2 Samuel 12 · Verse 30

2 Samuel 12:30

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.
2 Samuel 12:30, King James Version

2 Samuel 12:30 in other translations

BSBThen 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.
WEBHe took the crown of their king from off his head; and its weight was a talent of gold, and in it were precious stones; and it was set on David’s head. He brought a great quantity of plunder out of the city.
ASVAnd 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.
YLTand 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;
DARBYAnd 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.
BBEAnd 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.
WebsterAnd 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.

What does 2 Samuel 12:30 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
30. he took their king's crown from off his head--While the treasures of the city were given as plunder to his soldiers, David reserved to himself the crown, which was of rarest value. Its great weight makes it probable that it was like many ancient crowns, not worn, but suspended over the head, or fixed on a canopy on the top of the throne. the precious stones--Hebrew, "stone"; was a round ball composed of pearls and other jewels, which was in the crown, and probably taken out of it to be inserted in David's own crown.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 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.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 2 Samuel 12:26-31

To be thus severe in putting the children of Ammon to slavery was a sign that David's heart was not yet made soft by repentance, at the time when this took place. We shall be most compassionate, kind, and forgiving to others, when we most feel our need of the Lord's forgiving love, and taste the sweetness of it in our own souls.

Read the full comment on 2 Samuel 12:26-31 →

2 Samuel 12:30 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיִּקַּ֣חvai.yi.Kachand he tookH3947
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
עֲטֶֽרֶת\־'a.te.ret-[the] crown ofH5850
מַלְכָּם֩mal.Kamking theirH4428
מֵעַ֨לme.'Alfrom onH5921
רֹאשׁ֜וֹro.Shohead hisH7218
וּמִשְׁקָלָ֨הּu.mish.ka.Lahand weight itsH4948
כִּכַּ֤רki.Kar[was] a talent ofH3603
זָהָב֙za.HavgoldH2091
וְאֶ֣בֶןve.'E.venand a stoneH68
יְקָרָ֔הye.ka.RahpreciousH3368
וַתְּהִ֖יva.te.Hiand it wasH1961
עַל\־'al-onH5921
רֹ֣אשׁrosh[the] head ofH7218
דָּוִ֑דda.VidDavidH1732
וּשְׁלַ֥לu.she.Laland [the] plunder ofH7998
הָעִ֛ירha.'Irthe cityH5892
הוֹצִ֖יאho.Tzi'he brought outH3318
הַרְבֵּ֥הhar.BehmuchH7235
מְאֹֽד\׃me.'OdveryH3966

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 2 Samuel 12:30

  • 1 Chronicles 20:2

    And David took the crown of their king from off his head, and found it to weigh a talent of gold, and there were precious stones in it; and it was set upon David’s head: and he brought also exceeding much spoil out of the city.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
took.
1Ch 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. Athenæus 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.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • 2 Samuel 12:29

    And David gathered all the people together, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it.

  • 2 Samuel 12:30

    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.

  • 2 Samuel 12:31

    And he brought forth the people that were therein, and put them under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brickkiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. So David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem.

Read all of 2 Samuel 12

2 Samuel 12:30 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Y tomó la corona de su rey de su cabeza, la cual pesaba un talento de oro, y tenía piedras preciosas; y fué puesta sobre la cabeza de David. Y trajo muy grande despojo de la ciudad.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Et il prit la couronne de leur roi de dessus sa tête (et son poids était d’un talent d’or, et elle avait des pierres précieuses); et elle fut mise sur la tête de David; et il emmena de la ville une grande quantité de butin.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Und er nahm die Krone ihres Königs von seinem Haupte; ihr Gewicht war ein Talent Gold, und Edelsteine waren daran; und sie kam auf das Haupt Davids. Und die Beute der Stadt brachte er hinaus in großer Menge.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Et tulit diadema regis eorum de capite ejus, pondo auri talentum, habens gemmas pretiosissimas: et impositum est super caput David. Sed et prædam civitatis asportavit multam valde: