In spite of his intense hatred for Amnon, Absalom waits two years before taking revenge on his half-brother (13:23–33). He chooses a normally festive occasion, the time of sheep­shearing, to invite his brothers to visit his land in Ephraim, in the center of Israel. To make it look legitimate, he invites David to join them, but when David turns down the invitation, Amnon is invited as the king’s representative. Apparently none of the other brothers suspect anything either, until a somewhat drunk Amnon is struc…