King David. Family drama of King David

We followed the man and the goat up the hill, leaving the town of Beth San on our left, and arrived at the temple just as the lanterns were being lit after evening prayers. We immediately went to the hotel located next to the temple; there we were met by a priest, dirt peeling off in pieces from his face and hands; he extended his hand, palm up, to receive payment for the night, and said:

The LORD sees the heart; for a mere mortal who trusts his neighbor, his wallet can quickly become empty.

We dined on a loaf of bread and a piece of stringy meat, which probably came from the older brother of the goat we met on the road. Then we climbed under my blanket, clung to each other and for a long time could not fall asleep because of the snoring of the pilgrims who had come from afar to pray in the holy place and make a sacrifice to the Lord, as well as because of the screams, screams and groans coming from the shacks, where the insane lived; it seemed that all the evil spirits of the LORD had gathered here and howled at the moon. She is not so afraid of robbers, Lilith whispered, or even of the soldiers and bloodhounds of Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, as of an evil spirit; her heart contracts with fear at the thought that this spirit will attack her, begin to tear her hair, pinch her nipples, or shove some freak into her womb.

Lilith, my sweet one,” I reassured, “I know a spell that will not allow evil spirits to approach: before lying down, I circled us in a magic circle, so that no one would dare touch us.

Then she sobbed, just once, and, laying her head on my shoulder, fell asleep.

In the morning I visited the high priest; he was well-fed and pink-faced, but as unwashed as his subordinates.

It was impossible to tell from the expression on his face whether he believed me or what he thought about my intentions; when I finished speaking, he said:

We do not keep our dear patients behind bars, or under bars, or by force; I constantly remind my fellow human beings that the key to successful treatment is three things: patience, compassion and love. Of course, if one of our dear patients becomes completely obstinate, it may happen that they knock him to calm him down; but it is an instant pain that brings you to your senses. Have pity on the unfortunate, I never tire of repeating to my brothers, pray with them. We have a designated time for visiting; anyone who wishes can approach the dear patient and listen to what he babbles; I know a lot of noble and wealthy people who in their affairs are guided by what they hear here; feeding and teasing our dear patients is prohibited. We expect that for our services and our piety you will make a sacrifice to the LORD; in the temple courtyard there is a sufficient selection of live cattle, and pious people can buy livestock from the Levites, either whole or part; You will surely be pleased, and the LORD will love you and fulfill all your requests.

I went with Lilith to the courtyard of the temple, where there were many sheep, goats, calves and bulls, which were brought by the relatives and friends of the dear sick. Well, the priests then sold these cattle to pilgrims, who desperately bargained and cried out to GOD, complaining about unconscionable prices. In one corner I found our friend - the same goat who was rather dead than alive; I took pity on him and asked the Levite to kill the unfortunate animal with a short, precise blow and take him to the altar, because I want to sacrifice the hind quarter, if the price, of course, is within reasonable limits; The Levite assured that he would set a good price for the fact that the LORD had brought me to him, in addition, there would be people willing to buy other parts of the goat, so that the poor animal would soon be freed from suffering, and the LORD would bless those who sacrificed. After which he gave me a clay shard, which served as a receipt for payment and gave me the right to visit the sick.

At the appointed hour I went to the hovels of the insane. Lilith followed me, although she was very afraid and deathly pale.

There were three shacks: one for those who engaged in self-mutilation, another for those who were in a stupor and could not contain their bowel movements, and the third for all others, including violent ones. In each hut two priests with dull and indifferent faces were on duty; their hands were as hard as iron. It was noticeable that the dear patients experienced mortal fear of them, for, no matter what illness they were tormented by, at the sight of these priests they equally shuddered and began to whine. A terrible stench hit the nose already at a distance of twenty steps from the shacks; It was completely impossible to breathe inside; dear patients, many of them completely naked or in decayed rags, were covered with their own excrement, snot, saliva, and some lay motionless, like corpses.

I asked the priests about Tamar, the daughter of David. They opened their mouths in silent laughter, and then one of them said:

What does the name mean here? We have Persian king, two pharaohs, several angels of the LORD, two of them female, and many prophets making history. Maybe I should show you Astarte, the goddess of love? Her breasts are dry, her hair is like tow, her toes are rotting, and pus is also flowing from her eyes. Tamar, daughter of David? Don’t you want Eve, Adam’s wife?

I took Lilith by the hand, and we ran out of the shack and out of the temple courtyard, and ran down the mountain until we reached the fields; there Lilith fell to the ground and covered her face with her hands. I thought about the ways of the LORD, how difficult and confusing they can be. But then a woman appeared on the path, she was wearing a colorful dress, like the king’s daughters wear before marriage. With her head bowed strangely, she sang in a shallow, childish voice:

Open to me, dear friend, my sister,

my dove, my pure one; for my head is covered

and my curls are wet...

I saw that her colorful dress was all in patches, her face was old, haggard, with distorted features, and her eyes were looking into emptiness. Lilith stood up and said respectfully:

Lady Tamar, daughter of David...

A woman with blind eyes walked past us and sang:

I opened it to my beloved;

but my beloved left and did not return.

And my soul died without his words;

I looked for him, but didn't find him,

I screamed, but he didn’t answer me.

Lilith rushed to stop her:

Tamar, my dear sister...

The woman didn't stop.

Listen to me, Tamar. Here stands Ephan, my beloved; he is gentle and kind, his hands are like the wind from the sea, caressing his face...

It seemed that something had changed in the woman’s gait.

My heart turns to you, Tamar. I want to help you. And my beloved knows a spell that will drive out the evil spirit from you...

