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In 2 Samuel 13, Tamar pleads with Amnon not to assault her and tells him to ask the king for marriage instead. This conflicts with Leviticus 18, which bans sexual relations between siblings, and her plea may be a desperate attempt to stop the assault.
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Leviticus 18:9
Hebrew Bible
8 You must not have sexual relations with your father’s wife; she is your father’s nakedness. 9 You must not have sexual relations with your sister, whether she is your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she is born in the same household or born outside it; you must not have sexual relations with either of them. 10 You must not expose the nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter by having sexual relations with them, because they are your own nakedness.
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
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2 Samuel 13:13
Hebrew Bible
11 As she brought them to him to eat, he grabbed her and said to her, “Come on! Get in bed with me, my sister!” 12 But she said to him, “No, my brother! Don’t humiliate me! This just isn’t done in Israel! Don’t do this foolish thing! 13 How could I ever be rid of my humiliation? And you would be considered one of the fools in Israel! Just speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.” 14 But he refused to listen to her. He overpowered her and humiliated her by raping her.
Date: 6th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Marriage between a half brother and a half sister is explicitly banned by biblical law. Perhaps, it has been suggested, this prohibition was not yet held to be binding in the early tenth century, or in the royal circle in Jerusalem. But it is at least as plausible that the desperate Tamar is grasping at any possibility to buy time and deflect her sexual assailant: why do this vile thing and take me by force when you can enjoy me legitimately? ..."
Alter, Robert
The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary
(p. 2120) W. W. Norton & Company, 2018
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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