Historical

11 And it came to pass, at the teshuvah (turning) of the shanah (year), at the time when melachim go forth [to war], that Dovid sent Yoav, and his avadim with him, and kol Yisroel; and they destroyed the Bnei Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But Dovid tarried still at Yerushalayim.

² And it came to pass at haerev, that Dovid arose from off his mishkav (bed), and walked upon the gag of the Bais HaMelech; and from the gag (roof) he saw an isha bathing; and the isha was very good to look upon.

³ And Dovid sent and inquired after the isha. And one said, Is not this Bat-Sheva Bat Eli’am, eshet Uriyah the Chitti?

⁴ And Dovid sent malachim, and he got her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she had been purifying herself from her [menstruous] tumah (uncleanness); and she returned unto her bais.

⁵ And the isha conceived, and sent and told Dovid, and said, Harah anochi (I am with child, I am pregnant).

⁶ And Dovid sent to Yoav, saying, Send me Uriyah the Chitti. And Yoav sent Uriyah to Dovid.

⁷ And when Uriyah was come unto him, Dovid asked of him regarding the shalom Yo’av, and the shalom HaAm, and the shalom hamilchamah.

⁸ And Dovid said to Uriyah, Go down to thy bais, and wash thy feet. And Uriyah departed out of the Bais HaMelech and there followed after him a masat HaMelech (a present, gift, of the king, i.e. a royal feast).

⁹ But Uriyah slept at the petach Beis HaMelech (entrance of the King’s Palace) with all the avadim of his adon, and went not down to his bais.

¹⁰ And when they had told Dovid, saying, Uriyah went not down unto his bais, Dovid said unto Uriyah, Camest thou not from thy derech (journey)? Why then didst thou not go down unto thine bais?

¹¹ And Uriyah said unto Dovid, The Aron, and Yisroel, and Yehudah, abide in sukkot; and adoni Yoav, and the avadim of adoni are encamped in the open field; shall I then go into mine bais, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my isha? As thou livest, and as thy nefesh liveth, I will not do this thing [i.e., I will not break the soldier’s discipline of purity, Ex.19:14-15; Deut.23:9-14; I Sam 21:5].

¹² And Dovid said to Uriyah, Tarry here today also, and makhar (tomorrow) I will send thee back. So Uriyah abode in Yerushalayim that day, and the next.

¹³ And when Dovid had called him, he did eat and drink before him; and he made him shikker; and at erev he went out to lie on his mishkav with the avadim of his adon, but went not down to his bais.

¹⁴ And it came to pass in the boker, that Dovid wrote a sefer to Yoav, and sent it by the yad of Uriyah.

¹⁵ And he wrote in the sefer, saying, Set ye Uriyah on the frontlines of the milchamah hachazakah (strongest battle), and withdraw from in back of him, that he may be struck down, and die.

¹⁶ And it came to pass, when Yoav was shomer with a siege on the Ir [Rabbah], he assigned Uriyah unto the makom where he knew that anshei chayil (valiant men [of Rabbah]) were.

¹⁷ And the Anshei HaIr came out, and fought with Yoav; and there fell some of HaAm of the Avdei Dovid; and Uriyah the Chitti died also.

¹⁸ Then Yoav sent and told Dovid all the things concerning the milchamah;

¹⁹ And charged the malach, saying, When thou hast made an end of reporting all the matters of the milchamah unto HaMelech,

²⁰ And if so be that the chamat HaMelech (wrath of the King) flare up, and he say unto thee, why approached ye so near unto the Ir when ye did fight? Knew ye not that they would shoot from the chomah (wall)?

²¹ Who struck Avimelech Ben Yerubeshet? Did not an isha throw down on him a millstone from the chomah, that he died in Tevetz? Why went ye near the chomah? Then say thou, Thy eved Uriyah the Chitti is dead also.

²² So the malach went, and came and told Dovid all that Yoav had sent him for.

²³ And the malach said unto Dovid, Surely the anashim prevailed against us, and came out unto us into the sadeh, and we were upon them even unto the petach hasha’ar.

²⁴ And the archers shot from off the chomah upon thy avadim; and some of the avadim of HaMelech are dead, and thy eved Uriyah the Chitti is dead also.

