Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
2 Samuel 13:21 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 21. 21But when king David heard of all these things, he was very wroth.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
David becomes angry, but the text reports no protection, investigation, judgment, or repair for Tamar.
Read It With
- 2 Samuel 13:15–22
Read 2 Samuel 13:21 with 13:15–22. The wording “But when king David heard of all these things, he was very wroth” supplies one step in the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence; the surrounding verses supply the causes, responses, and outcome summarized here: Amnon's hatred intensifies, he expels Tamar, she publicly mourns, Absalom tells her to be quiet, and David is angry without reported justice.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within “Amnon Expels Tamar and the Household Fails Her,” 2 Samuel 13:21 advances the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence through the wording “But when king David heard of all these things, he was very wroth.” Its placement is governed by this reviewed relationship: 2 Samuel 13:8–14 establishes this prior movement: Tamar serves Amnon, sends others away at his order, refuses with legal and moral arguments, and is overpowered and raped. 2 Samuel 13:15–22 brings the preceding movement toward a consequence or close; that demonstrated relationship, rather than sequence alone, explains its placement.
Follow the Context
- Opening movement: Amnon's hatred intensifies, he expels Tamar, she publicly mourns, Absalom tells her to be quiet.
- Developing movement or outcome: David is angry without reported justice.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“But when king David heard of all these things, he was very wroth”
In plain language: David becomes angry, but the text reports no protection, investigation, judgment, or repair for Tamar.
2 Samuel 13:21 advances the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence by recording “But when king David heard of all these things, he was very wroth.” This line matters because David becomes angry, but the text reports no protection, investigation, judgment, or repair for Tamar.
Why it matters: This wording carries a material textual, literary, historical, royal-power, violence, consent, trauma, covenant, reception, or misuse boundary.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
2 Samuel 13:21 does not permit the wording “But when king David heard of all these things, he was very wroth” to be read apart from the selected verse's context. This verse does not excuse sexual coercion, erase consent, blame the person harmed, or turn prophecy, household status, or royal power into moral permission.
What Remains True
Power remains accountable for the people it exposes, takes, silences, injures, or kills; truthful memory keeps their bodies, testimony, agency, and cost visible. In this unit, that truth is tested by the concrete movement: Amnon's hatred intensifies, he expels Tamar, she publicly mourns, Absalom tells her to be quiet, and David is angry without reported justice. In 2 Samuel 13:21, the concrete line “But when king David heard of all these things, he was very wroth” keeps that truth accountable to the narrated evidence.
How It Can Shape Life
- The evidence to keep visible in this verse is “But when king David heard of all these things, he was very wroth.” Respond to sexual coercion or assault by protecting the person harmed, preserving their choices and testimony, involving qualified independent support, and holding the person who used power accountable. This response follows from the unit's own pattern—Amnon's hatred intensifies, he expels Tamar, she publicly mourns, Absalom tells her to be quiet, and David is angry without reported justice.
Teach It Back
Explain 2 Samuel 13:21's role in 13:15–22. Paraphrase “But when king David heard of all these things, he was very wroth”, name the ancient royal or household horizon, state one material uncertainty, keep one vulnerable or affected person visible, and identify one conclusion the verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read 2 Samuel 13:15–22 — Amnon Expels Tamar and the Household Fails HerSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: 2 Samuel 13:15-22, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 2 Samuel
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, repeated verbs, names, syntax, and the base text behind translation and textual discussion.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/2Sam.xml, 13:15-22
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: 2 Samuel with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Unit-bounded wording, older-English clarification, textual witnesses, syntax, names, numbers, and major historical or literary notes actually printed for these verses.
Exact location: NET Bible 2 Samuel PDF, printed pp. 560–561, translation and all translator notes attached to 13:15-22
Open source ↗