2 Samuel 13:12
in 2 Samuel 13“No, my brother!” she cried. “Do not humiliate me, for such a thing should never be done in Israel. Do not do this disgraceful thing!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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.
KJV
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.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 13
Commentary
7 notes on this verseAs if to show that near relationship is no safeguard, Amnon burned with illicit passion for his sister Tamar.
This site's exposition
no such thing ought to be done in Israel
on 2 Samuel 13:12-14
Tamar's plea moves past emotion into law: she calls what he intends folly, warns it will leave him as one of the fools in Israel, then offers marriage to the king as her last hope of escape. Albert Barnes reads that offer as a bid to get free of the room rather than proof such marriages were lawful, since the law already forbade them. Amnon will not hear her. He simply overpowers her, and the narrator states the fact without ornament: forced her, and lay with her.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
No man shall rely upon chastity in the past, for none whose hearts are tainted by women can become holier than David or wiser than Solomon. That none may assume that his chastity is safe in the presence of a woman related to him, let …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And she answered him, nay, my brother,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
In bidding him, however, "speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from thee," it is probable that she urged this as her last resource, saying anything she thought would please him, in order to escape for the present out of his hands.
Nay, my brother - There is something exceedingly tender and persuasive in this speech of Tamar; but Amnon was a mere brute, and it was all lost on him.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Tamar’s words are a verbal quotation from Gen 34:7. The natural inference is that Tamar knew the passage in Genesis, and wished to profit by the warning that it contained. (Compare also 2Sa 13:13.)
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Because he will not keep me from you. I am permitted to you because my mother became pregnant with me when she was still a gentile, pretty woman. The laws concerning the taking of gentile woman during war is discused in Devorim begginning in:10.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
16 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתֹּ֣אמֶר | vatomer | and she said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| ל֗וֹ | lo | to <the> him | ||
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may [you] not | H408 → | 724 times |
| אָחִי֙ | ʾachi | O brother my | H251 → | 630 times |
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תְּעַנֵּ֔נִי | teaneni | you humble me | H6031 → | 82 times |
| כִּ֛י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יֵֽעָשֶׂ֥ה | yeaseh | it will be done | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| כֵ֖ן | khen | thus | H3651 → | 771 times |
| בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | beyisrael | in Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אַֽל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תַּעֲשֵׂ֖ה | taaseh | you do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַנְּבָלָ֥ה | hanevalah | the disgraceful folly | H5039 → | |
| הַזֹּֽאת׃ | hazot | <the> this | H2063 → | 603 times |
וַתֹּ֣אמֶרand she said
vatomerH559 →5305 times
ל֗וֹto <the> him
lo
אַל־may [you] not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
אָחִי֙O brother my
ʾachiH251 →630 times
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תְּעַנֵּ֔נִיyou humble me
teaneniH6031 →82 times
כִּ֛יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יֵֽעָשֶׂ֥הit will be done
yeasehH6213 →2628 times
כֵ֖ןthus
khenH3651 →771 times
בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֑לin Israel
beyisraelH3478 →2507 times
אַֽל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תַּעֲשֵׂ֖הyou do
taasehH6213 →2628 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַנְּבָלָ֥הthe disgraceful folly
hanevalahH5039 →
הַזֹּֽאת׃<the> this
hazotH2063 →603 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Judges 20:6Then I took my concubine, cut her into pieces, and sent her throughout the land of Israel’s inheritance, because they had committed a lewd and disgraceful act in Israel.
it leads to
- Joshua 7:15
The one who is caught with the things devoted to destruction must be burned, along with all that belongs to him, because he has transgressed the covenant of the LORD and committed an outrage…
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Judges 19:29
When he reached his house, he picked up a knife, took hold of his concubine, cut her limb by limb into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout the territory of Israel.
- Joshua 7:15
Through
Judges 19:23The owner of the house went out and said to them, “No, my brothers, do not do this wicked thing! After all, this man is a guest in my house. Do not commit this…
it leads to
- Genesis 34:7
When Jacob’s sons heard what had happened, they returned from the field. They were filled with grief and fury, because Shechem had committed an outrage in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter—a thing that…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Judges 20:6
Then I took my concubine, cut her into pieces, and sent her throughout the land of Israel’s inheritance, because they had committed a lewd and disgraceful act in Israel.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 22:21
she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house, and there the men of her city will stone her to death. For she has committed an outrage in Israel by being promiscuous…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 34:7
Through
Leviticus 18:9You must not have sexual relations with your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 27:22
‘Cursed is he who sleeps with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 22:11
One man commits an abomination with his neighbor’s wife; another wickedly defiles his daughter-in-law; and yet another violates his sister, his own father’s daughter.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 27:22
Through
Leviticus 20:17If a man marries his sister, whether the daughter of his father or of his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off in the sight of…
it leads to
- Leviticus 18:9
You must not have sexual relations with your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere.
- Leviticus 18:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Samuel

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Fructuosus of Braga, GENERAL RULE FOR MONASTERIES 17; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, LETTER 22.12; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).