²⁵ Then Dovid said unto the malach, Thus shalt thou say unto Yoav, Let not this thing be evil in thy sight, for the cherev devoureth one as well as another; make thy milchamah more chazak (strong) against the Ir, and overthrow it; and give him [Yoav] a chazak encouragement.

²⁶ And when the eshet Uriyah heard that Uriyah her ish was dead, she mourned for her ba’al (husband).

²⁷ And when the evel (mourning) was past, Dovid sent and brought her to his bais, and she became his isha, and bore him ben. But the thing that Dovid had done was evil in the sight of Hashem.

12 And Hashem sent Natan unto Dovid. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two anashim in one town; the one an oisher, and the other poor.

² The oisher had exceeding many tzon and bakar;

³ But the poor man had nothing, except one kivsah ketanah (little ewe [female] lamb), which he had acquired and nourished; and she grew up together with him [the poor man], and with his banim; it did eat of his own bread, and drank of his own kos (cup), and slept in his kheyk (bosom), and was unto him as a bat.

⁴ And there came a helech (traveler) unto the oisher, and he refused to take of his own tzon and of his own bakar, to prepare for the ore’ach (wayfaring man, traveller, guest) that was come unto him; but took the poor man’s kivsah (ewe lamb), and prepared her for the ish that was come to him.

⁵ And af Dovid (Dovid’s anger) was greatly kindled against the ish; and he said to Natan, As Hashem liveth, the ish that hath done this thing is ben mavet (a son of death, worthy of death);

⁶ And he shall restore the kivsah fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no khamal (pity).

⁷ And Natan said to Dovid, Atah haIsh (thou art the Man). Thus saith Hashem Elohei Yisroel: Meshachticha (I anointed thee) Melech over Yisroel, and I delivered thee out of the yad Sha’ul;

⁸ And I gave thee the bais adonecha, and the nashim of adonecha into thy kheyk (bosom), and gave thee Bais Yisroel and Yehudah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such as this and such as that.

⁹ Why hast thou despised the Davar Hashem, to do the rah in His eyes? Thou hast killed Uriyah the Chitti with the cherev, and hast taken his isha to be thy isha, and hast slain him with the cherev of the Bnei Ammon.

¹⁰ Now therefore the cherev shall not depart from thine Bais ad olam; because thou hast despised Me, hast taken the isha Uriyah the Chitti as thy isha.

¹¹ Thus saith Hashem, Hineni, I will raise up ra’ah (adversity) against thee out of thine own Bais, and I will take thy nashim before thine eyes, and give them unto thy re’a, and he shall lie with thy nashim in the sight of this shemesh.

¹² For thou didst it baseter (secretly); but I will do this thing before kol Yisroel, and before the shemesh.

¹³ And Dovid said unto Natan, I have sinned against Hashem. And Natan said unto Dovid, Hashem also hath put away thy chattat; thou shalt not die.

¹⁴ Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the oyevim of Hashem to ni’etz (deride, ridicule, revile, blaspheme), also haben (the son) that is born unto thee shall surely die.

¹⁵ And Natan departed unto his bais. And Hashem struck the yeled that Uriyah’s isha bore unto Dovid, and it was very ill.

¹⁶ Dovid therefore pleaded with HaElohim for the na’ar; and Dovid did a tzom, and went in, and lay all night upon ha’aretz.

¹⁷ And the zekenim of his Bais arose, and went to him, to raise him up from ha’aretz; but he would not, neither did he eat lechem with them.

¹⁸ And it came to pass on the yom hashevi’i, that the yeled died. And the avadim of Dovid feared to tell him that the yeled was dead; for they said, Hinei, while the yeled was yet chai (alive), we spoke unto him, and he would not pay heed unto koleinu (our voice); so if we tell him that the yeled is dead, will he then do something horrendous?

¹⁹ But when Dovid saw that his avadim were mitlachashim (whisperers), Dovid perceived that the yeled was dead; therefore Dovid said unto his avadim, Is the yeled dead? And they said, Met (dead, he is dead).

