2 Samuel 13:15

AMNON'S "LOVE" WAS EXPOSED FOR WHAT IT WAS

"Then Amnon hated her with very great hatred; so that the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her. And Amnon said to her, "Arise, be gone," But she said to him, "No, my brother, for this wrong in sending me away is greater than the other which you did to me." But he would not listen to her. He called the young man who served him and said, "Put this woman out of my presence, and bolt the door after her." Now she was wearing a long robe with sleeves; for thus were the virgin daughters of the king clad of old. So his servant put her out and bolted the door after her. So Tamar put ashes on her head, and rent the long robe which she wore; and she laid her hand on her head, and went away, crying aloud as she went."

"Then Amnon hated her" (2 Samuel 13:15). What about all that love which he had for her? It was nothing but his selfish, burning, bodily appetite craving for sexual gratification and was not actual love in any sense whatever. It was like that of the man who grabbed an orange and said, "I love oranges." He ripped a hole in it and sucked the last drop of juice out of it and then threw it in the garbage. That's exactly the way Amnon loved his virgin sister. This action by Amnon fully entitled him to the punishment later inflicted upon him by Tamar's brother, sinful as it was on Absalom's part.

"Amnon had no sooner gratified his animal passion, than his love for his humbled sister turned to hatred; so he commanded her to `Get out'! That sudden change may be fully explained psychologically, as frequently exemplified still in actual life. This is striking proof that lust is not love, but simply the gratification of animal passions."[14]

"This wrong in sending me away is greater than the other which you did to me" (2 Samuel 13:16). Why was this true? It was because he drove her away and had the door bolted after her with the inevitable implication that, in some shameful way, Tamar had dishonored Amnon, which was a base lie. Also, by his sending the servants away, he had effectively prevented Tamar from crying out for help as commanded in Deuteronomy 22:27. However, in any case, "Tamar could not have expected any assistance from Amnon's servants."[15]

"She was wearing a long robe with sleeves" (2 Samuel 13:18). "This is the same word used in Genesis 37:3, where it is translated `a coat of many colors'; but many prefer the rendition `a tunic reaching to the extremities' (that is, to the hands and to the feet) and worn over the common tunic."[16] In all probability both translations are correct, because it was a mark of high favor and distinction. When Jacob gave such a garment to Joseph, it aroused the fierce jealousy of his brothers. The `diverse colors' were possibly due to fancy embroidery with many-colored threads. Tamar wore such a garment as an indication of her extremely high rank as a virgin daughter of the king. Her rending it and placing ashes on her head were expressions of her extreme sorrow and humiliation at the hands of her heartless brother.

"She laid her hand on her head" (2 Samuel 13:19). "Since Tamar's veil is not mentioned, Amnon had probably turned her outdoors without it; and she laid her hand on her head with the purpose of covering her face."[17]