Lectionary Calendar
Wednesday, August 20th, 2025
the Week of Proper 15 / Ordinary 20
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Read the Bible

Good News Translation

2 Samuel 13:3

But he had a friend, a very shrewd man named Jonadab, the son of David's brother Shammah.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Adultery;   Jonadab;   Lasciviousness;   Seduction;   Shammah;   Tamar;   Thompson Chain Reference - Jonadab;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Amnon;   Jonadab;   Shammah;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Absalom;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Family Life and Relations;   Friend, Friendship;   Woman;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Jehonadab;   Jonadab;   Shammah;   Shimeah;   Tamar;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Abimelech;   David;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Amnon;   Love;   Rape;   Samuel, Books of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Jehonadab;   Samuel, Books of;   Shammah;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Amnon ;   Jonadab ;   Shammah ;   Shimea, Shimeah ;   Tamar ;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Absalom;   Amnon;   David;   Jonadab;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Am'non;   Bread;   Jon'adab;   Ta'mar;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Wisdom (1);  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Hebrew Monarchy, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - David;   Jehonadab;   Samuel, Books of;   Shammah;   Subtil;   Wisdom;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Absalom;   Shimei;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Amnon had a friend named Jonadab, a son of David’s brother Shimeah. Jonadab was a very shrewd man,
Hebrew Names Version
But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Yehonadav, the son of Shim`a, David's brother; and Yehonadav was a very subtle man.
King James Version
But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David's brother: and Jonadab was a very subtil man.
Lexham English Bible
Now Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab the son of Shimeah, the brother of David. (Now Jonadab was a very crafty man.)
English Standard Version
But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David's brother. And Jonadab was a very crafty man.
New Century Version
Amnon had a friend named Jonadab son of Shimeah, David's brother. Jonadab was a very clever man.
New English Translation
Now Amnon had a friend named Jonadab, the son of David's brother Shimeah. Jonadab was a very crafty man.
Amplified Bible
But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David's brother; and Jonadab was a very shrewd (cunning) man.
New American Standard Bible
But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David's brother; and Jonadab was a very clever man.
Geneva Bible (1587)
But Amnon had a friend called Ionadab, the sonne of Shimeah Dauids brother: and Ionadab was a very subtile man.
Legacy Standard Bible
But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David's brother; and Jonadab was a very shrewd man.
Contemporary English Version
Amnon had a friend named Jonadab, who was the son of David's brother Shimeah. Jonadab always knew how to get what he wanted,
Complete Jewish Bible
But Amnon had a friend named Yonadav the son of Shim‘ah David's brother; and Yonadav was a very shrewd fellow.
Darby Translation
And Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David's brother; and Jonadab was a very shrewd man.
Easy-to-Read Version
Amnon had a friend named Jonadab son of Shimeah. (Shimeah was David's brother.) Jonadab was a very clever man.
George Lamsa Translation
But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah Davids brother; and Jonadab was a very wise man.
Literal Translation
And Amnon had a friend, and his name was Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David's brother. And Jonadab was a very shrewd man.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But Ammon had a frede, whose name was Ionadab the sonne of Simea Dauids brother, And the same Ionadab was a very wyse man,
American Standard Version
But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David's brother: and Jonadab was a very subtle man.
Bible in Basic English
But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David's brother: and Jonadab was a very wise man.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
But Amnon had a frende called Ionadab, the sonne of Simah, Dauids brother: And Ionadab was a very subtile man.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David's brother; and Jonadab was a very subtle man.
King James Version (1611)
But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Ionadab, the sonne of Shimeah, Dauids brother: and Ionadab was a very subtill man.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Amnon had a friend, and his name was Jonadab, the son of Samaa the brother of David: and Jonadab was a very cunning man.
English Revised Version
But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David’s brother: and Jonadab was a very subtil man.
Berean Standard Bible
Now Amnon had a friend named Jonadab, the son of David's brother Shimeah. Jonadab was a very shrewd man,
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forsothe a freend, Jonadab bi name, sone of Semmaa, brother of Dauid, `was to Amon; Jonadab was a ful prudent man.
Young's Literal Translation
And Amnon hath a friend, and his name [is] Jonadab, son of Shimeah, David's brother, and Jonadab [is] a very wise man,
Update Bible Version
But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David's brother; and Jonadab was a very subtle man.
Webster's Bible Translation
But Amnon had a friend, whose name [was] Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David's brother: and Jonadab [was] a very subtil man.
World English Bible
But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David's brother; and Jonadab was a very subtle man.
New King James Version
But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David's brother. Now Jonadab was a very crafty man.
New Living Translation
But Amnon had a very crafty friend—his cousin Jonadab. He was the son of David's brother Shimea.
New Life Bible
But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab. He was the son of David's brother Shimeah. And Jonadab was very good at making plans.
New Revised Standard
But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab, the son of David's brother Shimeah; and Jonadab was a very crafty man.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
But, Amnon, had a friend, whose name, was Jonadab, son of Shimeah, David's brother, - and, Jonadab, was a very cunning man.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Now Ammon had a friend, named Jonadab the son of Semmaa the brother of David, a very wise man:
Revised Standard Version
But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jon'adab, the son of Shim'e-ah, David's brother; and Jon'adab was a very crafty man.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David's brother; and Jonadab was a very shrewd man.