The woman stopped.

He will draw a magic circle around you - and your mind will return to you, and there will be peace in your soul. Look at me, can you see me?..

The woman nodded.

Look at Ethan, my beloved, he is wise, he knows the ways of the LORD and men...

The woman looked around. Life returned to her eyes. I took a step towards her. She raised her hands as if protecting herself from a blow, then her hands dropped limply and the terrible grimace of fear that had frozen on her face disappeared.

Lilith kissed her like a sister, and the woman went with us.

WHAT TAMAR, THE DAUGHTER OF DAVID, SAID

TO EPHAN, SON OF GOSHAYA, WHEN SHE LYED IN THE GRASS OF THE FIELD,

PLAYING HIS HEAD ON THE KNEES OF HIS CONCUBINE LILITH

...oh GOD what did he do to me and how did he do it, he threw me on the bed and held me and tore off my clothes, hurt me and hit me in the face so that I wouldn’t scream, it was terrible, but that’s not the worst thing, I was a virgin and I knew that without virginity the king's daughter is not worth much, all the king's daughters had the hot blood of David flowing in their veins, for from the age of eight or nine we knew what was happening in my father's harem, the girls went to each other's houses at night, drank wine and tried hashish, had fun with the maids and got into each other's to a friend’s bed I saw all this and probably would have become like many of them and would have loved women if it weren’t for Maacah my mother who was the daughter of the king of Geshur she told me Tamar I will flog you if I find you in bed with one of these or I find out that you lost your virginity and you have royal blood through your father and mother, not like these upstarts or new rich people, oh how I wish your father was more picky when choosing wives, that’s how my mother was, I was very afraid of her, not like Absalom is my brother he was wayward, did whatever he wanted, and when his mother scolded him, he kicked her and bit her, and she told my father about this, my father ordered Absalom to be flogged, and so I was still a virgin when Amnon, my brother from my father’s other Israeli wife Ahinoam, began to pester me and he tried to touch me into the garden, but I said that’s not allowed Amnon, let’s be friends like brother and sister and don’t grab my chest, don’t rub against me, you’re sweating and you smell bad Amnon got angry, his face became even more unpleasant, he was pale from birth with ugly protruding lips then he got sick or pretended to be sick because of which my father was seized with fear, he had just lost his and Bathsheba’s baby son, besides, Amnon’s mother treated her beloved son as if he were a helpless baby and filled the whole palace with her lamentations and drove his father I was in despair, so he came to me and said to Tamar, my daughter, you know what difficulties befell me because the LORD was angry for some of my deeds, and now Amnon got sick and says that death wants to eat meatballs that only you know how to cook from chopped meat with seasonings, you wrap it in thin dough and serve it in chicken broth, if you cook Amnon these meatballs, he will get better and I told my father if this will help Amnon, I will be happy to cook him meatballs and give him his house too, but my father said Amnon wants you to come cook yourself in his kitchen and served it to him myself, I said that this was too much, why should I fulfill his whims, he is not one of those who is worthy of love, let him be pleased that I agreed to cook at all, and I’m not going to serve him, but my father said the boy is sick, sick people have their own quirks and besides, he is half your brother, so be a good sister, go to his house and cook meat for him, what could I do, I went to Amnon’s house, he was lying in bed, he looked sick, he was talking so quietly that you could barely hear him, he said I want meatballs and raised his hand to say hello to me but his hand falls the servants shake their heads how weak he is the poor thing is completely ill hurry up with the meatballs or he will die Amnon groans about his head oh my poor head is splitting from your chatter go away the servants leave and I stand with my pots and pans of meatballs and broth Tamar, my beloved sister, is moaning, maybe I can eat a little bit of what your gentle hands have prepared, come here, come closer, let me take a sip of the broth, I come up, and he suddenly pulls me towards him, everything spills onto the blanket, what a misfortune I’m wailing, what are you doing, where did he get it from? as soon as he has the strength, he drags me onto the bed, straight onto the meatballs and mutters, come lie down with me, my beloved sister, I answer no, my brother, don’t persuade me to do this, they don’t do that in Israel, where will I go with my shame, please talk to the king, he won’t refuse, he’ll give me away you, but Amnon doesn’t want to listen to anything, he’s stronger than me, he overcame and dishonored me, and when he satisfied his lust, he turned away from me and said, you know, you’re not a woman, but a piece of wood, I’m telling you what you want from a girl whom you rape, you hurt, you take your virginity, and besides, I lying in chicken broth on meatballs what kind of passion did you expect next time everything should be different there won’t be another time he screams get out - how can I say that you rape your own sister and drive her away like some kind of whore what kind of violence he mocks you yourself of this I wanted to lie there and didn’t resist, but you beat me, I was in a semi-fainting state, you knew when you were coming here what I wanted, and the one who falls in love with the first person you meet is not suitable as a wife for the future king of Israel, so get up and get out, I’m saying that you’re driving me away even more disgusting than what you did to me, but he doesn’t listen to me, but calls the servants and tells them to push me out into the street and lock the door behind me, he threw me my colorful dress and the servants dragged me out of the house, I heard the bolt clanging then

The Bible is not only sacred history and God’s Revelation to man about Himself, but also lessons for us, no matter what century we live in.

About what lesson the life story of Absalom, the son of the king, psalmist and prophet David, teaches us (see: 2 Samuel 14-15), about beauty, arrogance and the disastrous results to which people are led social movements, called riots, revolutions and uprisings, says Archpriest Oleg Stenyaev.