²⁰ Then Dovid arose from ha’aretz, and bathed [See 2 Sm 11:2], and put on lotion, and changed his apparel, and came into the Bais Hashem, and worshiped; then he came to his own Bais; and when he requested, they set lechem before him, and he did eat.

²¹ Then said his avadim unto him, What davar is this that thou hast done? Thou didst undergo a tzom and weep for the sake of the yeled, while it was alive; but when the yeled was dead, thou didst rise and eat lechem.

²² And he said, While the yeled was yet chai, I underwent a tzom and wept; for I said, Who can tell whether Hashem will be gracious to me, that the yeled may live?

²³ But now he is met (dead), why should I undergo a tzom? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.

²⁴ And Dovid [Beloved] comforted Bat-Sheva his isha, and went in unto her, and lay with her; and she bore ben, and he called shmo Sh’lomo; and Hashem loved him.

²⁵ And He sent by the yad Natan HaNavi; and he called shmo Yedidyah (Beloved of Hashem), for the sake of Hashem.

²⁶ And Yoav fought against Rabbah of the Bnei Ammon, and captured ir hameluchah (the royal city).

²⁷ And Yoav sent malachim to Dovid, and said, I have fought against Rabbah, and have taken the Ir HaMayim.

²⁸ Now therefore gather the rest of HaAm (the army) together, and encamp against the Ir, and capture it; lest I take the Ir, and it be called after my shem.

²⁹ And Dovid gathered kol haAm together, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and captured it.

³⁰ And he took their melech’s ateret from off his rosh, the weight whereof was a talent of zahav with the precious stones; and it was set on Dovid’s rosh. And he brought forth the plunder of the ir (city) in great abundance.

³¹ And he brought forth ha’am that were therein, and put them under saws, and under threshing tools of barzel, and under axes of barzel, and made them go through the brickkilns; and thus did he unto all the towns of the Bnei Ammon. So Dovid and kol haAm returned unto Yerushalayim.

13 And it came to pass after this, that Avshalom Ben Dovid had an achot yafeh (beautiful sister), whose shem was Tamar; and Amnon Ben Dovid loved her.

² And Amnon was so distressed, that he fell ill for his achot Tamar; for she was betulah; but Amnon thought it impossible for him to do anything to her.

³ But Amnon had a re’a, shmo Yonadav Ben Shime’ah Achi Dovid; and Yonadav was an ish chacham (shrewd man).

⁴ And he said unto him, Why art thou, being Ben HaMelech, becoming dal (weak, wretched) from day to day? Wilt thou not tell me? And Amnon said unto him, Ani ohev (I love) Tamar achot Avshalom achi.

⁵ And Yonadav said unto him, Lay thee down on thy mishkav, and make thyself sick; and when avicha cometh to see thee, say unto him, now, let my achot Tamar come, and cause me to eat lechem, and prepare the briyah (food) in my sight, that I may see it, and eat it from her yad.

⁶ So Amnon lay down, and made himself sick; and when HaMelech was come to see him, Amnon said unto HaMelech, Now, let Tamar my achot come, and make me a couple of [heart-shaped] cakes in my sight, that I may eat from her yad.

⁷ Then Dovid sent to Tamar to the palace, saying, Go now to the bais of thy brother Amnon, and prepare for him briyah (food).

⁸ So Tamar went to the bais of her brother Amnon; and he was lying down. And she took batzek (dough), and kneaded it, and made cakes in his sight, and did bake the [heartshaped] cakes.

⁹ And she took a masret (pan), and poured them out before him; but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, Have kol ish go out from me. And they went out kol ish from him.

¹⁰ And Amnon said unto Tamar, Bring the briyah into the cheder ([bed] room), that I may eat from thine yad. And Tamar took the [heart-shaped] cakes which she had prepared, and brought them into the bedroom to Amnon her brother.

¹¹ And when she had brought them unto him to eat, he took hold of her, and said unto her, Come lie with me, my achot.

¹² And she answered him, No, achi, do not violate me; for no such thing ought to be done in Yisroel; do not thou this nevalah (foul deed, shameful thing).

¹³ And I, to where shall I cause my cherpah (shame, disgrace) to go? And as for thee, thou shalt be as one of the nevalim (wicked fools) in Yisroel. Now therefore, speak unto HaMelech; for he will not withhold me from thee.

