2Sa 14:25-27 | KD | STEP | There was no man in all Israel so handsome as Absalom. מאד להלּל, “to much praising,” i.e., so that he was greatly praised. from the sole of the foot even to the crown of his head, there was no fault (מוּם, bodily blemish) in him.

‏ 2 Samuel 14:25-27

There was no man in all Israel so handsome as Absalom. מאד להלּל, “to much praising,” i.e., so that he was greatly praised. from the sole of the foot even to the crown of his head, there was no fault (מוּם, bodily blemish) in him. 2Sa 14:26 “When he polled his head, and it took place from year to year that he polled it; for it became heavy upon him (too heavy for him), and so he polled it: they weighed the hair of his head, two hundred shekels by the king’s weight.” A strong growth of hair was a sign of great manly power, and so far a proof of Absalom’s beauty. The statement as to the weight of the hair cut off, viz., two hundred shekels, is in any case a round number, and much too high, although we do not know what the difference between the royal and the sacred shekel really was. According to the sacred reckoning, two hundred shekels would be about six pounds; so that if we were to assume that the royal shekel was about half the other, the number would be still much too high. It is evident, therefore, that there is an error in the text, such as we frequently meet with in the case of numbers, though we have no means of rectifying it, as all the ancient versions contain the same number. 2Sa 14:27

Unto Absalom there were born three sons, and one daughter named Tamar, who was beautiful in figure. Contrary to general usage, the names of the sons are not given, in all probability for no other reason than because they died in infancy. Consequently, as Absalom had no sons, he afterwards erected a pillar to preserve his name (2Sa 18:18). The daughter’s name is probably given as a proof of Absalom’s great affection for his sister Tamar, whom Amnon had violated. ^{▼▼The lxx have this additional clause, καὶ γίνεται γυνὴ Ῥοβαὰμ υἱῷ Σαλωμὼν καὶ τίκτει αὐτῷ τὸν Ἀβιά (and she became the wife of Rehoboam the son of Solomon, and bore him a son named Abia). Although this is quite at variance with 1Ki 15:2, where it is stated that the wife of Rehoboam and mother of Abia (Abijam) was named Maacah, the clause had been adopted by Thenius, who regards it as original, though for reasons which Böttcher has shown to be worthless.}