2 Samuel 12:30

Webster's Bible Translation

And he took their king's crown from off his head, the weight of which [was] a talent of gold with the precious stones: and it was [set] on David's head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city in great abundance.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
He took the crown from the head of their king, and it was placed on David’s head. The crown weighed seventy-five pounds of gold, and it had a precious stone in it. In addition, David took away a large quantity of plunder from the city.

Hebrew Names Version
He took the crown of their king from off his head; and the weight of it was a talent of gold, and [in it were] precious stones; and it was set on David's head. He brought forth the spoil of the city, exceeding much.

King James Version
And he took their king's crown from off his head, the weight whereof was a talent of gold with the precious stones: and it was set on David's head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city in great abundance.

Lexham English Bible
He took the crown of their king from his head. (Now its weight was a talent of gold, and there was a precious stone in it and it was put on David's head.) He brought out the plunder of the city in great abundance.

English Standard Version
And he took the crown of their king from his head. The weight of it was a talent of gold, and in it was a precious stone, and it was placed on David's head. And he brought out the spoil of the city, a very great amount.

New Century Version
David took the crown off their king's head and had it placed on his own head. That gold crown weighed about seventy-five pounds, and it had valuable gems in it. And David took many valuable things from the city.

New English Translation
He took the crown of their king from his head—it was gold, weighed about seventy-five pounds, and held a precious stone—and it was placed on David's head. He also took from the city a great deal of plunder.

Amplified Bible
And he took the crown of their king from his head; it weighed a talent of gold, and [set in it was] a precious stone; and it was placed on David's head. And he brought the spoil out of the city in great amounts.

New American Standard Bible
Then he took the crown of their king from his head; and its weight was a talent of gold, and it had a precious stone; and it was placed on David's head. And he brought out the plunder of the city in great amounts.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And he tooke their Kings crowne from his head, (which weighed a talent of golde, with precious stones) and it was set on Dauids head: and he brought away the spoyle of the citie in exceeding great abundance.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then he took the crown of their king from his head; and its weight was a talent of gold, and in it was a precious stone; and it was placed on David's head. And he brought out the spoil of the city in a very great amount.

Contemporary English Version
and took the crown from the statue of their god Milcom. The crown was made of seventy-five pounds of gold, and there was a valuable jewel on it. David put the jewel on his own crown. He also carried off everything else of value.

Complete Jewish Bible
He took the crown off Malkam's head; it weighed sixty-six pounds, with its gold and precious stones; and it was placed on David's head. He carried off great quantities of spoil from the city.

Darby Translation
And he took the crown of their king from off his head, the weight of which was a talent of gold with [the] precious stones; and it was [set] on David's head; and he brought forth the spoil of the city in great abundance.

Easy-to-Read Version
David took the crown off their king's head. The crown was gold and weighed about 75 pounds. This crown had precious stones in it. They put the crown on David's head. David took many valuable things out of the city.

George Lamsa Translation
And he took their kings crown from off his head; the weight of it was a talent of gold, and in it were precious stones; and it was set on Davids head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city in great abundance.

Good News Translation
From the head of the idol of the Ammonite god Molech David took a gold crown which weighed about seventy-five pounds and had a jewel in it. David took the jewel and put it in his own crown. He also took a large amount of loot from the city

Literal Translation
And he took the crown of the kingdom off his head. And its weight was a talent of gold, and a precious stone was in it. And it was set on David's head. And he brought out the plunder of the city in great abundance.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
and toke their kynges crowne fro his heade (which in weight had a talente of golde, and precious stones) and was set vpon Dauids heade, and very moch spoyle caried he out of the cite.

American Standard Version
And he took the crown of their king from off his head; and the weight thereof was a talent of gold, and in it were precious stones; and it was set on David's head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city, exceeding much.

Bible in Basic English
And he took the crown of Milcom from his head; the weight of it was a talent of gold, and in it were stones of great price; and it was put on David's head. And he took a great store of goods from the town.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And he toke their kinges crowne from of his head (which wayed a talent of golde, & in it were precious stones) and it was set on Dauids head, and he brought away the spoyle of the citie, in exceeding great abundaunce.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And he took the crown of Malcam from off his head; and the weight thereof was a talent of gold, and in it were precious stones; and it was set on David's head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city, exceeding much.

