| Tamar | |
|---|---|
| Princess of Israel | |
 Thamar by Alexandre Cabanel [1] | |
| Born | circa 1000 BCE Judah, Israel |
| Died | Unknown Israel |
| House | House of David |
| Father | King David |
| Mother | Maacah bat Talmai |
Tamar [lower-alpha 1] was a princess of Israel, the daughter of King David and sister of Absalom in 2 Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. In the biblical narrative (2 Samuel 13), she is raped by her half-brother Amnon.
Tamar was the daughter of King David and Maacah, who was the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur. Absalom was her brother and Amnon their half-brother. The Bible does not speak of Tamar's early life; however, in 2 Samuel 13, she is wearing a "richly ornamental robe", "for this is how the virgin daughters of the king were clothed in earlier times." [2]
During Tamar's teenage years, Amnon became obsessed with her, said to be beautiful like her brother, Absalom. Amnon's friend and cousin Jonadab devised a ruse in which Amnon feigned illness and asked King David to fetch Tamar for him, so that she could make him food. King David was not aware of Amnon's intention and did what Amnon asked, as David was fond of him, the firstborn son. Tamar obeyed. When she finished preparing food, Amnon sent the servants in the room away, and pressed Tamar for sex. She refused, citing the Law, but as "he was stronger than she, he raped her". After intercourse, Amnon became angry with Tamar, and mistreated her, yelling at her to leave the room. Tamar pleaded that he marry her, to preserve her reputation, but instead Amnon forced her out of the room. Tamar ripped her robes and went away crying. The news spread throughout the royal household.
Absalom, her older brother, comforted Tamar, vowing to avenge her rape. When David heard of her rape, he was angered but did nothing. [3] Two years later, Absalom had Amnon murdered, [4] then fled to Geshur. [5]
After her rape, Tamar left the royal household to live in Absalom's house, where she stayed during his years in exile and Absalom's Revolt (2 Samuel 13-19). During the Revolt, both Absalom's sons were killed, and later Absalom himself. Tamar was left the guardian of her niece, also named Tamar. The Bible mentions that Tamar was left "a desolate woman in her brother's house"; she was grieved and traumatized by her rape. [6] Nothing is known of her later life and death.
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 Jewish; 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.). [7]
According to the Babylonian Talmud, Amnon hated Tamar because, as he raped her, Tamar tied one of her hairs around Amnon's penis and used it to castrate him. [8] The Babylonian Talmud also asserts that Amnon's death was a punishment from the Lord for Amnon's "lewdness". [9]
Michael D. Coogan attributes the placement of the rape of Tamar narrative, coming soon after the Bathsheba narrative, as a way for the narrator to compare Amnon to David. As David wronged Bathsheba, so too will Amnon wrong Tamar, "like father like son." [11] Mark Gray, however, disagrees with Coogan on this point, arguing that "the rape of Tamar is an act of such horrific defilement that it is marked off as distinct from David's encounter with Bathsheba." [12]
Mary J. Evans describes Tamar as a "beautiful, good-hearted, obedient, righteous daughter who is totally destroyed by her family." [13] After the rape, Amnon attempted to send Tamar away. She responded "No, my brother; for this wrong in sending me away is greater than the other that you did to me" (2 Samuel 13:15–16).
In Biblical law, it was unlawful for a man to have intercourse with his sister. Rav says that 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. [14] Coogan says that, according to the Bible, it was possible for Amnon to marry Tamar. [15] Kyle McCarter suggests that either the laws are not in effect at this time or will be overlooked by David, or they do not apply to the royal family. [16]
Coogan, in his section on women in 2 Samuel, describes Tamar as a "passive figure" whose story is "narrated with considerable pathos." Coogan also points out the poignancy of the image at the end of the narrative story where Tamar is left as a "desolate woman in her brother Absalom's house" (2 Samuel 13:20). It is thought that this ending verse about Tamar is meant to elicit compassion and pity for her. [11]
Adrien Bledstein says the description of Tamar as wearing a "richly ornamented robe" may have been meant to signify that she was a priestess or interpreter of dreams, like Joseph with his coat of many colors. [17]
Feminist scholars have spent time exploring the character of Tamar, her relationships with her male family members and her experience of rape.
In The Cry of Tamar: Violence Against Women and the Church's Response, Episcopal priest Pamela Cooper-White argues that Tamar's story has a direct message for the church in its response to violence against women. The narrative of Tamar's rape at the hands of her half-brother is told with a focus that emphasizes the male roles of the story: David, Amnon, and Absalom. "Even the poignancy of Tamar's humiliation is drawn out for the primary purpose of justifying Absalom's later murder of Amnon, and not for its own sake" (p. 5).
In focusing on the story of Tamar, rather than on the men, Cooper-White reminds readers that the lesson should come from the true victim: the female who was raped, not the men left to deal with the situation. She emphasizes "power-within" instead of "power-over." With "power-over", one's power is related to how many creatures one has dominion over. Tamar, however, demonstrates the "power-within", or en-theos (God-within), by resisting as much as she could Amnon's attack and subsequent banishment.
Throughout her book, Cooper-White elaborates on the different kinds of violence women often face, and also strongly critiques the church response of forgiveness for the perpetrators at the expense of the victim. She concludes that the lesson learned from Tamar is that women, and women victims, must be empowered within themselves with the full support of the Christian church. [18]
Feminist literary critic Phyllis Trible dedicates a chapter in her book, Texts of Terror: Literary-Feminist Readings of Biblical Narratives, to the rape of Tamar, or what she calls "The Royal Rape of Wisdom". Trible gives a comprehensive literary critique of the text, highlighting the patterns that reiterate the power struggle between the characters and the vulnerability of Tamar, the sole female in the narrative.
Trible argues, for example, that when Tamar is finally given a voice (she is speechless for the first 11 verses of the narrative), "the narrator hints at her powerlessness by avoiding her name". (p. 46). The words of Jonadab, Amnon, Absalom and David are consistently introduced by the proper name of each. However, the first time Tamar speaks the narrator prefaces it passively, using the pronoun 'she'. Trible says that "this subtle difference suggests the plight of the female" (p. 46).
Trible does not focus only on the plight of Tamar, but also on her apparent wisdom and eye for justice. She points to Tamar's request that Amnon simply "speak to the king, for he will not keep (Tamar) from (Amnon)" (13:13). Trible argues that "her words are honest and poignant; they acknowledge female servitude" (p. 45). That is, Tamar is wise to her place in the world and willing to work within it. Even after Amnon violently rapes her, she continues to plead for justice and proper order, not letting anger cloud her judgment (p. 46). [19]
Absalom was the third son of David, King of Israel with Maacah, daughter of Talmai, King of Geshur.
Amnon was, in the Hebrew Bible, the oldest son of King David and his second wife, Ahinoam of Jezreel. He was born in Hebron during his father's reign in Judah. 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.
The Book of Samuel is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books in the Old Testament. The book is part of the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books that constitute a theological history of the Israelites and that aim to explain God's law for Israel under the guidance of the prophets.
David was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the third king of the United Kingdom of Israel.
According to 2 Samuel, Adonijah was the fourth son of King David. His mother was Haggith as recorded in the book of 2 Samuel 3:4. Adonijah was born at Hebron during the long conflict between David and the House of Saul. In 1 Kings, he briefly proclaimed himself king of Israel during the terminal illness of his father David, before peacefully ceding the throne to his brother Solomon.
Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah the Hittite and later of David, according to the Hebrew Bible. She was the mother of Solomon, who succeeded David as king, making her the Gebirah. She is best known for the Biblical narrative in which she was summoned by King David, who had seen her bathing and lusted after her.
Incest in the Bible refers to sexual relations between certain close kinship relationships which are prohibited by the Hebrew Bible. These prohibitions are found predominantly in Leviticus 18:7–18 and 20:11–21, but also in Deuteronomy. Jewish views on incest are based on the biblical categories of forbidden relationships and have been subject to rabbinic interpretations in the Talmud. The Karaites reject the authority of Talmudic opinions and interpret the biblical prohibitions differently. The various Christian denominations set their own categories of prohibited incestuous relationships, which have changed from time to time. The laws of many countries regarding prohibited relationships do not necessarily follow the biblical prohibitions nor those of any particular church.
