of Israel?

 

[Mick]

do you think up stupid ideas for threads or does it come naturlaly to you, sally?

 

[ALAYMAN]

Could it possibly be that David is like so many...it is only to be punished to the greatest extent when it is somebody else's family that does wrong. 8)

This is realistically possible, and it's one explanation that differs from any other that I've read/heard.  Though there are commentators that claim something close to what you've said, in that they claim Amnon was his first-born, and you know what place of prominence the firstfruits play in the Jewish story.

John Gill said something interesting about it:

But when King David heard of all these things,.... Of Amnon's ravishing Tamar, and turning her out of doors in that inhuman manner he did, and of her distress upon it:

he was very wroth; with Amnon; but we read not of any reproof he gave him, nor of any punishment inflicted on him by him. Abarbinel thinks the reason why he was not punished was because his sin was not cognizable by a court of judicature, nor was punishable by any way, or with any kind of death inflicted by the sanhedrim, as stoning, burning, &c. nor even by scourging, because there were no witnesses; but the punishment of it was cutting off, i.e. by the hand of God. The Jews say (e) a law was made on this, that virgins or unmarried persons should not be alone; for if this was done to the daughter of a king, much more might it be done to the daughter of a private man; and if to a modest person, much more to an impudent one.

So summing up the potential reasons for David's non-action...

1) Amnon was his firstborn
2) It was his own family (which has some slight merit, as he showed extreme mercy to Absalom for sedition/rebellion as well)
3) No witnesses to the act
4) His own consciousness of sexual guilt

And for the record, various commentators mention the above reasons as viable explanations.

 

[Bob H]

Because a brother and sister can't marry (I don't remember the exact Bible reference).

If it makes any difference, they did had different moms

 

[ALAYMAN]

Because a brother and sister can't marry (I don't remember the exact Bible reference).

If it makes any difference, they did had different moms

I'm pretty sure by Biblical law, that wouldn't make a difference.  David was simply overlooking Amnon's deeds IMHO, though I heard a really good message recently comparing David's longsuffering nature with Amnon AND Absalom with Christ's patience with His own.