King James Version (1611)
And he tooke their kings crowne from off his head (the weight whereof was a talent of gold, with the precious stones) and it was set on Dauids head, and he brought forth the spoile of the citie in great abundance.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And he took the crown of Molchom their king from off his head, and the weight of it was a talent of gold, with precious stones, and it was upon the head of David; and he carried forth very much spoil of the city.

English Revised Version
And he took the crown of their king from off his head; and the weight thereof was a talent of gold, and [in it were] precious stones; and it was set on David’s head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city, exceeding much.

Berean Standard Bible
Then he took the crown from the head of their king. It weighed a talent of gold and was set with precious stones, and it was placed on David's head. And David took a great amount of plunder from the city.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And he took the diademe of the kyng of hem fro his heed, bi weiyte a talent of gold, hauynge preciouseste peerlis; and it was put on the heed of Dauid, `that is, aftir that it was weldid and purgid bi fier; but also Dauid bar awey ful myche prey of the citee.

Young's Literal Translation
and he taketh the crown of their king from off his head, and its weight [is] a talent of gold, and precious stones, and it is on the head of David; and the spoil of the city he hath brought out, very much;

Update Bible Version
And he took the crown of Milcom from off his head; and the weight thereof was a talent of gold, and [in it were] precious stones; and it was set on David's head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city, exceeding much.

World English Bible
He took the crown of their king from off his head; and the weight of it was a talent of gold, and [in it were] precious stones; and it was set on David's head. He brought forth the spoil of the city, exceeding much.

New King James Version
Then he took their king's crown from his head. Its weight was a talent of gold, with precious stones. And it was set on David's head. Also he brought out the spoil of the city in great abundance.

New Living Translation
David removed the crown from the king's head, and it was placed on his own head. The crown was made of gold and set with gems, and it weighed seventy-five pounds. David took a vast amount of plunder from the city.

New Life Bible
Then he took the very heavy crown from their king's head. In it were beautiful stones of much worth. The crown was put on David's head. And he brought a large amount of things out of the city.

New Revised Standard
He took the crown of Milcom from his head; the weight of it was a talent of gold, and in it was a precious stone; and it was placed on David's head. He also brought forth the spoil of the city, a very great amount.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then took he the crown of Milcom from off his head, the weight thereof, being a talent of gold, with the precious stones, and it remained on the head of David, - the spoil of the city also, brought he forth in great abundance;

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he took the crown of their king from his head, the weight of which was a talent of gold, set with most precious stones, and it was put upon David’s head, and the spoils of the city which were very great he carried away.

Revised Standard Version
And he took the crown of their king from his head; the weight of it was a talent of gold, and in it was a precious stone; and it was placed on David's head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city, a very great amount.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then he took the crown of their king from his head; and its weight was a talent of gold, and in it was a precious stone; and it was placed on David's head. And he brought out the spoil of the city in great amounts.

Contextual Overview

²⁶ And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city. ²⁷ And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah, and have taken the city of waters. ²⁸ Now therefore collect the rest of the people, and encamp against the city, and take it: lest I take the city, and it be called after my name. ²⁹ And David collected all the people, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it. ³⁰ And he took their king's crown from off his head, the weight of which [was] a talent of gold with the precious stones: and it was [set] on David's head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city in great abundance. ³¹ And he brought forth the people that [were] in it, and put [them] under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brick-kiln: and thus he did to all the cities of the children of Ammon. So David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

took: 1 Chronicles 20:2

the weight: If this talent was only seven pounds, as Whiston says, David might have carried it on his head with little difficulty; but this weight, according to common computation, would amount to nearly 114 pounds! Some, therefore, think, that mishkelah should be taken for its value, not weight; which renders it perfectly plain, as the worth of the crown will be about 5,074, 15s, 7d sterling. The ancients mention several such large crowns, made more for sight than use. Atheneus describes a crown of gold that was 24 feet in circumference; and mentions others that were two, some four, and others five feet deep. Pliny takes notice of some that were no less than eight pounds weight. Besides the crown usually worn, it was customary for kings, in some nations, to have such large ones as described, either hung or supported over the throne, where they sat at their coronation or other solemn occasions.

in great abundance: Heb. very great

Reciprocal: 2 Samuel 1:10 - crown 2 Samuel 17:27 - the son of Nahash 2 Kings 11:12 - put the crown Psalms 21:3 - settest

