Absalom obviously cared for his sister and expected David to take some action to restore her position and to punish Amnon, but David did nothing. I doubt there was any love lost between Absalom and Amnon as they had different mothers, and Amnon was the crown prince. So Absalom most likely lost respect for his father and took matters into his own hands. Is this understandable even though it was obviously the wrong way to deal with the situation? It’s interesting that he named one of his daughters Tamar. So I can somewhat sympathize with him; however, we read in the subsequent chapters that he is not patient and obedient to his father and rather than to continue to seek reconciliation he purposely goes behind David’s back to try to undermine his power. This is the beginning of a downward spiral for the kingdom of Israel, although perhaps the spiral began when David married many women, or perhaps when he slept with Bathsheba and planned the murder of Uriah. What do you think?