Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Make thyself sick - “Feign thyself to be ill.” (Compare 2 Samuel 14:2.)

That I may see it - He was to feign that he could not fancy anything that came from the kitchen, but that if he saw it cooked he should be able to eat it.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And Jonadab said unto him,.... Being a subtle man, he presently formed a scheme to relieve him, and open a way for the enjoyment of what he desired:

lay thee down on thy bed, and make thyself sick; feign thyself sick, pretend that thou art so, by lying down on the bed, and making complaints of one kind or another:

and when thy father cometh to see thee; as he quickly would, after hearing of his illness, being very affectionate to his children:

say unto him, I pray thee let, my sister Tamar come, and give me meat; here he is directed to call her not Absalom's sister, but his own, the more to cover his ill design upon her:

and dress the meat in my sight, that I may see it, and eat it at her hand; pretending that his stomach was very weak and squeamish, that he could not eat anything which his servants dressed for him, and which he did not see done with his own eyes.

Geneva Study Bible

(c) Here we see that there is no enterprise so wicked that it cannot be encouraged to further wickedness.

Wesley's Explanatory Notes

And Jonadab said unto him, Lay thee down on thy bed, and make thyself sick: and when thy father cometh to see thee, say unto him, I pray thee, let my sister Tamar come, and give me meat, and dress the meat in my sight, that I may see it, and eat it at her hand.

My sister — So he calls her, to prevent the suspicion of any dishonest design upon so near a relation.

At her hand — Pretending, his stomach was so nice, that he could eat nothing but what he saw dressed, and that by a person whom he much esteemed.

John Trapp Complete Commentary

2 Samuel 13:5 And Jonadab said unto him, Lay thee down on thy bed, and make thyself sick: and when thy father cometh to see thee, say unto him, I pray thee, let my sister Tamar come, and give me meat, and dress the meat in my sight, that I may see [it], and eat [it] at her hand.

Ver. 5. Lay thee down on thy bed, &c.] Pestilent counsel; such as is oft instilled into young princes, to their utter undoing, and the public mischief: Nero, for instance, and our Henry III, who was called Regni dilapadator; and another German prince, of whom it was said, Esset alius, si esset apud alios, he would have been better if he had had better men about him.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

Let my sister Tamar come; so he calls her, to prevent the suspicion of any dishonest design upon so near a relation, whom neither nature nor respect and affection would permit him to vitiate.

Eat it at her hand; pretending that his stomach was so nice that he could eat nothing but what he saw dressed, and that by a person whom he much affected.

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments

2 Samuel 13:5. Jonadab said, Make thyself sick — He advises Amnon to pretend that his stomach was so weak that he could eat nothing that his servants dressed, and therefore desired his sister, who understood how to make delicate dishes, might come and prepare something that he could relish. Ah! false, treacherous, and base flatterer! that could thus tempt thy prince to so vile a crime! More than the poison of asps is under the lips of such friends and counsellors.

George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

To me. Hebrew, "and give me meat, and dress the meat in my sight, that I may see it, and eat it," &c. (Haydock) --- He pretends to be disgusted with food, (Calmet) unless he see his sister make it ready. (Haydock)

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

make = feign.

meat = heart-shaped cakes. Occurs only here and in verses: 2 Samuel 13:6-7, 2 Samuel 6:8, 2 Samuel 6:10.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(5) Make thyself sick.—Rather, Feign thyself sick. It has already been mentioned in 2 Samuel 13:2 that Amnon “fell sick.” That was the real pining of ungoverned and ungratified passion; this was a crafty feigning of sickness. Yet the miserable condition to which Amnon was brought by the former would give colour and plausibility to the latter.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Lay thee

16:21-23; 17:1-4; Psalms 50:18,19; Proverbs 19:27; Mark 6:24,25; Acts 23:15