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he took their king's crown from off his head,.... The crown of Hanun the king of the Ammonites, who now fell into his hands, and whom he stripped of his ensigns of royalty, who had so shamefully abused his ambassadors, 2 Samuel 10:4:

(the weight whereof [was] a talent of gold with the precious stones): or, "and a precious stone"; there might be more, as our version suggests, but there was one in it remarkably large and valuable; Josephus b says it had in it a very precious stone, a sardonyx; and this, according to the Talmud c was of the value of a talent of gold. A talent was equal to three thousand shekels, as appears from

Exodus 38:25; and was in value, according to Brerewood d of our money, 4500 pounds; but according to Bishop Cumberland e 5067 pounds, three shillings and ten pence. This crown was of the same value with the golden candlestick in the tabernacle, Exodus 25:39; and some think that value here is meant, and not the weight, a talent of gold being very heavy; according to Bishop Cumberland f, ninety three and three quarter pounds; some say an hundred thirteen pounds ten ounces, and more; too great a weight to be borne on the head by Hanun or David; but, what with the gold and precious stones about it, it might be equal in value to a talent of gold; but weight is expressly mentioned, and the crowns of the eastern princes were of great bulk and weight, as well as value: Athenaeus g makes mention of one made of ten thousand pieces of gold, placed on the throne of King Ptolemy, and of some of two cubits, of six, yea, of sixteen cubits. Some h are of opinion that this crown was not the crown of the king of Ammon, but of Milcom or Molech, their idol, and that the proper name should be retained in the version, and that David had a crown made of it he could bear; but if, as others i, the Syriac talent is meant, which was but the fourth part of an Hebrew one, the difficulty is greatly lessened; for it seems to be the same crown David afterwards wore, as follows:

and it was [set] on David's head; to show that the kingdom was translated to him, or was become subject to him; as Alexander, on the conquest of Darius, put the Persian diadem on his own head k, in token of that monarchy being translated to him: though, after all, the phrase, "from off", may be rendered "from above" or "over" l his head, and so it was set "above" or "over" the head of David, being supported by some means or other, that its weight did not bear thereon however, Paschalius, who wrote a learned work, "De Coronis", must be mistaken when be says m this seems to be the first use of a crown in the kingdom of Judah, there being no mention of a crown before, either of Saul or David, only of anointing; since express mention is made of Saul's crown, 2 Samuel 1:10; though his observation may be just, that this crown, allowed to be worn by David, was a pledge of the renewal of his royal dignity, and of his acceptance with God upon his repentance for his above sins:

and he brought forth the spoil of the city in great abundance; which, or at least part of it, was dedicated to the building of the sanctuary, 2 Samuel 8:11.

b Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 7. c. 7. sect. 5.) c T. Bab. Avodah Zarah, fol. 44. 1. d De Ponder. & Pret. Vet. Num. c. 4. e Of Scripture Weights and Measures, c. 4. p. 121. f Ib. p. 119. g Apud Paschalium de Coronis, l. 9. c, 8. p. 587. h Vid. Hieron. Trad. Heb. in 2 Reg. fol. 78. H. & in Paralipom. fol. 83. M. Weemse of Jewish Weights, p. 141. i Pfeiffer. Difficil. Script. Loc. cent. 2. loc. 87. k Diodor. Sic. l. 17. p. 549. l מעל "desuper", Montanus, "supra caput David", Munster. m Ut supra, (Apud Paschalium de Coronis) l. 10. c. 10. p. 695.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Their king’s crown - The word rendered their king (Malcham) is also the name of the national idol of the Ammonites (Jeremiah 49:1, Jeremiah 49:3 margin; Amos 1:15; Zephaniah 1:5). Moreover, the weight of the crown, which is calculated to be equal to 100 or 125 pounds weight, is far too great for a man to wear. On the whole, it seems most probable that the idol Malcam is here meant.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Samuel 12:30. The weight whereof was a talent of gold — If this talent was only seven pounds, as Whiston says, David might have carried it on his head with little difficulty; but this weight, according to common computation, would amount to more than one hundred pounds!

If, however, משקלה mishkalah be taken for the value, not the weight then all is plain as the worth of the crown will be about £5075 15s. 7d. sterling. Now this seems to be the true sense, because of the added words with the precious stones; i.e., the gold of the crown, and the jewels with which it was adorned, were equal in value to a talent of gold.