2 Samuel 13:20
“Absalom her brother said to her, “Has Amnon your brother been with you? But now hold your peace, my sister. He is your brother. Don’t take this thing to heart.” So Tamar remained desolate in her brother Absalom’s house.”
What does 2 Samuel 13:20 mean?
After their sister Tamar is assaulted by their half-brother Amnon, Absalom finds her in devastating distress and tells her to stay quiet about it, reasoning that Amnon is family and she should let it go. His words, meant perhaps to comfort, actually silence her and leave her isolated and broken in his home. This moment captures how trauma survivors are sometimes pressured into silence by those around them, even people who care about them, and how that silence compounds the original wound rather than healing it.