13:1
The curse on David now starts to manifest itself. Curse meaning “God’s judgement on man’s sin”. David has been forgiven (2 Sam 12:13), but his sin still has effects, both personally and on the nation as a whole. Previously David was a person who was respected and admired. Now he is a much weakened character, though one who is still seeking to trust God. “In the course of time ...”, this happened sometime after the events of the previous chapter. Amnon “fell in love” with Tamar. “Love” just means lust, events show that there was real love. Tamar was the half sister of Amnon. Under the Law he was not allowed to marry her (Lev 18:9-11).
13:2-4
Amnon became increasingly obsessed with his infatuation with Tamar, so much so that he made himself ill. Sin is not just the action, but the thoughts can eat away at us. Another character is now introduced, Jonadab. He is something of an amoral character, one could maybe liken him to political advisors that politicians sometimes have. He is described as “a very shrewd man”. He sees that Amnon is not looking well, and implores Amnon to tell him why he is so haggard, and Amnon reveals his obsession with Tamar.
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