Joab - The Rebel of Judea: A Captivating Historical Fiction Novel Set in Biblical Times by Nachi Zaltsman

Author:Nachi Zaltsman [Zaltsman, Nachi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-03-03T00:00:00+00:00

Amnon and Tamar

When Bathsheba became pregnant again, she was very careful not to endanger her fetus. Every day she took a short walk in the palace garden.

While there were many beautiful women in the palace, David gave her the feeling that she was the fairest of them all.

One day, as she was taking her daily amble through the grove, she noticed Tamar bat Maacah sitting in the shade of one of the trees. Maacah, daughter of King Talmai of Geshur, had borne David two children of incomparable beauty: a boy, Absalom, and a girl, Tamar. The delightful little girl had now grown up to be a graceful maiden.

Bathsheba looked Tamar over from top to bottom and felt that she had a competitor. Not for David’s heart, since Tamar was his daughter, but certainly for the title of the most beautiful woman in the palace.

Tamar, like the other princesses, was accustomed to stroll with her maidservants in the palace garden. When she passed the men, their breath would catch. Her beauty surpassed Bathsheba’s and even her own mother’s, Princess Maacah of Geshur, whom David had married because of her sublime allure.

Among the men who took notice of Tamar was Amnon, David’s firstborn by Ahinoam, who grew infatuated. In contrast to Tamar’s unmatched beauty, Amnon belied the attractiveness of his parents; he himself was the ugliest among the princes, perhaps the most foul male in all the palace. He was short and portly, his face regularly covered with unsightly pimples.

During the hours Tamar walked through the palace garden, he would stand at his window and watch her longingly, which occasionally aroused him sexually and led him to sin by spilling his seed. Tamar was his soul’s desire and the object of his fantasies. At night he would imagine her naked, until he soiled his bedclothes.

When they randomly crossed paths at various events, he tried to get her attention in every way, but she rejected his every attempt to curry favor with her. She did not find him appealing, neither his exterior nor his objectionable character.

Nonetheless, Amnon was possessed, as if by a dybbuk. He couldn’t bear the thought that Tamar would not be his. The question of brother-sister marriage, incest, did not bother him in the slightest.

As the days went by, he began to feel sicker and sicker, both physically and mentally. His appetite weakened and his sleepless nights were filled with lewd thoughts about Tamar.

One morning, after a night of agony, his cousin and confidant, Jonadab, came to him.

“You are thin and your face is gray. Are you not feeling well?”

Amnon looked into Jonadab’s eyes and debated whether to share with him his innermost feelings. He didn’t know how Jonadab would react. It was clear to all that brother-sister love was forbidden by Torah law, even among half-siblings. It stated:

You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, conceived by your father; since she is your sister, you shall not uncover her nakedness.

Sexual offenses were not to be taken lightly; one was expected to give up his life rather than violate this commandment.

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