Editing Jonadab (section)

{{Short description|Character in 2 Samuel; son of Shimeah}}
{{For|the character called Jonadab in the [[Book of Jeremiah]]|Jehonadab}}
[[File:Amnon and Jonadab by Aldegrever.jpg|thumb|Jonadab (right) with [[Amnon]] in a [[woodcut]] by [[Heinrich Aldegrever]], 1540.]]
'''Jonadab''' is a figure in the [[Hebrew Bible]], appearing in [[Books of Samuel|2 Samuel]] 13. He is described in verse 3 as the son of [[Shimeah]], who was the brother of David, making Jonadab a cousin to [[Amnon]] as well as his friend. He is called "very wise" (''ḥākām mĕ'ōd''),<ref>{{cite book|last1=Campbell|first1=Antony F.|author-link=Tony Campbell (biblical scholar)|title=Joshua to Chronicles: An Introduction|date=2004|publisher=[[Westminster John Knox Press]]|page=165|isbn=9780664257514|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vQEcTgQuP94C&pg=PA165|accessdate=11 October 2015}}</ref> usually translated as "very shrewd" ([[NIV]]) or "very crafty" ([[ESV]]).

[[2 Samuel 13]] describes how [[Amnon]] wanted to have [[Tamar (daughter of David)|Tamar]], despite the fact that she was his half-sister. Jonadab advised Amnon to pretend to be sick, and then ask [[David]] to send Tamar to him to make him some food. Amnon followed Jonadab's advice, and ended up raping Tamar.

Jonadab appears again at the end of the chapter, when he tells David of [[Absalom]]'s grudge against Amnon. Pamela Tamarkin Reis notes that he was "privy to the confidence of both brothers", and suggests that he "told Absalom about Amnon's scheme simply because
he was a busybody, stirring his spoon in every pot."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Reis|first1=Pamela Tamarkin|title=Cupidity and Stupidity: Woman's Agency and The "Rape" of Tamar|url=https://www.jtsa.edu/Documents/pagedocs/JANES/1997%2025/Reis25.pdf|accessdate=11 October 2015|work=[[Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society|JANES]]|issue=25|date=1997|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307050833/http://www.jtsa.edu/Documents/pagedocs/JANES/1997%2025/Reis25.pdf|archivedate=7 March 2016}}</ref>

According to the [[Babylonian Talmud]]: "And Thou should not associate with a sinner:....And so we find with Amnon, who associated with Jonadab, the son of Shim'ah, David's brother; and Jonadab was a very sensible man--sensible in wickedness, as it is written [Jer. Iv .22]: Wise are they to do evil." According to others, it is meant that one shall not associate with the wicked, even to study the Torah."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HeifAAAAMAAJ&dq=Nathan+of+Babylon++on+Jonadab&pg=PA41|title=New Edition of the Babylonian Talmud: Tracts Aboth (fathers of the synagogue), with Aboth of R. Nathan, Derech Eretz Rabba, and Zuta|first=Michael Levi|last=Rodkinson|date=December 15, 1900|publisher=New Talmud Publishing Company|via=Google Books}}</ref>

[[Keith Bodner]] suggests that "among the numerous minor characters in 2 Samuel 11–19, Jonadab remains among the most enigmatic, and his malignancy marks a key juncture in the story."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bodner|first1=Keith|author-link=Keith Bodner|title=The Rebellion of Absalom|date=2013|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=9781317963523|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SFxKAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA35|accessdate=11 October 2015}}</ref>