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Poll
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
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pōl : The word (on the derivation of which see Skeat, Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language , 360) has been eliminated as a verb in the American Standard Revised Version. In the King James Version and English Revised Version it represents the Hebrew verbs כּסם , kāṣam , literally "to shear" ( Ezekiel 44:20 ), גּזז , gāzaz , literally, "to pull out," "to uproot," thence "to shear the sheep," figuratively , "to destroy an enemy" (Micah 1:16 ), גּלח , gālaḥ , in Piel, literally, "to make bald or roundheaded" (2 Samuel 14:26 ) and קצץ , ḳācac , "to cut off" (Jeremiah 9:26; Jeremiah 25:23; Jeremiah 49:32 ). The Hebrew noun is גּלגּלת , gulgōleth . As will be seen from the above enumeration, the Hebrew verb differ considerably in etymology, while Revised Version has not tried to distinguish. In Micah 1:16 we have a reference to the oriental custom of cutting or tearing one's hair as a sign of mourning for one's relatives. "Make thee bald, and cut off thy hair (King James Version and English Revised Version "poll thee," Hebrew gāzaz ) for the children of thy delight: enlarge thy baldness as the eagle (margin "vulture"); for they are gone into captivity from thee." The priests, the sons of Zadok, are instructed to abstain from outward resemblance to heathen patterns of priesthood: "Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only cut off the hair (the King James Version and the English Revised Version, "poll," Hebrew kāṣam ) of their heads" (Ezekiel 44:20 ). The Piel form of gālaḥ is employed in the description of the annual hair-cutting of Absalom (2 Samuel 14:26 ). Thrice we find the verb "to poll" as the translation of Hebrew ḳācac , where the American Standard Revised Version materially improves the translation by adopting the marginal version of the King James Version (Jeremiah 9:26; Jeremiah 25:23; Jeremiah 49:32 ). See HAIR .
The noun ( gulgōleth , lit. "head") is translated "poll" in the phrase "by the poll," "by their polls" ( Numbers 1:2 , Numbers 1:18 , Numbers 1:20 , Numbers 1:22; Numbers 3:47; 1 Chronicles 23:3 , 1 Chronicles 23:14 ). The expression has its origin in the numbering of persons by their heads, in the same way in which we speak of head-tax, etc.
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Bibliography Information
Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. Entry for 'Poll'. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/isb/p/poll.html. 1915.
