2 Samuel 14:26
in 2 Samuel 14And 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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.
KJV
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.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 14
Commentary
7 notes on this verseWhen he polled his head - Not at any particular period, but when the hair became too heavy for him. On this account of the extraordinary weight of Absalom’s hair, see the observations at the end of this chapter, 2Sa 14:30 (note).
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.
This site's exposition
two hundred shekels
Absalom cut the hair of his head every year when it got heavy, and the cut hair weighed two hundred shekels by the royal standard. Albert Barnes judges twenty shekels more likely. Matthew Henry reads the hair as a mark of pride.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
This notice is taken of his hair, not as the hair of a Nazarite (he was far from that strictness), but as the hair of a beau. He let it grow till it was a burden to him, and was heavy on him, nor would he cut it as long as ever he could bear it; as pride feels no cold, so it feels no heat, and that which feeds and gratifies it is not complained of, though very uneasy.
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
And when he polled his head,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Two hundred shekels ... - The exact weight cannot be determined. If these “shekels after the king’s weight” were the same as “shekels of the sanctuary,” the weight would be about 6 lbs., which is incredible; “twenty” shekels is more probable.
The words behind it
21 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּֽבְגַלְּחוֹ֮ | uvegalecho | and when shaved he | H1548 → | 23 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| רֹאשׁוֹ֒ | rosho | head his | H7218 → | 599 times |
| וְֽ֠הָיָה | vehayah | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| מִקֵּ֨ץ | miketz | from [the] end of | H7093 → | |
| יָמִ֤ים׀ | yamim | days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| לַיָּמִים֙ | laiyamim | to the days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | when | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יְגַלֵּ֔חַ | yegaleach | he shaved | H1548 → | 23 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| כָבֵ֥ד | khaved | [it was] heavy | H3515 → | |
| עָלָ֖יו | ʾalav | on him | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| וְגִלְּח֑וֹ | vegilecho | and he shaved it | H1548 → | 23 times |
| וְשָׁקַל֙ | veshakal | and he weighed | H8254 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שְׂעַ֣ר | sear | [the] hair of | H8181 → | |
| רֹאשׁ֔וֹ | rosho | head his | H7218 → | 599 times |
| מָאתַ֥יִם | matayim | two hundred | H3967 → | 581 times |
| שְׁקָלִ֖ים | shekalim | shekels | H8255 → | |
| בְּאֶ֥בֶן | beeven | by [the] weight of | H68 → | 273 times |
| הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
וּֽבְגַלְּחוֹ֮and when shaved he
uvegalechoH1548 →23 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
רֹאשׁוֹ֒head his
roshoH7218 →599 times
וְֽ֠הָיָהand it was
vehayahH1961 →3559 times
מִקֵּ֨ץfrom [the] end of
miketzH7093 →
יָמִ֤ים׀days
yamimH3117 →2304 times
לַיָּמִים֙to the days
laiyamimH3117 →2304 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhen
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
יְגַלֵּ֔חַhe shaved
yegaleachH1548 →23 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
כָבֵ֥ד[it was] heavy
khavedH3515 →
עָלָ֖יוon him
ʾalavH5921 →5755 times
וְגִלְּח֑וֹand he shaved it
vegilechoH1548 →23 times
וְשָׁקַל֙and he weighed
veshakalH8254 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שְׂעַ֣ר[the] hair of
searH8181 →
רֹאשׁ֔וֹhead his
roshoH7218 →599 times
מָאתַ֥יִםtwo hundred
matayimH3967 →581 times
שְׁקָלִ֖יםshekels
shekalimH8255 →
בְּאֶ֥בֶןby [the] weight of
beevenH68 →273 times
הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃the king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 times
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
Genesis 23:16Abraham 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.
it leads to
- Zechariah 11:12
Then I told them, “If it seems right to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” So they weighed out my wages, thirty pieces of silver.
- Jeremiah 32:9
So I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and I weighed out seventeen shekels of silver.
- Zechariah 11:12
Through
Ezekiel 44:20They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long, but must carefully trim their hair.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 11:14
Doesn’t nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him,
- Numbers 6:5
For the entire period of his vow of separation, no razor shall pass over his head. He must be holy until the time of his separation to the LORD is complete; he must let…
- Leviticus 21:5–24
Priests must not make bald spots on their heads, shave off the edges of their beards, or make cuts in their bodies.
- Deuteronomy 14:1
You are sons of the LORD your God; do not cut yourselves or shave your foreheads on behalf of the dead,
- 1 Corinthians 11:14
Through
2 Samuel 18:9Now 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…
it leads to
- Proverbs 30:17
As for the eye that mocks a father and scorns obedience to a mother, may the ravens of the valley pluck it out and young vultures devour it.
- Job 31:3
Does not disaster come to the unjust and calamity to the workers of iniquity?
- Proverbs 30:17
About 2 Samuel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.