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Amnon

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Biblical Character

The Resume

    Name in Hebrew means 'faithful'
    Oldest son of King David of the Kingdom of Israel
    Half-brother to Absalom and Tamar
    Appears in the Second Book of Samuel and The Book of Chronicles
    Raped his half-sister, Tamar, after feigning an illness; then had her banished from his house
    Was later murdered as an act of retribution by his half-brother, Absalom, who had his servants kill him at a feast (2 Samuel 13)

Why he might be annoying:

    He was killed while out partying with his buddies (his own brother sabotaged him).
    His story is one of the few in the Bible where a trigger warning wouldn't hurt for first time readers.
    He was hot for his own sister and feigned an illness in order to seduce her.
    When she was ordered to bake him bread in his room, he had it vacated so she could come to his bedside and feed him, before throwing himself on her.
    He was given several good reasons to control himself by a desperate and pleading Tamar, but he violently raped her anyway.
    He was so disgusted with his actions afterward that he had a servant throw her out and bolt the house door behind her (which she considered worse than the actual rape).
    His actions traumatized her enough that she was reduced to a broken recluse who shut herself away in her brother Absalom's house (who refused to speak to his brother afterward).
    He didn't answer for his crimes for two years, and even then not to the law (the Biblical text claims that David was 'furious,' but that's about it).
    When he was killed, David received false information that all of his sons had been murdered in one fell swoop. As he was grieving on the floor, a servant entered the room to clarify that it was 'only Amnon' (phew!)
    Biblical art over the centuries has tended to depict him as visibly ethnic rapist with dark features; often Black, Arab, or both.
    His story has been frequently brushed under the rug by Bible Study groups over the years due to its racy content (more conservative groups have also been known to promote the logic that Tamar was to blame because she should have known her own brother was lusting after her).

Why he might not be annoying:

    As far as family ties go, let's just say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree...
    Some theologians have theorized that he was set up by his brother and an advisor.
    The logic is that his actions, though reprehensible, were merely a pretense to bump him off the line of succession (he was first in line to inherit the throne).
    His encounter with Tamar may have inspired components of the Little Red Riding Hood story.
    He didn't have long hair that got fatally tangled in branches like his younger brother.
    He gives devout Christians the opportunity to argue that The Bible condemns violence against women.

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 15 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 30 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 34 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 19 Votes: 52.63% Annoying