2 Samuel 12:30

12:30 He took the crown of their king ¹  from his head – it was gold, weighed about seventy-five pounds, ²  and held a precious stone – and it was placed on David’s head. He also took from the city a great deal of plunder.

2 Samuel 14:26

14:26 When he would shave his head – at the end of every year he used to shave his head, for it grew too long ³  and he would shave it – he used to weigh the hair of his head at three pounds ⁴  according to the king’s weight.

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¹ tn Part of the Greek tradition wrongly understands Hebrew מַלְכָּם (malkam, “their king”) as a proper name (“Milcom”). Some English versions follow the Greek here, rendering the phrase “the crown of Milcom” (so NRSV; cf. also NAB, CEV). TEV takes this as a reference not to the Ammonite king but to “the idol of the Ammonite god Molech.”

² tn Heb “and its weight [was] a talent of gold.” The weight of this ornamental crown was approximately 75 lbs (34 kg). See P. K. McCarter, II Samuel (AB), 313.

³ tn Heb “for it was heavy upon him.”

⁴ tn Heb “two hundred shekels.” The modern equivalent would be about three pounds (1.4 kg).