There is fulfillment of Nathan's earlier words (2 Sam 12:11) in these chapters. The reader had expected it. Now it is fleshed out.
The previous chapter hinted -- barely -- at a future for Solomon (12:24-25). Nothing is said about Solomon yet, but lots about the perils of David's other sons' pursuit of something very like what their father had done (13:1-2, in Amnon's case -- passion; 14:30 in Absalom's case, echoing 11:15-17 in its manipulation).
Is there also a common thematic element of father-sons patterns in these stories? Amnon was the oldest, and David is "fooled" by devotion to Absalom to permit that which dooms Amnon (13:27). This is eerily like the patriarchal reversals of eldest sons' fortunes, but with a negative downturn: the younger (but not the youngest) carries out the prophet's words of 12:11-12.
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2 comments:
What a sad downturn in the life of David. Why are we given such vivid details of the sin and its slowly unfolding (and clearly predicted) consequences? It's as if our hearts are torn with David's, and we come away with the gnawing words "If only..."
(post by Jonathan)
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