One other person, place or group in the registry answers to the name Jonadab. Every Jonadab in the Bible
- verses
- 7
- first named
- 2 Samuel 13:3
- last named
- 1 Chronicles 27:32
- period
- United Monarchy
- tribe
- Judah
Description
Who was Jonadab?
Jonadab, also referred to as Jonathan, was the son of Shimeah, King David's brother, making him David's nephew (2Sa.13.3; 21.21; 1Ch.20.7). He is primarily mentioned in the context of the tragic story of Amnon and Tamar, David's children.
Jonadab is described as a very shrewd man and a close friend of Amnon (2Sa.13.3). When Amnon became infatuated with his half-sister Tamar and was distressed about how to approach her, Jonadab devised a plan for Amnon to be alone with Tamar (2Sa.13.5). This plan ultimately led to Amnon raping Tamar, an act that had severe consequences for the royal family (2Sa.13.11-14).
After Amnon's actions were discovered, Jonadab was the one who informed David that only Amnon had been killed by Absalom, Tamar's full brother, contrary to the initial report that all of David's sons had been slain (2Sa.13.32-33). This suggests that Jonadab was well-informed about the events and dynamics within the royal family.
In 1Ch.27.32, Jonadab is mentioned as King David's counselor, described as a wise man and a scribe. This indicates that he held a position of influence and trust within the royal court, despite his role in the events surrounding Amnon and Tamar.
The story of Jonadab highlights the complex relationships and conflicts within David's family and the far-reaching consequences of sin and poor judgment. It also demonstrates the importance of wise counsel and the potential for even trusted advisors to contribute to negative outcomes when their wisdom is misused.
Relations
Direct connections
Every entity the graph places in a stated relation with this one, grouped by the kind of link. Each relation is authored once and its inverse derived, so both ends always agree. Rows marked “registry” come from the identity spine rather than from a verse, and a row marked “which bearer is the source’s decision” is one where the name could have meant more than one person. The last group is not a relation at all — it counts the events two entities stand in together.
Child of
Stands in the same events as
Places
Where this happens
A person is placed by the events they take part in, and an event has to clear three things to place them: it must say where it happened, that place must be one the gazetteer can put a coordinate on, and the verse must report it rather than foretell, command or ask it. Nothing anchored here clears all three. Where the text names a setting no gazetteer surveys — a vineyard, a palace, a plot of ground — it is left off rather than guessed at; where a place is named only in a prophecy, the map does not draw what was said to be coming as though it had happened; and a place reached only through a relation is not inherited, because standing beside somebody is not being somewhere.
No verse Atlas has read as a report puts this person anywhere.
Not read yet
Read it
Where to read it
Every verse of the text carried here that names this entity — 7, across 2 books. The name is written 8 times in them.
Onward
Where this page goes
Not the direct relations above — these are one hop further out, ranked so that a rare shared connection outweighs a common one. Descriptions by STEPBible TIPNR.
Where they appear
Chapter by chapter
Atlas's reading of each chapter this person appears in, in canonical order. One line per chapter, and each leads to the whole of it.
Sources