Read the Rape of Tamar, and pay attention to the verbs
The story's action words tell us a lot about power and who has it.
Pretend. Would not listen. Send in. Send out. Take hold. Force. Bolt the door. Tear. Cry aloud. Keep quiet. Speak neither good nor bad. Remain. Hate. These are the verbs in the story of the rape of Tamar (2 Sam. 13:1–22). It’s a story that can be traumatic to read. Since statistics tell us that one in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually abused by the age of 18 in the United States, a good portion of readers will be connecting with some hard verbs very quickly. It takes courage to walk into this story and ask which verbs are ours. It takes boldness to ask where the story could have gone differently if only someone had chosen a different verb. But asking such questions is our calling.
The story of the rape of Tamar begins with a short sentence: Some time passed. It’s a signal that we’re entering a story mid-progress. In this case, what we’ve missed is the story of David and Bathsheba in the previous two chapters. David has returned from war, victorious, and is now directing his troops from the palace. One afternoon David lies down for a nap, wakes up, looks out the window, sees a beautiful woman bathing, and thinks—I want that. He has several wives and many concubines at this point. But he’s zeroed in, and he wants what he wants—even though the woman has a husband and isn’t available.
David sees, wants, and takes. Why? Because he can. Because he’s the king and has the power to do it.