Contextual Overview

1 David's son Absalom had a beautiful unmarried sister named Tamar. Amnon, another of David's sons, fell in love with her. 2 He was so much in love with her that he became sick, because it seemed impossible for him to have her; as a virgin, she was kept from meeting men. 3 But he had a friend, a very shrewd man named Jonadab, the son of David's brother Shammah. 4 Jonadab said to Amnon, "You are the king's son, yet day after day I see you looking sad. What's the matter?" "I'm in love with Tamar, the sister of my half brother Absalom," he answered. 5 Jonadab said to him, "Pretend that you are sick and go to bed. When your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Please ask my sister Tamar to come and feed me. I want her to fix the food here where I can see her, and then serve it to me herself.'" 6 So Amnon pretended that he was sick and went to bed. King David went to see him, and Amnon said to him, "Please let Tamar come and make a few cakes here where I can see her, and then serve them to me herself." 7 So David sent word to Tamar in the palace: "Go to Amnon's house and fix him some food." 8 She went there and found him in bed. She took some dough, prepared it, and made some cakes there where he could see her. Then she baked the cakes 9 and emptied them out of the pan for him to eat, but he wouldn't. He said, "Send everyone away"—and they all left. 10 Then he said to her, "Bring the cakes here to my bed and serve them to me yourself." She took the cakes and went over to him.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

a friend: Genesis 38:1, Genesis 38:20, Judges 14:20, Esther 5:10, Esther 5:14, Esther 6:13, Proverbs 19:6

Shimeah: 2 Samuel 13:32, 1 Samuel 16:9

Shimeah: subtil man, 2 Samuel 14:2, 2 Samuel 14:19, 2 Samuel 14:20, Genesis 3:1, Jeremiah 4:22, 1 Corinthians 3:19, James 3:15

Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 17:13 - Shammah 1 Chronicles 27:32 - uncle Luke 16:8 - done

Cross-References

Genesis 12:6
Abram traveled through the land until he came to the sacred tree of Moreh, the holy place at Shechem. (At that time the Canaanites were still living in the land.)
Genesis 13:8
Then Abram said to Lot, "We are relatives, and your men and my men shouldn't be quarreling.
Genesis 13:9
So let's separate. Choose any part of the land you want. You go one way, and I'll go the other."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But Amnon had a friend,.... Though in the issue his friendship proved his ruin:

whose name [was] Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David's brother; so that they were own cousins, the same with Shammah, 1 Samuel 16:9;

and Jonadab [was] a very subtle man; a very penetrating man into the dispositions of men, and could judge by their countenances what they were, and the affections of their minds, and had a talent in forming schemes; he was wise to do evil and was wickedly cunning.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Shimeah - Called Shamma (marginal reference), was Jesse’s third son.

Subtil - literally, wise. The word is generally used in a good sense, but here, and in Job 5:13, it means crafty.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Samuel 13:3. Jonadab was a very subtle man. — And most diabolic advice did he give to his cousin. We talk of the simplicity and excellence of primitive times! "Say not thou what is the cause that the former days were better than these." Take them altogether, we may thank God that they are past, and pray him that they may never return.


 
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