2 Samuel 14:26

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.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The narrator records a physical detail about Absalom during the period between his celebrated beauty and the birth of his children.

The words — וּבְגַלְּחוֹ (u./ve./ga.le.Ch/o) translates to "when he shaved," while the phrase מִקֵּץ יָמִים לַיָּמִים (mi./Ketz ya.Mim la/i.ya.Mim) literally means "from the end of days to the days," functioning as a Hebrew idiom for annual recurrence.

The thread — The text's focus on measured hair and grooming intersects with priestly hair regulations in Ezekiel 44:20, the narrative of Absalom's hair catching in a tree in 2 Samuel 18:9, and Paul's cultural observation on male hair in 1 Corinthians 11:14.

Why it lands — The text states a measurable fact about Absalom's vanity and physical maintenance before noting his death; it asks the reader to observe how recorded pride sets up the narrative's trajectory without moral commentary.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

King James Version

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.

Cross-references

Ezekiel 44:20 They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long, but must carefully trim their hair.
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.
1 Corinthians 11:14 Doesn’t nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him,
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.
Leviticus 19:36 You shall maintain honest scales and weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
Isaiah 3:24 Instead of fragrance there will be a stench; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of styled hair, baldness; instead of fine clothing, sackcloth; instead of beauty, shame.
Ezekiel 45:9 For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Enough, O princes of Israel! Cease your violence and oppression, and do what is just and right. Stop dispossessing My people, declares the Lord GOD.’