Jonadab is a figure in the Hebrew Bible, appearing in 2 Samuel 13. He is described in verse 3 as the son of Shimeah, who was the brother of David, making Jonadab a cousin to Amnon as well as his friend. He is called "very wise", usually translated as "very shrewd" (NIV) or "very crafty" (ESV).
King David is a 1985 American Biblical epic film about the life of David, the second King of the Kingdom of Israel, as recounted in the Hebrew Bible. The film is directed by Bruce Beresford, written by Andrew Birkin and James Costigan, and stars Richard Gere in the title role. The ensemble cast includes Edward Woodward, Alice Krige, Denis Quilley, Cherie Lunghi, Hurd Hatfield, John Castle, Jean-Marc Barr, Christopher Malcolm, and Gina Bellman.
Nathan was the third of four sons born to King David and Bathsheba in Jerusalem. He was a younger brother of Shammuah and Shobab, and an older brother to Solomon. Although Nathan is the third son raised by David and Bathsheba, he is the fourth born to Bathsheba. The first son died before he could be named.
Sex is considered repeatedly in the Hebrew Bible. Some references provide unambiguous ethical regulations, such as the laws given in Leviticus or Deuteronomy. Others are more ambivalent, most famously the potentially homosexual actions of Ham with his father, Noah. Its depictions of homosexuality, rape, prostitution and incest have spurred considerable academic and theological attention.
Women in the Bible are wives, mothers and daughters, servants, slaves and prostitutes. As both victors and victims, some women in the Bible change the course of important events while others are powerless to affect even their own destinies. The majority of women in the Bible are anonymous and unnamed. Individual portraits of various women in the Bible show women in a variety of roles. The New Testament refers to a number of women in Jesus' inner circle, and he is generally seen by scholars as dealing with women with respect and even equality.
Talmai is a name in the Bible referring to a number of minor people. Its Aramaic version was associated with the Greek Ptolemy, and is the origin of Bartholomew.
The sons of King David are mentioned both as a group and individually several times in the biblical accounts of the reigns both of David and his successor Solomon.
The Hebrew Bible contains a number of references to rape and other forms of sexual violence, both in the Law of Moses, its historical narratives and its prophetic poetry.
2 Samuel 13 is the thirteenth chapter of the Second Book of Samuel in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible or the second part of Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the prophet Samuel, with additions by the prophets Gad and Nathan, but modern scholars view it as a composition of a number of independent texts of various ages from c. 630–540 BCE. This chapter contains the account of David's reign in Jerusalem. This is within a section comprising 2 Samuel 9–20 and continued to 1 Kings 1–2 which deal with the power struggles among David's sons to succeed David's throne until 'the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon'.
Tamar is an epic poem by the American writer Robinson Jeffers, first published in 1924. A tale of incest and violence, it follows Tamar Cauldwell, the daughter of a Californian ranch family, as she experiences transgression, hatred, and destruction. Tamar was the first unrhymed narrative poem Jeffers wrote. The story makes references to the biblical Books of Samuel and deals with themes of nature and corruption.
1 Kings 1 is the first chapter of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the First Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of various annals recording the acts of the kings of Israel and Judah by a Deuteronomic compiler in the seventh century BCE, with a supplement added in the sixth century BCE. This chapter belongs to the section focusing on the reign of Solomon over the unified kingdom of Judah and Israel. The focus of this chapter is the reign of David and Solomon, the kings of Israel.
2 Samuel 14 is the fourteenth chapter of the Second Book of Samuel in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible or the second part of Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the prophet Samuel, with additions by the prophets Gad and Nathan, but modern scholars view it as a composition of a number of independent texts of various ages from c. 630–540 BCE. This chapter contains the account of David's reign in Jerusalem. This is within a section comprising 2 Samuel 9–20 and continued to 1 Kings 1–2 which deal with the power struggles among David's sons to succeed David's throne until 'the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon'.
Absalom comforts his devastated sister while he vows to avenge her rape. In the background is her distraught servant.
god and sex.
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