13:1 Now David’s son Absalom had a beautiful sister named Tamar. In the course of time David’s son Amnon fell madly in love with her. 1 13:2 But Amnon became frustrated because he was so lovesick 2 over his sister Tamar. For she was a virgin, and to Amnon it seemed out of the question to do anything to her.
13:3 Now Amnon had a friend named Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimeah. Jonadab was a very crafty man. 13:4 He asked Amnon, 3 “Why are you, the king’s son, 4 so depressed every morning? Can’t you tell me?” So Amnon said to him, “I’m in love with Tamar the sister of my brother Absalom.”
1 tn Heb “Amnon the son of David loved her.” The following verse indicates the extreme nature of his infatuation, so the translation uses “madly in love” here.
2 tn Heb “and there was distress to Amnon so that he made himself sick.”
3 tn Heb “and he said to him.”
4 tn An more idiomatic translation might be “Why are you of all people…?”