She was a virgin. Amnon wanted her very much, but he did not think it was possible for him to have her. He thought about her so much that he made himself sick.
He said to Amnon, "Every day you look thinner and thinner. You are the king's son. {You have plenty to eat, so why are you losing weight?} Tell me!" Amnon told Jonadab, "I love Tamar. But she is the sister of my half-brother Absalom."
Jonadab said to Amnon, "Go to bed. Act like you are sick. Then your father will come to see you. Tell him, 'Please let my sister Tamar come in and give me food to eat. Let her make the food in front of me. Then I will see it, and eat it from her hand.'"
So Amnon lay down in bed and acted like he was sick. King David came in to see Amnon. He said to King David, "Please let my sister Tamar come in. Let her make two cakes for me while I watch. Then I can eat from her hands."
So Tamar went to the house of her brother Amnon. Amnon was in bed. Tamar took some dough, pressed it together with her hands, and cooked the cakes. She did this while Amnon watched.
Then Tamar took the cakes out of the pan and set them out for him. But he refused to eat. He said to his servants, "Get out of here. Leave me alone!" So all of his servants left the room.
Then Amnon said to Tamar, "Bring the food into the bedroom and feed me by hand." So Tamar took the cakes she had made and went into her brother's bedroom.
So Amnon's servant led Tamar out of the room and locked the door. Tamar was wearing a long robe with many colors. The king's virgin daughters wore robes like this.
Then Tamar's brother Absalom said to her, "Have you been with your brother Amnon? Did he hurt you? Now, calm down sister. Amnon is your brother, {so we will take care of this}. Don't let it upset you too much." So Tamar did not say anything. She quietly went to live at Absalom's house.
King David said to Absalom, "No, son. We will not all go. It will be too much trouble for you." Absalom begged David to go. David did not go, but he did give his blessing.
Then Absalom gave this command to his servants, "Watch Amnon. When he is drunk and feeling good from the wine, I will give you the command. You must attack Amnon and kill him. Don't be afraid of being punished. After all, you will only be obeying my command. Now, be strong and brave."
The king's sons were still on their way into town. But King David got a message about what happened. But the message was, "Absalom has killed all of the king's sons! Not one of the sons was left alive."
But then Jonadab, the son of David's brother Shimeah, said, "Don't think that all of the king's sons were killed! Only Amnon is dead. Absalom has been planning this from the day that Amnon raped his sister Tamar.