2 Samuel 14:25
in 2 Samuel 14Now 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.
KJV
But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 14
Commentary
5 notes on this verseNone to be so much praised as Absalom - It was probably his personal beauty that caused the people to interest themselves so much in his behalf; for the great mass of the public is ever caught and led by outward appearances. There was no blemish in him - He was perfect and regular in all his features, and in all his proportions.
This site's exposition
there was no blemish in him
on 2 Samuel 14:25-27
The narrator pauses on Absalom's beauty and his hair, cut once a year and weighed at two hundred shekels, a detail the story will not let go: this same hair catches him in the oak at his death in chapter eighteen. Henry sets the unblemished body against a mind he calls full of wounds and bruises, the handsome exterior no window into the man. Verse 27 counts three sons and a daughter named Tamar for his ruined sister, and the later record at chapter eighteen has Absalom raise a pillar for want of a son to keep his name, a tension the commentators take up where that chapter's own notes fall.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Handsome are those that handsome do. Many a polluted deformed soul dwells in a fair and comely body; witness Absalom's, that was polluted with blood, and deformed with unnatural disaffection to his father and prince. In his body there was no blemish, but in his mind nothing but wounds and bruises.
5 And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, I am indeed a widow woman, and mine husband is dead. 6 And thy handmaid had two sons, and they two strove together in the field, and there was none to part them, but the one smote the other, and slew him.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty,.... Which is observed to account in some measure for the interest he had in the affections of the people, both now and hereafter: from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him; not any spot, freckle, wart, scurf, or scab; nothing deficient or superfluous in him; no disproportion of parts, nor any disagreeable feature; but an entire symmetry, and perfect comeliness, which made him very respectable.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּכְאַבְשָׁל֗וֹם | ukheavshalom | and like Absalom | H53 → | 110 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| הָיָ֧ה | hayah | he was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| אִישׁ־ | ʾish- | a man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| יָפֶ֛ה | yapeh | handsome | H3303 → | 42 times |
| בְּכָל־ | bekhol | in all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| לְהַלֵּ֣ל | lehalel | to praise | H1984 → | |
| מְאֹ֑ד | meod | exceedingly | H3966 → | 300 times |
| מִכַּ֤ף | mikaf | from [the] sole of | H3709 → | 192 times |
| רַגְלוֹ֙ | raglo | foot his | H7272 → | 247 times |
| וְעַ֣ד | vead | and to | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| קָדְקֳד֔וֹ | kadekodo | scalp his | H6936 → | |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| הָ֥יָה | hayah | it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| ב֖וֹ | vo | in <the> him | ||
| מֽוּם׃ | mum | a blemish | H3971 → |
וּכְאַבְשָׁל֗וֹםand like Absalom
ukheavshalomH53 →110 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
הָיָ֧הhe was
hayahH1961 →3559 times
אִישׁ־a man
ʾish-H376 →1663 times
יָפֶ֛הhandsome
yapehH3303 →42 times
בְּכָל־in all
bekholH3605 →5413 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
לְהַלֵּ֣לto praise
lehalelH1984 →
מְאֹ֑דexceedingly
meodH3966 →300 times
מִכַּ֤ףfrom [the] sole of
mikafH3709 →192 times
רַגְלוֹ֙foot his
ragloH7272 →247 times
וְעַ֣דand to
veadH5704 →1261 times
קָדְקֳד֔וֹscalp his
kadekodoH6936 →
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
הָ֥יָהit was
hayahH1961 →3559 times
ב֖וֹin <the> him
vo
מֽוּם׃a blemish
mumH3971 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Samuel 16:7But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the LORD does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the…
it leads to
- John 7:24
Stop judging by outward appearances, and start judging justly.”
- Jeremiah 17:10
I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve.
- Luke 16:15
So He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is prized among men is detestable before God.
- 1 Peter 3:4
but from the inner disposition of your heart, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in God’s sight.
- Isaiah 55:8–9
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.
- John 7:24
Through
Deuteronomy 28:35The LORD will afflict you with painful, incurable boils on your knees and thighs, from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 28:27
The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors and scabs and itch from which you cannot be cured.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 28:27
Through
Job 2:7So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and infected Job with terrible boils from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.
it leads to
- Isaiah 1:6
From the sole of your foot to the top of your head, there is no soundness—only wounds and welts and festering sores neither cleansed nor bandaged nor soothed with oil.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 1:6
Through
Matthew 23:27Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of impurity.
it leads to
- Acts 23:3
Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit here to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck.”
- Acts 23:3
About 2 Samuel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.