children. Obliged to go forth to war against the Philistines,
Joram entrusted his family to the care of his friend Jedidiah. At
the moment of his departure, his wife Naamah, and also Tirzah,
the wife of Jedidiah, discovered, each, that she was with child.
The two friends agreed, that if the one bore a son and the other
a daughter, the two children should in time marry each other.

Things turned out according to the hopes of the fathers. The wife
of Jedidiah was the first to be confined, and she gave birth to a
daughter, who was named Tamar.

Joram was taken captive by the enemy, and did not return. At the
same time a great misfortune overtook his family. His steward
Achan permitted himself to be tempted to evil by a judge, Matthan
by name, a personal enemy of Joram. He set fire to the house of
his master, first having despoiled it of all there was in it. His
booty he carried to the house of Matthan, and Haggith and her
children perished in the flames. Achan laid the blame for the
fire upon Naamah, who, he said, desired to avenge herself upon
her rival Haggith. He substituted his own son Nabal for Azrikam,
the son of Haggith, the only one of Joram's family, he pretended,
to escape with his life. Poor Naamah, about to be delivered, was
compelled to flee and take refuge with a shepherd in the
neighborhood of Bethlehem. There she bore twins, a son named
Amnon, and a daughter, Peninnah.

Jedidiah, shocked by the calamity that had overwhelmed the house
of his friend, took the supposed Azrikam, the son of Joram, home
with him, and raised him with his own children. In order to keep
the spirit of his word to his friend, he considered Azrikam the