The Easy Conquest

2 Samuel 13

1 And it came to pass after this, that Absalom the son of David had a fair sister, whose name was Tamar; and Amnon the son of David loved her. 2 And Amnon was so vexed, that he fell sick for his sister Tamar;

Comments upon the shameful story of Amnon’s lust for his half sister (children of different mothers) Tamar abound…rightfully so. I want to focus on one simple idea: Amnon’s vexation. The word translated vexed is from the root tsarar צרר , which has quite a wide range of meanings, one of which is ‘cramped’ or ‘squeezed into’ and so rendering the word into English as ‘frustrated’ (NASB) or ‘vexed’ (AV) rather than simply ‘distressed’ (NKJV) ‘tormented’ (ESV). 

This (vexation) angle of understanding is perhaps more instructive and applicable today than we might first think, here’s how: 

Amnon had an idea in his head of what he wanted to happen with Tamar, but he could not force reality into that idea’s shape, ergo, leaving him frustrated, or vexed. Amnon’s idea and his frustration over it is remarkably similar to the thoughts of in the head of a pornography user. In the user’s head, the object of lust never says no, she is always game for whatever the thinker thinks; they are, in the frustrated and sexually twisted mind, the ultimate easy conquest, robbed of all personality, virtue, worth and respect.