¹⁴ Howbeit he would not pay heed unto her voice; but, being stronger than she, violated her and raped her, and lay with her.

¹⁵ Then Amnon hated her exceedingly; so that the sinah (hatred) wherewith he hated her was gedolah me’od than the ahavah wherewith he had loved her. And Amnon said unto her, Get up, get out.

¹⁶ And she said unto him, No, do not this ra’ah in sending me away which is gedolah than the other that thou didst unto me. But he would not pay heed unto her.

¹⁷ Then he called his na’ar that ministered unto him, and said, Put now this outside from me, and bolt the delet after her.

¹⁸ She had a kesones of various colors upon her; for with such were the banot HaMelech that were betulot apparelled. Then his mesharet (servant) brought her outside, and bolted the delet after her.

¹⁹ And Tamar put efer (ash) on her rosh (head) and made the kri’ah (tearing, rending) on her kesones of various colors that was on her, and laid her yad on her rosh, and went on weeping as she went.

²⁰ And Avshalom her brother said unto her, Hath Amnon thy brother been with thee? But hold now thy peace, my achot; he is thy brother; this thing take not to heart. So Tamar remained shomemah (desolate) in the bais of her brother Avshalom.

²¹ But when Dovid HaMelech heard of all these things, he was very angry.

²² And Avshalom spoke unto his brother Amnon not a davar neither rah nor tov; for Avshalom hated Amnon, because he had violated and raped his achot Tamar.

²³ And it came to pass after two full shanim, that Avshalom had gozezim (sheepshearers) in Baal-Chazor, which is in Ephrayim; and Avshalom invited all the Bnei HaMelech.

²⁴ And Avshalom came to HaMelech, and said, Hinei now, thy eved hath gozezim; let HaMelech, now, and his avadim go with thy eved.

²⁵ And HaMelech said to Avshalom, No, beni (my son), let us not all now go, lest we be a burden unto thee. And he urged him; howbeit he would not go, but put a bracha on him.

²⁶ Then said Avshalom, If not, now, let achi Amnon go with us. And HaMelech said unto him, Why should he go with thee?

²⁷ But Avshalom urged him, that he let Amnon and kol Bnei HaMelech go with him.

²⁸ Now Avshalom had commanded his avadim, saying, Mark ye now when Amnon’s lev is high with yayin, and when I say unto you, Strike Amnon; then kill him, fear not; have not I commanded you? Be chazak (courageous), and be bnei chayil.

²⁹ And the na’arei Avshalom did unto Amnon as Avshalom had commanded. Then all the Bnei HaMelech arose, and every man mounted him up upon his pered (mule), and fled.

³⁰ And it came to pass, while they were baderech (on the way), that report came to Dovid, saying, Avshalom hath slain all the Bnei HaMelech, and there is not one of them left.

³¹ Then HaMelech arose, and made the kri’ah on his garments, and lay on the earth; and all his avadim stood by with their clothes torn.

³² And Yonadav Ben Shime’ah achi Dovid, answered and said, Let not adoni suppose that they have slain all the young men, the Bnei HaMelech; for Amnon only is dead; for by the command of Avshalom this hath been determined from the day that he violated and raped Tamar his achot.

³³ Now therefore let not adoni HaMelech take the thing to his lev, to think that all the Bnei HaMelech are dead; for Amnon only is dead.

³⁴ But Avshalom fled. And the na’ar tzofeh (watchman) lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, hinei, there came am rav (much people) by the derech of the hillside behind him.

³⁵ And Yonadav said unto HaMelech, Hinei, the Bnei HaMelech come; as the davar avdecha (word of thy servant), so it is.

³⁶ And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of speaking, that, hinei, the Bnei HaMelech came, and lifted up their voice and wailed; and HaMelech also and all his avadim wept gadol me’od.

³⁷ But Avshalom fled, and went to Talmai Ben Ammichud Melech Geshur. And Dovid mourned for bno kol hayamim.

³⁸ So Avshalom fled, and went to Geshur, and was there shalosh shanim.

³⁹ And the nefesh of Dovid HaMelech longed to go forth unto Avshalom; for he was consoled concerning Amnon that died.