What does it tell us Holy Bible about Absalom, son of King David?

“There was not in all Israel a man so handsome as Absalom, nor so much praised as he; from the soles of his feet to the top of his head he had no shortage. When he shaved his head - and he shaved it every year, because it weighed him down - the hairs of his head weighed two hundred shekels according to the king's weight. And to Absalom were born three sons and one daughter, whose name was Tamar; She was a beautiful woman and became the wife of Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, and bore him Abijah" (2 Kings 14: 25-27).

So the word of the Lord shows us Absalom as handsome man, O external beauty which it is said that “from the soles of his feet to the top of his head he had no shortage” . These words express the ideal of a beautiful person, which people want to have before them as a kind of example, as a kind of standard.

Look how now, in our modern society, the concept of facial beauty and body beauty is cultivated. There are even special meetings of the so-called “beautiful people”, and the jury chooses the most beautiful. Beauty contests are held not only among women, but also among men, hips are measured, the thickness of the biceps is measured, the strength of the arms and the slenderness of the legs are checked.

People constantly want to find certain standards of beauty. Some say that a beautiful person is A tall man. Others say that he does not have to be very tall, but he must have an expressive face. Many people attach importance to their hair, and we see that Absalom was also a man who was concerned with his appearance: every year they not only cut his hair, but also weighed his hair. I think that even the most sophisticated modern fashionistas would not think of weighing their hair after cutting their hair. And this man was so refined, so aware of how beautiful he was, that he paid attention to everything, even to his hair and how much it weighed.

Absalom is a very modern person for us, he lives by the same ideals as many people around us today. Absalom would fit very well, organically into modern ones in Europe, America, and Russia. And he would probably win them and become the most handsome man of the year.

But the word of God offers us the story of Absalom - one of the saddest stories in Holy Scripture. We will see later why this is so.

So Absalom was wonderful person, a beautiful man, it was an ideal person- from the external, carnal side. He had a family; he had three sons and one daughter named Tamar. Absalom was considered a handsome man, but he was also an arrogant man.

“And Absalom remained in Jerusalem two years, but did not see the king’s face” (2 Kings 14:28).

Absalom was under royal disgrace and had a conflict with his father, a conflict related to the fact that Absalom was taking revenge on Amnon, another son of David, for the dishonor of his sister, a maiden also named Tamar. Tamar had a sad, one might even say, terrible fate. But this - another story.

“And Absalom sent for Joab to send him to the king, but he did not want to come to him. I sent it another time; but he didn’t want to come. And Absalom said to his servants, “You see a piece of Joab’s field near mine, and he has barley there; go burn him with fire. And Absalom's servants burned that part of the field with fire. And the servants of Joab came to him, tearing their clothes, and said, “The servants of Absalom have burned your territory with fire.” And Joab arose and came to Absalom’s house and said to him, “Why have your servants burned my area with fire?” (2 Kings 14:29-31).

In this episode we see the arrogance of Absalom, and not only the arrogance, but also the vindictiveness of this outwardly beautiful man. Absalom wants to restore his relationship with his father and turns to Joab, who was one of the military leaders close to King David. Absalom thinks that maybe through him he can be reconciled with his father. Imagine what a severe punishment: for two years he did not have the right to see the face of his father, the king expelled him from his presence. In the East, such punishment was considered even worse death penalty, this is how people treated the face of their lord-king! Deprived of the opportunity to see the royal face, many even committed suicide.

You cannot interfere in family relationships, but everything must be done to ensure that people themselves understand the situation

And so Absalom wants to get out of this difficult, offensive situation for him - to get out of disgrace. He turns to Joab, but he does not want to meet with him. This military leader does not want to become a mediator between father and son; he understands that their relationship is too complex for him to be somehow involved in this conflict. And we can say that Joab acts very wisely.

Unfortunately, now many people are ready to interfere in any situation that surrounds them. Some, even Orthodox Christians, believe that it is their direct duty to intervene in a conflict that has occurred in a particular family. People get into conflicts between newlyweds, conflicts between children and parents. And often, without spiritual preparation, without the gift of peacemaking, they help their neighbors disservice. We must understand that the relationships that take place in every family are often too intimate, too fragile, too strained for strangers to interfere with them. At the very least, it is very important not to interfere in the relationship that exists between children and parents. But everything must be done to ensure that these people themselves understand the current situation.

If you want to help a family, create conditions so that people can communicate. Invite children and parents to the temple, to those places where the peace of Christ is truly spreading. However, do not try to solve everything on your own, do not trust your logic. Some believe that they can logically “put everything on the shelves” - and then all the scandals in the family “under their care” will stop. I have seen people who tried to help everyone around them at once, and as a result, unimaginable chaos reigned around them. This should not be done, especially for Christians.

We must understand that any family is a special, closed world that exists according to its own laws. And we have no right to rudely interfere with the problems of someone else’s family.

Prayerful support or an attempt to bring this or that family to the Church is another matter.

So Joab was wise man, who understood that he did not need to come between father and son. Here, from this confrontation between Absalom and Joab, it begins to be revealed to us that, in fact, behind the beauty of the king’s son, behind his good looks, and his absence of any external flaws, extraordinary arrogance and vindictiveness were hidden. Absalom orders the plot where Joab was growing barley to be set on fire - the Scripture says that it was located near Absalom's plot. That is, they were neighbors in land plots: Absalom had his own plot, and Joab had his own plot. And so the conflict between neighbors begins.

