Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house,.... In obedience to the king's commands, and in affection to her brother, with an innocent breast, having no suspicion of any design upon her chastity:

(and he was laid down); upon a couch or bed in his chamber, as being sick as was pretended, into which she was introduced:

and she took flour, and kneaded it; made it into a paste:

and made cakes in his sight; a kind of fritters of them, as in the Talmud^F25T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 21. 1. :

and did bake the cakes: or fried them in a frying pan, in oil.

John Trapp Complete Commentary

2 Samuel 13:8 So Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s house; and he was laid down. And she took flour, and kneaded [it], and made cakes in his sight, and did bake the cakes.

Ver. 8. So Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s house.] As an ox to the butcher, or as an innocent sheep to the ravenous wolf.

And she took flour, and kneaded it.] This she disdained not to do, though a king’s daughter; neither was she unused to such employments. Rebekah was a dainty cook; so was Sarah before her. Augustus wore no garments but what his wife and daughters made him. Our Queen Katharine, and her successor Anne Boleyn, are famous for their good housewifery; not taking leisure to follow such pastimes as are usual in princes’ courts.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

He was laid down upon his bed, or rather his couch.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

8.Amnon’s house — It appears that each of the king’s sons had a separate establishment of his own.

Flour — Margin, more correctly, paste, or dough. Here we observe that in that more simple age kings’ daughters were accustomed to the arts and practices of cookery.

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

flour = dough, or paste.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

she took

Dr. Russell says, "The Eastern ladies often wash their own hands, prepare cakes, pastry, etc. in their apartments; and some few particular dishes are cooked by themselves, but not in their apartments: on such occasions, they go to some room near the kitchen."

flour

or, paste. and made cakes. Rather, as Mr. Parkhurst renders, "and tossed it (wattelabbaiv) in his sight, and dressed the tossed cakes (halleveevoth)." This will receive illustration from the account which Mr. Jackson gives of the Arabian manner of kneading and baking. "They have a small place built with clay, between two and three feet high, having a hole at the bottom for the convenience of drawing out the ashes, something similar to that of a brick-kiln. The oven is usually about fifteen inches wide at top, and gradually grows wider to the bottom. It is heated with wood; and when sufficiently hot, and perfectly clear from smoke, having nothing but clear embers at bottom, which continue to reflect great heat, they prepare the dough in a large bowl, and mould the cakes to the desired size on a board or stone placed near the oven. After they have kneaded the cake to a proper consistency, they pat it a little, then toss it about with great dexterity in one hand till it is as thin as they choose to make it. They then wet one side of it with water, at the same time wetting the hand and arm with which they put it into the oven."