When King David heard all this, he was furious.
Parallel translations
- WEB But when king David heard of all these things, he was very angry.
- KJV But when king David heard of all these things, he was very wroth.
- NKJV But when King David heard of all these things, he was very angry.
- NASB Now when King David heard about all these matters, he became very angry.
- NLT When King David heard what had happened, he was very angry.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
When David hears all this, he is very angry, but takes no recorded action. His failure to administer justice leaves the wrong unaddressed.
Overview
David's anger is right, yet the text notably records no discipline of Amnon, his firstborn, perhaps from paternal weakness or his own compromised moral authority after his sin. This failure of justice allows bitterness to grow and Absalom to take matters into his own hands. The episode shows how a leader's neglect of righteous discipline breeds further evil; some ancient manuscripts add that David spared Amnon because he loved him as his firstborn.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Gen 34:7When Jacob’s sons heard what had happened, they returned from the field. They were filled with grief and fury, because Shechem had committed an outrage in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter—a thing that should not be done.
- 1 Sam 2:29Why then do you kick at My sacrifice and offering that I have prescribed for My dwelling place? You have honored your sons more than Me by fattening yourselves with the best of all the offerings of My people Israel.’
- 2 Sam 3:28–29Afterward, David heard about this and said, “I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the LORD concerning the blood of Abner son of Ner.
- 2 Sam 12:5David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan: “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die!
- Ps 101:8Every morning I will remove all the wicked of the land, that I may cut off every evildoer from the city of the LORD.
- 1 Sam 2:22–25Now Eli was very old, and he heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
- 2 Sam 12:10Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’
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Christ at the center
God's covenant with David — a son whose throne and kingdom would last forever (7:12–16) — finds its yes in Jesus, the Son of David who reigns without end.
How 2 Samuel 13:21 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.