Since it is the will of God that we live with someone side by side, it means that we must live in peace, without affecting anything else

Conflicts must be avoided. The people living next to you in a communal apartment or on the same landing are the people whom the Lord God gave you, because the Holy Scripture says: “Not a single hair will fall from the head of a Christian without the will of the Heavenly Father” (see: Matthew 10:29). And since it is the will of God for everyone to live side by side, it means that you must live in peace, without offending or hurting each other in any way.

It can be very painful and upsetting to see how bad neighbors Christians can sometimes be. I had to consecrate communal apartments, and there was one incident: unexpectedly, during the consecration of the room, a neighbor burst in, rushed to me and demanded protection from the Orthodox Christian woman, at whose invitation I came to this house. “She,” the neighbor claimed, “keeps him out of the kitchen, she constantly moves his table away from the window, closer to the door, she constantly does something with his plates, and so on. He had so many complaints, he had accumulated so many grievances! Of course, one could ignore these claims of his, because there are higher, more spiritual values ​​than some kind of table - does it matter where it stands, it’s just trifles! But we should remember that worldly people live precisely on these little things, and therefore it is much easier to offend a worldly person than a religious person. A believer really understands that it’s not a matter of where the table is in a communal kitchen; he really understands that it’s not a matter of plates or who uses them. But the worldly people living next to us are very vulnerable, and we need to try to be good neighbors for them.

The Holy Scripture says that if a person wishes to be worthy of ordination, to become a priest, then “He must also have a good testimony from outsiders.” , - this is what the holy Apostle Paul wrote (1 Tim. 3: 7). In the ancient Church, if they wanted to somehow promote a person up the church hierarchical ladder, they turned to his pagan neighbors and asked: tell us about him as a neighbor, is he a good neighbor? Maybe you're a good churchgoer, maybe you attend church services regularly, maybe you go on incredibly long pilgrimages. But if you are terrible neighbors and cannot have a good witness from outsiders, from the pagans who surround you, then why do you go to church, why do you make long pilgrimages, why do you attend Sunday school classes for adults?

If you cannot take out of your spiritual life a kind, friendly attitude towards people - maybe even very difficult people, - then your labors are in vain, for what then is your Christian piety? A Christian should be a person who is pleasant to all people around him. At least when it comes to everyday life, it should be a simple person, an accessible, responsive, attentive person, good neighbor, he must have, as already said, "good testimony from outsiders" .

I remember how I once had the opportunity to consecrate an enterprise. The woman who organized the consecration, a believer who visits the temple, at some point went into another room, and all the workers of this small commercial enterprise vied with each other to try to persuade me to reason with her. There was whole line problems of a material nature, problems related to personal relationships between this woman and her subordinates...

Learn to communicate with people, especially with those who surround you at home and at work - these are the people given to you by the Lord. Perhaps your neighbor is a very violent person, too violent. But why did the Lord allow you to have such a neighbor? Maybe - in order to teach you humility, or in order for you to curb this wildness of his and help him become normal person useful for the people around you.

Take a closer look around you, do not act as the arrogant Absalom did, who first turns to Joab in the hope of resolving his conflict with his father, and when he sees that there is no point, that Joab does not respond to his calls, he sets his barley on fire.

If the fire in the barley field were some unimportant circumstance, then the Bible would not have spoken about it. Holy Scripture always says only very important, very necessary, necessary things for us. And if even such seemingly trifles are spoken of here, this is done so that you understand: there are no trifles in spiritual life. And that fire, that riot that Absalom organizes in his garden plot against his neighbor, then ends in a very serious tragedy, a spiritual catastrophe. In the end, the revolt will no longer be organized within the framework of a garden plot, but on the scale of the entire state of Israel, and Absalom will rebel not against a neighbor, but against his own father.

(To be continued.)

11,13,24) daughter-in-law of Judah. Her first husband was Er, the eldest son of Judah, who, according to the everyday writer, " did not please the Lord, and therefore the Lord put him to death." (Art. 7). As a result of this, Tamar was given in marriage to the brother of her late husband, Onan, who also, for his vile unnatural lawlessness, suffered the same disastrous fate ( Art. 10). Therefore, Judah declared to Tamar that if she remained a widow in her father’s house until his third son, Shelah, grew up, then she would become the latter’s wife. Seeing that Judah did not fulfill his promise, Tamar used cunning to catch Judah himself in her nets, and was so successful in this that she even received from him a seal, a belt and a cane from his hands, which she kept until the very time when Judah condemned her to be burned for fornication. Art. Thus, the mystery of who made her pregnant was clarified ( Art. 12, 26). Her children by Judah were Perez and Zara (

27, 30); the first of them occupies a place in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt. 1:3). b) (2 Samuel 13:1) daughter of David and sister of Absalom, dishonored by her brother Ammon. According to Josephus (, Ancient book VII, Ch. 8, §1) her mother was Maachah, the mother of Absalom, but in priest the narrative does not provide sufficient confirmation of this fact. About the details of the said heinous crime and about its sad consequences that accompanied it, cm. 13.


2 Sam. Bible. Dilapidated and New Testaments. Sinoidal translation. Biblical encyclopedia.

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Books

  • On guard of the faith (set of 24 books), Rozhneva O. (compiled). The set of books “On Guard of the Faith” includes biographies of people who, in the harsh and difficult years for the Russian Orthodox Church, managed to preserve and strengthen both the faith and the church: . Metropolitan Peter...

