2 Samuel 14:26
New International Version
Whenever he cut the hair of his head—he used to cut his hair once a year because it became too heavy for him—he would weigh it, and its weight was two hundred shekels by the royal standard.

New Living Translation
He cut his hair only once a year, and then only because it was so heavy. When he weighed it out, it came to five pounds!

English Standard Version
And when he cut the hair of his head (for at the end of every year he used to cut it; when it was heavy on him, he cut it), he weighed the hair of his head, two hundred shekels by the king’s weight.

Berean Standard Bible
And when he cut the hair of his head—he shaved it every year because his hair got so heavy—he would weigh it out to be two hundred shekels, according to the royal standard.

King James Bible
And when he polled his head, (for it was at every year's end that he polled it: because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he polled it:) he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels after the king's weight.

New King James Version
And when he cut the hair of his head—at the end of every year he cut it because it was heavy on him—when he cut it, he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels according to the king’s standard.

New American Standard Bible
And when he cut the hair of his head (and it was at the end of every year that he cut it, because it was heavy on him, so he cut it), he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels by the king’s weight.

NASB 1995
When he cut the hair of his head (and it was at the end of every year that he cut it, for it was heavy on him so he cut it), he weighed the hair of his head at 200 shekels by the king’s weight.

NASB 1977
And when he cut the hair of his head (and it was at the end of every year that he cut it, for it was heavy on him so he cut it), he weighed the hair of his head at 200 shekels by the king’s weight.

Legacy Standard Bible
When he shaved the hair of his head (and it was at the end of every year that he shaved it, for it was heavy on him so he shaved it), he weighed the hair of his head at 200 shekels by the king’s weight.

Amplified Bible
When he cut the hair of his head (for at the end of each year he cut it, because its weight was heavy on him) he weighed the hair of his head at 200 shekels by the king’s weight.

Christian Standard Bible
When he shaved his head—he shaved it at the end of every year because his hair got so heavy for him that he had to shave it off—he would weigh the hair from his head and it would be five pounds according to the royal standard.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
When he shaved his head—he shaved it every year because his hair got so heavy for him that he had to shave it off—he would weigh the hair from his head and it would be five pounds according to the royal standard.

American Standard Version
And when he cut the hair of his head (now it was at every year's end that he cut it; because it was heavy on him, therefore he cut it); he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels, after the king's weight.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And whenever his head was sheared, from time to time he was sheared because his hair was heavy on him, he was sheared for it and the hair of his head was weighed at two hundred shekels by the shekel of the King

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And when he polled his head, (and it was at the beginning of every year that he polled it, because it grew, heavy upon him,) even when he polled it, he weighed the hair of his head, two hundred shekels according to the royal shekel.

Contemporary English Version
His hair grew so thick and heavy that when he got it cut once a year, it weighed over two kilograms.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And when he polled his hair (now he was polled once a year, because his hair was burdensome to him) he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred sicles, according to the common weight.

English Revised Version
And when he polled his head, (now it was at every year's end that he polled it: because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he polled it:) he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels, after the king's weight.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
At the end of every year, he used to cut his hair because it became heavy for him. When he cut the hair on his head and weighed it, it weighed five pounds according to the royal standard.

Good News Translation
His hair was very thick, and he had to cut it once a year, when it grew too long and heavy. It would weigh about five pounds according to the royal standard of weights.

International Standard Version
Whenever he cut his hair —he cut it at the end of every year, because it grew thick on his head, which is why he cut it—his hair weighed in at 200 shekels measured by the royal standard.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And when he polled his head--now it was at every year's end that he polled it; because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he polled it--he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels, after the king's weight.

Literal Standard Version
and in his shaving his head—and it has been at the end of year by year that he shaves [it], for it [is] heavy on him, and he has shaved it—he has even weighed out the hair of his head—two hundred shekels by the king’s weight.

Majority Standard Bible
And when he cut the hair of his head—he shaved it every year because his hair got so heavy—he would weigh it out to be two hundred shekels, according to the royal standard.

New American Bible
When he shaved his head—as he used to do at the end of every year, because his hair became too heavy for him—the hair weighed two hundred shekels according to the royal standard.

NET Bible
When he would shave his head--at the end of every year he used to shave his head, for it grew too long and he would shave it--he used to weigh the hair of his head at three pounds according to the king's weight.

New Revised Standard Version
When he cut the hair of his head (for at the end of every year he used to cut it; when it was heavy on him, he cut it), he weighed the hair of his head, two hundred shekels by the king’s weight.

New Heart English Bible
When he cut the hair of his head (now it was at every year's end that he cut it; because it was heavy on him, therefore he cut it); he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels, after the king's weight.

Webster's Bible Translation
And when he polled his head, (for it was at every year's end that he polled it: because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he polled it:) he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels after the king's weight.

