2 Samuel 13:15
in 2 Samuel 13Then Amnon hated Tamar with such intensity that his hatred was greater than the love he previously had. “Get up!” he said to her. “Be gone!”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then Amnon hated her with exceeding great hatred; for the hatred wherewith he hated her was greater than the love wherewith he had loved her. And Amnon said unto her, Arise, be gone.
KJV
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.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 13
Commentary
5 notes on this verseHated 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.
This site's exposition
hated her exceedingly
on 2 Samuel 13:15-17
The hatred that follows is stranger than the crime, greater than the love had been, and now it is Amnon who wants distance. Tamar answers that sending her away is a wrong worse than what he did to her, since it denies her even the standing of a wife taken by force and casts her out with nothing. Amnon calls a servant rather than face her again, and the order to bolt the door behind her is his last word in the scene.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): He hated her with great hatred, greatly, so it is in the margin, and grew as outrageous in his malice as he had been in his lust. He basely turned her out of doors by force; nay, as if he now disdained to touch her with his own hands, he ordered his servant to pull her out and bolt the door after her,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Then Amnon hated her exceedingly,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Amnon hated her. Our Rabbis say she tied a hair for him [in his genital area] and caused him to have a severed organ. 6 One who is so injured is prohibited from marrying a Jewish woman as related in Devorim:2. This interpretation of our verse is in Sanhedrin 21a.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Do not do this thing. Do not do this evil thing of sending [me] away which is worse then the other [evil thing] that you did to me. You raped me and then you added on more evil than that by sending me away.
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
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּשְׂנָאֶ֣הָ | vaiyisnaeha | and he hated her | H8130 → | 146 times |
| אַמְנ֗וֹן | ʾamnon | Amnon | H550 → | 28 times |
| שִׂנְאָה֙ | sinah | hatred | H8135 → | |
| גְּדוֹלָ֣ה | gedolah | great | H1419 → | 526 times |
| מְאֹ֔ד | meod | very | H3966 → | 300 times |
| כִּ֣י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| גְדוֹלָ֗ה | gedolah | [was] great | H1419 → | 526 times |
| הַשִּׂנְאָה֙ | hasinah | the hatred | H8135 → | |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| שְׂנֵאָ֔הּ | seneah | he hated her | H8130 → | 146 times |
| מֵאַהֲבָ֖ה | meahavah | more than [the] love | H160 → | 38 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אֲהֵבָ֑הּ | ʾahevah | he had loved her | H157 → | 211 times |
| וַֽיֹּאמֶר־ | vaiyomer- | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לָ֥הּ | lah | to <the> her | ||
| אַמְנ֖וֹן | ʾamnon | Amnon | H550 → | 28 times |
| ק֥וּמִי | kumi | get up | H6965 → | 628 times |
| לֵֽכִי׃ | lekhi | go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
וַיִּשְׂנָאֶ֣הָand he hated her
vaiyisnaehaH8130 →146 times
אַמְנ֗וֹןAmnon
ʾamnonH550 →28 times
שִׂנְאָה֙hatred
sinahH8135 →
גְּדוֹלָ֣הgreat
gedolahH1419 →526 times
מְאֹ֔דvery
meodH3966 →300 times
כִּ֣יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
גְדוֹלָ֗ה[was] great
gedolahH1419 →526 times
הַשִּׂנְאָה֙the hatred
hasinahH8135 →
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
שְׂנֵאָ֔הּhe hated her
seneahH8130 →146 times
מֵאַהֲבָ֖הmore than [the] love
meahavahH160 →38 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אֲהֵבָ֑הּhe had loved her
ʾahevahH157 →211 times
וַֽיֹּאמֶר־and he said
vaiyomer-H559 →5305 times
לָ֥הּto <the> her
lah
אַמְנ֖וֹןAmnon
ʾamnonH550 →28 times
ק֥וּמִיget up
kumiH6965 →628 times
לֵֽכִי׃go
lekhiH1980 →1546 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
Ezekiel 23:17Then the Babylonians came to her, to the bed of love, and in their lust they defiled her. But after she had been defiled by them, she turned away in disgust.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 23:28
For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Surely I will deliver you into the hands of those you hate, from whom you turned away in disgust.
- Ezekiel 23:22
Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will incite your lovers against you, those from whom you turned away in disgust. And I will bring them against you from every side—
- Genesis 11:9
That is why it is called Babel, for there the LORD confused the language of the whole world, and from that place the LORD scattered them over the face of all the earth.
- Genesis 10:10
His kingdom began in Babylon, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
- Ezekiel 16:37
therefore I will surely gather all the lovers with whom you found pleasure, all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and expose you…
- Ezekiel 23:28
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Samuel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.