...My God, this is not even dishonor, he just threw me on the bed, he tore off my clothes, it hurt, he hit me in the face to make me shut up, it was terrible, but even more terrible, because I understood that without virginity, the tsar’s daughter is worth nothing, it’s true that the tsar has many daughters and in all the hot blood of David, from the age of eight or nine, we already knew what was going on in the royal harem, the girls visited each other at night, tried wine and hashish, played around with the maids, went to bed together, I saw all this myself and maybe I would have loved the same women, if it weren’t for my mother Maachah, the daughter of the king of Geshur, she told me Tamar, if I catch you in bed with one of the sluts and find out that you have lost your virginity, then I will screw you up, remember that you have royal blood in you, both on your father and mother’s side, you are not one of some upstarts or it’s a pity for the soon-to-be rich, your father is not always picky when choosing wives - that’s what my mother was like, I was terribly afraid of her, not like my brother Absalom, that stubborn man grew himself long hair and once he kicked his mother and bit him when she scolded him, his mother complained to his father, he ordered him to flog Absalom, but I’m talking about something else - so I was still a girl and Amnon is my brother from another father's wife Israeli Ahinoam began to pester, tried to drag him into the bushes, squeezed, but I said if you want to be friends like brother and sister, then go ahead and I won’t allow you to paw yourself, you’re always sweaty, your breath smells bad Amnon got terribly angry and from anger he became a complete freak, he was pale from birth lips are narrow and then he became completely sick, as if he had been struck by the angry Lord instead of his father, but Amnon’s mother was running around everywhere with her son as if with a baby, so she began to complain to his father, he drove him to despair, he came to me and said, my daughter, you know how difficult it is for me because the Lord some of my deeds are undesirable, and now Amnon has fallen ill and insists that death wants to eat such meatballs that only you know how to cook from finely chopped meat with all sorts of seasonings and bake in thin dough and serve with chicken broth. Amnon says that if you prepare him meatballs, he will I’ll get better right away, I answered that since it’s just a matter of meatballs, I’ll cook them and send them home to Amnon, but my father said that Amnon definitely wants you to come cook it there yourself and serve it with your own hands, I’m saying that’s too much, let him not make conditions on him, that’s enough that I agreed to cook, but my father said that the boy is ill and the sick have their own quirks, besides, he is half your brother, be a good sister, go to him, prepare the meatballs, there is nothing to do, I went to Amnon, he was lying in bed with a sick look, he said, barely audible, that I want some meatballs raised his hand as if to greet, but his hand fell, the servants shake their heads, whisper, poor thing, Amnon is completely weak from illness, quickly prepare the meatballs, otherwise he will die before he waits, Amnon groans, complains, oh, what a headache I can’t hear your chatter, go away, the servants have left, I’m left with my pots and pans, the meatballs and he keeps moaning with chicken broth about Tamar, sister, give me a sip, maybe it will make me feel better, I say, be careful not to spill it, but he is already pulling my hand, so I say and spilled it, suddenly where did he get the strength from, he grabbed me, threw me on the bed on these unfortunate little bits and whispers lie down with me no no no I say don’t dishonor me for in Israel they don’t do that where will I go then with my shame it’s better to talk to your father he won’t refuse you but Amnon doesn’t hear anything anymore he’s stronger than me so he soon controlled me and when he got fed up he turned away me and says you are not a woman but a piece of wood, I say what do you want from the girl you rape, do you cause pain, deflower and expect passion? when I'm lying on the bed among the beats? next time everything will be different - but Amnon screams another time, he won’t get away, I say, how did you rape your own sister and now you’re driving her away like the last whore? so he raped him, he laughs, he didn’t really resist, but I’m telling you, you beat me almost to the point of unconsciousness, he grins when you walked towards me, you knew what I wanted, in short, someone like that who sleeps with just anyone is not suitable to be the wife of the king of Israel, so get up and get away, I ask you not to drive me away, this is an even greater evil than what you did to me, but he called the servants, told them to kick me out and lock the door behind me, and after me he threw my colorful dress, the servants dragged me, I heard the latch clanging behind me, then I screamed, tore my clothes, sprinkled ashes on my head, then the pain pierced me, it grew, splashing out through my eyes, my face was burning, it was crooked with a spasm, suddenly my brother Absalom appeared, he asked, have you been to Amnon? I just silently looked at him and he said not a word to anyone Amnon your brother - I was silent - don’t take it to heart - I was silent - he took me by the hand and took me to his home, stay here for now - I was silent - and the pain in me kept growing and grew, but I was silent, silent, silent...

PRAYER TO THE LORD FOR DELIVERANCE AND HELP IN GREAT TROUBLE. THE SONG OF EPHAN OF EZRACH

Have pity, O Lord, on the children of Your Spirit, those whom You created from the dust of the earth.

You gave them a mind to understand and a tongue to speak.

You give and take according to Your wisdom.

You gave them a heart that is enough to break once.

Have mercy, Lord, do not close Your ears to our cries and silent complaints.

Here she is, walking in a colorful dress; she spoke before You, and now she has stood up and gone away, and carried away the offense in her heart.

The daughter of the strong is humiliated, her eyes are dead, her hands are drooping.

Hasten, O God, to deliver me, hasten. Lord help me.

May those who seek my soul be ashamed and disgraced!

May those who wish me harm be turned back and consigned to ridicule!

I am poor and needy; God, hurry to me!

You are my help and my deliverer;

God! don't slow down.

Towards evening, columns of dust rose in the distance, shouts were heard from the plain, then many war chariots and horsemen appeared heading towards Beth-san.

Lilith said:

“Darling, don’t wait for the chelethei and felethei to get to the temple, let’s leave here as quickly as possible.”

We bought corned beef and bread from the Levite, Lilith sat on the donkey and covered herself with a cloak.