World English Bible
When he cut the hair of his head (now it was at every year’s end that he cut it; because it was heavy on him, therefore he cut it), he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels, after the king’s weight.

Young's Literal Translation
and in his polling his head -- and it hath been at the end of year by year that he polleth it, for it is heavy on him, and he hath polled it -- he hath even weighed out the hair of his head -- two hundred shekels by the king's weight.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Absalom's Return to Jerusalem
25Now there was not a man in all Israel as handsome and highly praised as Absalom. From the sole of his foot to the top of his head, he did not have a single flaw. 26And when he cut the hair of his head— he shaved it every year because his hair got so heavy he would weigh it out to be two hundred shekels, according to the royal standard. 27Three sons were born to Absalom, and a daughter named Tamar, who was a beautiful woman.…

Cross References
Genesis 23:16
Abraham agreed to Ephron's terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver, according to the standard of the merchants.

2 Samuel 18:9
Now Absalom was riding on his mule when he met the servants of David, and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak, Absalom's head was caught fast in the tree. The mule under him kept going, so that he was suspended in midair.

Ezekiel 44:20
They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long, but must carefully trim their hair.


Treasury of Scripture

And when he polled his head, (for it was at every year's end that he polled it: because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he polled it:) he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels after the king's weight.

when he polled

2 Samuel 18:9
And Absalom met the servants of David. And Absalom rode upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth; and the mule that was under him went away.

Isaiah 3:24
And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.

1 Corinthians 11:14
Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?

two hundred shekels.

Genesis 23:16
And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.

Leviticus 19:36
Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.

Ezekiel 45:9-14
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Let it suffice you, O princes of Israel: remove violence and spoil, and execute judgment and justice, take away your exactions from my people, saith the Lord GOD…

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Cut End Hair Head Heavy Hundred King's Polled Royal Shekels Time Used Weigh Weighed Weight Whenever Year's
2 Samuel 14
1. Joab, suborning a widow of Tekoah to incline the king's heart to fetch Absalom,
21. brings him home to Jerusalem
25. Absalom's beauty, hair, and children
28. After two years, Absalom is brought into the king's presence by Joab














(26) Two hundred shekels.--The value of the shekel "after the king's weight" is unknown. If it was the same with the shekel of the sanctuary, the weight mentioned would be about six pounds; if only half as much, the weight would still be very extraordinary. Some clerical error has probably arisen in copying the number in the MSS.

Verse 26. - Two hundred shekels after the king's weight. Unless the royal shekel was smaller than the shekel of the sanctuary, the weight of Absalom's hair would be six pounds. But we cannot believe that the king's shekel was not full weight; for to imagine this is to suppose that the king had tampered with the coinage; for the shekel was a coin as well as a weight, being originally a fixed quantity of silver. As a matter of fact, David had amassed too much silver to have need of resorting to what is the expedient of feeble and impoverished princes. Nor can we grant an error in the number; for the versions all agree with the Hebrew, so that any mistake must, at all events, be of great antiquity. Josephus says that Solomon's body guard wore long hair powdered with gold dust, and undoubtedly Absalom's hair was something extraordinary (2 Samuel 18:9). But six pounds is so enormous a weight that it is just possible that some ancient copyist has enlarged the number, to make it accord with a legend current among the people, in which this feature of Absalom's beauty had been exaggerated.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
And when he cut the hair
וּֽבְגַלְּחוֹ֮ (ū·ḇə·ḡal·lə·ḥōw)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b | Verb - Piel - Infinitive construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 1548: To be bald, to shave, to lay waste

of
אֶת־ (’eṯ-)
Direct object marker
Strong's 853: Untranslatable mark of the accusative case

his head—
רֹאשׁוֹ֒ (rō·šōw)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 7218: The head

he shaved
יְגַלֵּ֔חַ (yə·ḡal·lê·aḥ)
Verb - Piel - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1548: To be bald, to shave, to lay waste

it every year
מִקֵּ֨ץ (miq·qêṣ)
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 7093: An extremity, after

because
כִּֽי־ (kî-)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

his hair got so heavy—
כָבֵ֥ד (ḵā·ḇêḏ)
Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 3513: To be heavy, weighty, or burdensome

he would weigh
וְשָׁקַל֙ (wə·šā·qal)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 8254: To suspend, poise

[it]
שְׂעַ֣ר (śə·‘ar)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 8181: Hair

[to be] two hundred
מָאתַ֥יִם (mā·ṯa·yim)
Number - fd
Strong's 3967: A hundred

shekels
שְׁקָלִ֖ים (šə·qā·lîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 8255: A weight, a commercial standard

according to the royal
הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃ (ham·me·leḵ)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4428: A king

standard.
בְּאֶ֥בֶן (bə·’e·ḇen)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 68: A stone


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OT History: 2 Samuel 14:26 When he cut the hair of his (2Sa iiSam 2 Sam ii sam)
2 Samuel 14:25
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