Add parallel Print Page Options

30 He took the crown of their king[a] from his head—it was gold, weighed about seventy-five pounds,[b] and held a precious stone—and it was placed on David’s head. He also took from the city a great deal of plunder. 31 He removed[c] the people who were in it and made them labor with saws, iron picks, and iron axes, putting them to work[d] at the brick kiln. This was his policy[e] with all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all the army returned to Jerusalem.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 12:30 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. 2 Samuel 12:30 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. 2 Samuel 12:31 tn Heb “brought out.”
  4. 2 Samuel 12:31 tnHeb “to pass through.”
  5. 2 Samuel 12:31 tn Heb “and so he would do.”

30 David took the crown(A) from their king’s[a] head, and it was placed on his own head. It weighed a talent[b] of gold, and it was set with precious stones. David took a great quantity of plunder from the city 31 and brought out the people who were there, consigning them to labor with saws and with iron picks and axes, and he made them work at brickmaking.[c] David did this to all the Ammonite(B) towns. Then he and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 12:30 Or from Milkom’s (that is, Molek’s)
  2. 2 Samuel 12:30 That is, about 75 pounds or about 34 kilograms
  3. 2 Samuel 12:31 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.