“For a father, a beautiful daughter is more valuable than pearls,” remarked the Levite who was weighing out the corned beef. “And the one who hides the treasure from the soldiers is truly wise.”

Lilith giggled under the cape, I got angry, whipped the donkey, and when he moved away, Lilith explained that men are like wine: young wine is of little use, it only makes your stomach swell and gives you a headache, but aged wine tastes softer and gets more drunk.

We settled down for the night by the bed of a dried-up stream, hidden from prying eyes by thickets of gorse; the next day we reached the foothills and arrived at Gilo, where Ahithophel, the adviser of King David, who sided with Absalom, was from. Ahithophel had a rich house, the Lord generously rewarded him with other favors, but he was a restless person by nature. I asked a merchant of pickled olives where to find Ahithophel’s house, but the merchant extended his outstretched fingers towards me and said:

- House of Ahithophel? Better ask where Belial, the center of evil, lives. By decision of the Gilonian elders, Ahithophel was erased from human memory. The street that formerly bore his name is now called the Street of Great Achievements of David, and the orphanage founded and maintained by Ahithophel is now closed, the orphans are begged, the older ones go to the robbers, the girls become whores. In general, the house - we won’t say whose - is on that hill, you’ll recognize it right away, the fence has fallen down, the yard is overgrown with weeds; By the way, ghosts roam in the tower next door, especially during the new moon.

We went where the merchant showed us and quickly found Ahithophel's house. The sun stood high in the sky, not a leaf moved in the thickets that had once been a luxurious garden, only the chirping of cicadas was heard in the silence. We walked through the empty rooms, our steps echoing against the walls, tiled in the Sidonian style, and the ceilings, painted in the Tyrian style. I thought about the man who built this house, joined the conspiracy against David, and then committed suicide when it became clear to him that the rebellion was doomed and all his efforts were in vain. What was Ahithophel like? What motivated him and Absalom, and perhaps even David himself?

A quiet cough was heard. Lilith shuddered in fear.

I turned around. In the doorway leading to the garden, stood a thin man, his silhouette stood out sharply against the background of the dazzling midday light. But there was something ghostly about the little man himself; it seemed that he could disappear as suddenly as he appeared. However, he remained on the threshold and, scratching his chin, modestly inquired about the purpose of our coming; after all, by decision of the Gilonian elders, the name of Ahithophel was erased from the memory of people and it was forbidden to enter this house.

I explained that I was traveling, partly on business, partly for my own pleasure, and the woman was accompanying me; We saw the house from afar, we liked its architecture and location, so we wanted to take a closer look.

The man approached us; the place is really good, he confirmed, in general, Gilo and the surrounding area are famous for their beautiful, healthy air. Of course, the house needs to be renovated, but even at a relatively low cost you can turn it into a paradise, just like the house was before it was moved in by the previous owner evil spirit and he did not join the long-maned Absalom, who rebelled against David. Considering the size of the plot, the wonderful location, all this can be purchased for a ridiculously low price, which is even embarrassing to name, it does not correspond to its true value. We asked why he was asking such a price then. The man replied that he thought he was talking to decent people, that’s why I’m honest myself; In addition, the Gilonians would still tell us about the main drawback of this house: on the new moon, the ghost of the former owner appears on the tower. However, if the deal interests us seriously, then there is nothing to fear - the ghost is completely harmless, it does not wheeze, does not howl, does not sneeze, it just stands mute and white in the window of the tower where the previous owner hanged himself.

Thanking him for the offer, I said that I would think about it and asked who he actually was and by what right he was looking for buyers for a house and garden.

“My name is Joglia, son of Ahithophel. – The man shrugged his shoulders sadly.

“I’m the last of the family here, and when I sell everything, I’ll leave too.”

Suddenly the Lord gave me one thought.

“Listen, Ioglia,” I said, “is there anything left of your father besides the house and garden?”

– There were also his clothes for celebrations and ceremonies, gold chain an adviser, a cup and a dish, a few elegant little things, but all this was laid down long ago.

- He thought about it. - However, behind the barn there are barrels with clay tablets. I tried to sell them, but they say that since these are the notes of Ahithophel, they are probably ungodly and malicious against the king.

“Wow,” I feigned surprise, “what a coincidence!” And I am just a collector of ancient manuscripts. Show me your barrels, look, and we’ll come to an agreement. Just a warning: perhaps I will be interested in only a little, and my funds are limited.

But Joglia, son of Ahithophel, no longer heard anything. Ignoring the weeds and burrs clinging to his feet, he rushed to a dilapidated barn overgrown with red flowers. There were three closed barrels there. Grabbing the tools, Ioglia began to work on the lids; Having overcome the first one, he immediately handed me several of the top tablets. The first one read: “Notes of the royal advisor of the Gilonian Ahithophel about the reign of David and the rebellion of his son Absalom, as well as some general thoughts.”

My heart began to pound. Lilith asked if I felt bad. I muttered something about the stuffiness in the barn and went out into the Fresh air. Having finally gained the ability to act more or less sensibly, I said:

- That's it, Ioglia. This is not a piece of meat or a pie, which is enough to taste for everything to immediately become clear. If you want me to acquire some of the tablets, give me the opportunity to study them calmly, for this I will need some time, as well as some room with intact walls and a roof in order to protect my young companion from rain and heat. In addition, you need food and a jug of wine, preferably two. Can you arrange this?

Ioglia bowed, his hands trembling with excitement. The house is at your disposal for any period of time, he said, and there will also be straw to sleep on; he will share bread and cheese; If I give him half a shekel, he can run to Gilo and bring back a whole goatskin of decent wine.

