There were born … three sons, and one daughter: in some languages the following restructuring will sound more natural: “Absalom had four children: he had three sons and a daughter. The daughter’s name was Tamar and she was very beautiful.”

According to 18.18 Absalom did not have any sons. Possibly the three sons born to him at this time had died by the time the events described in chapter 18 took place. But there is no information about this in the Bible.

Tamar: this child was obviously named after her aunt, Absalom’s sister, who was raped by her half brother Amnon. She is described as being a beautiful woman, literally “a woman of beautiful appearance,” using the word found in the description of the girl’s aunt in 13.1 and another word that is used in the description of Bathsheba (11.2). The word translated beautiful is also used to describe Absalom in verse 25. But in some languages a different term is required for men and women.

Some manuscripts of the Septuagint have the name “Maacah” here instead of Tamar. The name “Maacah” probably is the result of a scribe’s attempt to make this verse agree with 1 Kgs 15.2, which says that Absalom’s daughter is named “Maacah.” There are different ways in which this seeming contradiction is explained, but here translators should follow the Hebrew text (Tamar), to which Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {B} rating.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .