I recently came across the story of Tamar, the daughter of David, who was raped by her brother, Amnon. This reminded me of the story of Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, who was raped–though not incestuously. I can’t seem to find Torah commentary on this subject; where could I find some? What is the Torah’s message about the rape of these women? Why do David and Jacob not comfort their daughters, and try to restore and heal them?
For sources, you may want to see the commentaries known as the Radak, Ralbag, and Malbim on the verses themselves in the story of Amnon and Tamar.
About the Torah’s message, I’m not exactly sure what you’re asking. Certainly, the events were both presented as tremendous tragedies, both for the women themselves and for the families. Especially in the case of Amnon and Tamar, the consequences for David and his family were disastrous, leading to the death of both Amnon and Absalom. Our Sages say it all happened as a punishment for the incident of David and Bathsheba.
I have no doubt that David and Jacob both did try to comfort their daughters. The Torah doesn’t focus on that, but rather on the political ramifications to both acts in which so many people died. Absalom does say something to his sister, but I don’t think he said the right thing. She was going through a mourning process, and it doesn’t help much to tell a person in mourning, “No big deal. Don’t worry about it, and don’t make a big fuss.” But Absalom himself was in bad shape then, as the follow-up to the story shows.
Best wishes,
Michoel Reach