So we found shelter, and most importantly, materials that were important for the Book of King David, that is, the trip was fully justified by the royal commission given to me.

As for the ghost of Ahithophel, I reassured Lilith: there is still more than one week until the new moon, and when the white silent ghost appears in the tower window again, we will already be far, far away.

Already from these words it can be understood that, firstly, David did not pay special attention to their sons, and secondly, since Jewish nationality is inherited through the mother, most of their sons were not considered Jews by birth. If they wanted to become one, they had to undergo conversion - a rite of passage to Judaism. Some of them probably went through this ceremony, some did not. It is difficult to even say whether David knew all these sons by sight. According to researchers, David considered only the sons born from his first six wives and Bathsheba to be truly “his” sons, whom he loved and took part in raising, and they are mentioned in the Bible by name - six sons born in Hebron (II Sam . 3:2-8), and eleven born in Jerusalem (II Sam. 5:14-16).

At the same time, only four of them are described in detail - Amnon, Absalom (Avshalom), Adonijah (Adoniyahu) and Solomon (Shlomo).

But David, as already mentioned, also had daughters, which is mentioned very briefly (II Sam. 5:14). Apparently, the royal harem was housed in a separate house, and numerous princesses also lived in it until they were given in marriage to some soldier of the royal guard.

They were allowed to go outside the harem only with special permission, and at the same time, over a white undershirt to the toes, called “kutonet” (tunic), the girls wore a striped shirt that went down almost to the knees and was a kind of symbol of their virginity. The Bible brought to us the name of only one of David’s daughters - Tamar (Tamar), and even then in connection with a terrible, shudder-inducing story that occurred within the walls of the royal palace.

David's firstborn Amnon, considered, of course, the crown prince, suddenly became inflamed love passion to his half-sister, David’s daughter from the Gishur princess Macha, the beautiful Tamar. Thoughts about Tamar, the thirst to possess her body drove Amnon crazy; love fantasies overwhelmed him day and night, and he was simply unable to think about anything else. At the same time, Amnon did not know how to lure Tamar out of the royal harem, arrange a date with her, not to mention anything more.

Exhausted by insomnia and having lost his appetite, the prince wandered around the royal palace like a ghost, until Jonadav, David’s nephew, his son, drew attention to his condition. sibling Samaya (Shima). Realizing that his entire future depended on how close and useful he would be to the heir to the throne, Jonadab tried to support good relations with all the king's beloved sons. Having learned that Amnon was "sick with love", this cunning young man proposed a plan of action that worked exactly as he had hoped.

One day, Amnon, on the advice of his cousin, pretended to be seriously, almost mortally ill, and fell ill in his house. They believed in Amnon’s illness - after all, as already said, his passion for Tamar really affected both his appearance and behavior. Hearing about the illness of his first-born, David hurried to visit him, and when asked if his son had any wishes that he could fulfill, Amnon replied: “Let my sister Tamar come and give me food and bake for me.” a couple of cakes, and I will eat from her hand" (II Sam. 13:5).

It is curious that this request did not seem strange or suspicious to David. Maybe - who knows?! - because Tamar was famous in the king’s family as a skilled cook. The king hastened to fulfill the wish of his eldest and, perhaps, at that time beloved son - he ordered Tamar to go to Amnon’s house and prepare food for him.

Entering the hall where Amnon lay on the couch, Tamar lit a fire in the brazier and, on a hot iron sheet, prepared unusually tasty flatbreads that resembled Russian pancakes in appearance - they are still prepared right in front of customers by Arab and Druze women in all markets of the Middle East. However, when Tamar placed a pile of cakes on the tray, Amnon suddenly announced that he felt very bad, he wanted to lie down in his bedroom and asked everyone except Tamar to leave. The servants hastened to carry out the prince's order, and Amnon asked Tamar to bring him some cakes to his bedroom, to his bed.

It seems that at this moment the girl had already begun to suspect something, but, bound by her father’s instructions to feed her brother, she decided to obey. And at that very moment, when she brought a tray of flatbreads to Amnon, the prince pulled her towards him and threw her onto the bed.

From this point on, it is probably worth quoting the biblical text, since every word of it is truly important:

“And when she served him food, he grabbed her and said to her: lie with me, my sister. But she said: no, my brother, do not force me, for this is not done in Israel; do not do this abomination. And I, where will I go with my shame?! And you, you will be like one of the scoundrels in Israel. Now talk to the king, and he will not forbid me to become yours. But he did not want to listen to her words and overpowered her and raped her. and lay with her. And Amnon hated her with extreme hatred, so that the hatred with which he hated her was. stronger than love as he loved her, and Amnon said to her: get up, go away! And she said to him: no, for it is evil to drive me away - Furthermore what you did to me before. But he didn't want to listen to her. And he called the youth, his servant, and said: Drive this one away from me and lock the door behind her. And she was wearing a multi-colored cutonette, for such a dress was worn by the king’s maiden daughters. And his servant brought her out, and locked the door behind her. And Tamar took ashes and sprinkled them on her head, and tore the multi-colored coat that she was wearing, and she put her hand on her head and went away, sobbing. And Abshalom her brother said to her, Was not Amnon your brother with you? - And now, my sister; he is your brother, don’t take it to heart. And Tamar lived alone in the house of Absalom her brother. And King David heard about all this and was very angry. And Abshalom did not speak to Amnon, neither bad nor good, for Abshalom hated Amnon because he had dishonored Tamar his sister" (II Sam. 13:11-21).

As we see, at first Tamar tries to beg her brother “not to do this abomination,” since it will bring shame on both her and his head. Then she agrees... to become his wife, asks to go to her father and ask for her hand - and he... “will not forbid” this marriage. Finally, realizing that Amnon does not want to listen to anything, she begins to desperately resist, but Amnon, of course, turns out to be stronger. However, as soon as he satisfies his lust, the very girl whom he seemed to have just loved and desired suddenly becomes not just unwanted, but unpleasant to him; It's starting to seem almost disgusting...

It seems that almost every man has experienced something similar at least once in his life, and this scene is from the point of view male psychology is amazingly accurate. In the Talmud, the story of Amnon and Tamar is seen as an example of how carnal passion differs from true love. The latter, say the sages of the Talmud, is a feeling that is based precisely on spiritual closeness and which therefore does not depend on any conditions and only intensifies with age. The feeling generated by physical beauty, depending on certain purely external factors, is not love. This is only an egoistic desire to possess, the desire to conquer the desired object, to achieve a goal. As soon as the desire is satisfied and the goal is achieved, such love disappears...

This is exactly what happens to Amnon. The fact that he was possessed solely by lust, albeit clothed in the garb of romantic feelings, is proved by all the rest of his inhuman behavior. Amnon doesn't just tell Tamar to leave—he doesn't even let her stay in his house until dark to hide her shame! No, he kicks her out into the street in broad daylight, and in this situation the unfortunate girl has no choice but to make the incident public and emphasize that all this happened not through her fault; that she resisted her rapist.

For this purpose, Tamar tears her striped virgin shirt, sprinkles her head with ashes from the very brazier on which she baked cakes for Amnon, and just like that, in front of everyone, sobbing, she goes to the house of her brother Absalom...

In this regard, many questions arise in the story of Amnon and Tamar. And the most important of them is why David did not punish Amnon. Yes, he was “very angry”, but did not punish! Although the king had to feel personally responsible for what happened in his family: after all, it was he who sent his daughter to his son, and Amnon had to pay for both his treachery and two terrible crimes– rape and having sex with own sister. Moreover, it seems that Amnon could not justify himself by the fact that he committed this sin with his sister only by father, and not by mother, since the Pentateuch clearly indicates: “And if a man takes his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, and sees nakedness her, and she seeth his nakedness, it is a disgrace, that they may be cut off before the eyes of the children of their people. He shall bear his sister's nakedness" (Lev. 20:17).

The explanation of some commentators that David could not punish Amnon, since he still felt how immoral he himself looked in the story with Bathsheba, sounds frankly weak and unconvincing. Meanwhile, the question of why David decided to leave Amnon unpunished and how this could even happen in royal palace, apparently, haunted the tsar’s contemporaries, and the next generations generally puzzled over him.

In addition, there are many other oddities in this whole story. For example, not only Amnon, but also his cousin Jonadab clearly do not see anything criminal or unnatural in Amnon’s desire, and therefore with a light heart he gives advice on how to lure Tamar into a trap.

Tamar herself, at the moment when Amnon takes her to bed, invites him to ask her father for her hand in marriage and expresses confidence that he will not refuse him this - but then what about the law prohibiting marriage with sisters?! There is again an explanation that, by inviting her half-brother to ask her father for her hand in marriage, Tamar was simply trying to find an excuse that would allow her to calm Amnon and slip out of his arms, but this argument is again not convincing.

According to the sages of the Talmud, the matter was completely different. The mother of Tamar and Absalom, the Gishur princess Maachah, was not a Jew and did not convert, and therefore Tamar was not considered a Jew. And this, in turn, from the point of view of Jewish laws meant that she was not considered the sister of the Jew Amnon and after undergoing conversion could well marry him. In addition (again from the point of view of Judaism), marriage between a maternal brother and sister is prohibited to all peoples of the planet, while the ban on marriage with a paternal sister applies only to Jews.

Thus, a marriage between Amnon and Tamar was indeed possible, but Amnon refused this opportunity. And in any case, Amnon was subject to punishment - if not the death penalty, then a forced marriage to his half-sister, payment of compensation to her, etc. The fact that David only “got angry” but refused to punish Amnon apparently testifies to his strength his father's love, which was often so blind that it was to the detriment of the children themselves, everyone around them, and sometimes - as the reader will see later - the country as a whole.

But Absalom certainly did not forgive Amnon for what happened. Apparently, he really loved Tamar and was very close to his sister, since, unlike all the other children of David, they were both not only children, but also grandchildren of a king, albeit not a Jewish one. It is possible that Absalom in his heart despised the rest of his half-brothers and sisters, considering them “plebeians,” and, of course, the very thought that the son of some rootless Jewish woman had dishonored his sister infuriated Absalom.

Seeing that the father was in no hurry to punish his first-born, Absalom decided to take the law into his own hands and personally avenge Tamar. At the same time, he was aware of the difficulties involved in the implementation of this plan - after all, both Amnon and David himself could not help but guess what feelings were possessing him, what thoughts were swarming in his head, and were on guard.

Thus, the main thing for Absalom was to lull the vigilance of his father and brother and choose the most suitable time and place to strike. Therefore, he did not betray his feelings either by word, gesture, or even more so by action. Pretending that he had come to terms with what had happened, he even advised Tamar to come to terms with it too (“And now, my sister; he is your brother, do not take this to heart”).

Two whole years, two many years Absalom patiently waited for his time and, finally, seeing that David and Amnon really believed that he had given up revenge for his sister, he decided that the time had come.



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