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. It was set on David’s head, and he brought very much plunder out of the city.
Parallel Translations
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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. It was set on David’s head, and he brought very much plunder out of the city.
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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.
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And David took the crown of Malcam 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 forth the spoil of the city, exceeding much.
Cross-references (3)
Passages linked to 1 Chronicles 20:2 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Samuel 8:11-12 King David also dedicated these to Yahweh, with the silver and gold that he dedicated of all the nations which he subdued; of Syria, of Moab, of the children of Ammon, of the Philistines, of Amalek, and of the plunder of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.
- 2 Samuel 12:30-31 He 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. He brought out the people who were in it, and put them under saws, under iron picks, under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brick kiln; and he did so to all the cities of the children of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
- 1 Chronicles 18:11 King David also dedicated these to Yahweh, with the silver and the gold that he carried away from all the nations; from Edom, from Moab, from the children of Ammon, from the Philistines, and from Amalek.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (10 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Which mounteth about the value of seven thousand and…
Which mounteth about the value of seven thousand and seventy crowns, which is about threescore pound weight.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 1Ch 20:2 And David took the crown of their…
1Ch 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.
1Ch 20:3 And he brought out the people that [were] in it, and cut [them] with saws, and with harrows of iron, and with axes. Even so dealt David with all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
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Ver. 2,3. {See Trapp on "2Sa 12:31"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain To weigh a talent - Or, to be worth…
To weigh a talent - Or, to be worth a talent, that is, five thousand four hundred and seventy five pounds.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 2. David took the crown of their king…
Verse 2. David took the crown of their king - off his head] See 2Sa 12:30.
Precious stones in it] The Targum says, "And there was set in it a precious stone, worth a talent of gold; this was that magnetic stone that supported the woven gold in the air." What does he mean?
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Melchom. Septuagint add the explanation, "their king." It may…
Melchom. Septuagint add the explanation, "their king." It may also be referred to the idol of Ammon. (Haydock) --- The massy crown was suspended over David’s head. (Tirinus) (Du Hamel)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain David took the crown of their king . .…
David took the crown of their king . . ., and found it to weigh a talent of gold--equal to one hundred twenty-five pounds. Some think that Malcom, rendered in our version "their king," should be taken as a proper name, Milcom or Molech, the Ammonite idol, which, of course, might bear a heavy weight. But, like many other state crowns of Eastern kings, the crown got at Rabbah was not worn on the head, but suspended by chains of gold above the throne.
precious stones--Hebrew, a "stone," or cluster of precious stones, which was set on David's head.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 2. of their king] So A.V. (rightly). R.V. mg.…
2. of their king] So A.V. (rightly). R.V. mg. of Malcam (cp. Zep_1:5), i.e. Milcom, the national god of the Ammonites (1Ki_11:5). LXX. has a double translation of the one Heb. word: Molchol (Molchom) their king. The name of the god, whether the right form be Molech (1Ki_11:7) or Milcom or Malcam, means either “king” or, less probably, “counsellor.” In the former case his image would in all probability wear a crown.
it was set upon David’s head] A symbolic action implying that David completely annexed the Ammonite territory; other conquered nations retained a partial independence on condition of the payment of tribute.
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he brought also exceeding much spoil out of the city] R.V. he brought forth the spoil of the city, exceeding much. A kind of triumphal procession of captives and spoil such as an Assyrian relief in the British Museum represents as passing before Sennacherib at the capture of Lachish.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (2) The crown of their king.—Or, “of Milcom” or…
(2) The crown of their king.—Or, “of Milcom” or “Moloch,” their god. The Heb. malkâm, “their Melech” (i.e., king), occurs in this sense (Zep_1:5. Comp. Amo_5:26.) The same title is applied by the prophets to Jehovah (Isa_6:5; Isa_44:6, “Jahweh, the king [melech] of Israel.” Comp. Zep_3:15, and Joh_1:49; Joh_12:15; 2Sa_12:12; Psa_5:2; Psa_89:18; Isa_8:21; and Jer_10:10). The LXX. here has “Molchom, their king”; Vulg., “Melchom”; Arabic, “Malcha, their god;” all confirming our rendering.
A talent of gold.—The Arabic Version says one hundred pounds. Modern scholars consider the “talent of gold” as about one hundred and thirty-one pounds troy. If the weight was anything like this, the crown was obviously more suited for the head of a big idol than of a man.
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And there were precious stones in it.—Samuel includes their weight in the talent.
And it was set (Heb., became) upon David’s head.—Vulg., “he made himself a crown out of it.” This may be the meaning; or else the weighty mass of gold and jewels may have been held over the king’s head by his attendants on the occasion of its capture.
Exceeding much spoil.—Comp. the continual boast of the Assyrian conquerors: “spoils without number I carried off” (sallata la mani aslula).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Found it to weigh a talent of gold. Two…
Found it to weigh a talent of gold. Two difficulties present themselves in this verse, viz. the reported weight of this crown, and the uncertainty as to what head it was from which David took it. Whatever was its weight, if David"s head was able to sustain it for a minute or two, the head of the King of the Ammonites might also occasionally have borne it. Yet it would scarcely be likely that the King of the Ammonites would have so ponderous a crown (calculated at a weight of a hundred and fourteen pounds Troy, or a little more or less than one hundredweight) as one of ordinary wear, or that he would have one of extraordinary wear on his head precisely at such a juncture. Both of these difficulties will remove if we suppose that the Hebrew l]m," instead of meaning their king, is the name of the Ammonitish and Moabitish idol (i.q. Moloch), and which we find (Authorized Version) in Zep_1:5, and probably (though not Authorized Version) in Jer_49:1, Jer_49:3, and Amo_1:15. The Septuagint treats the word thus. The point, however, cannot be considered settled.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 about 33 kilograms (See: Biblical Money)
talent
about 33 kilograms (See: Biblical Money)
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The crown was set on David's head
This can be stated in active form. Possible meanings are 1) David put the crown on his own head or 2) David's men placed the crown on his head. (See: Active or Passive)
he brought out ... He brought out
These two occurrences of "he" refer to David, but they also refer to David's soldiers who helped David do these things. (See: Synecdoche)
plunder
valuable items taken in war
forced them to work with saws and iron picks and axes
These terms describe difficult manual labor that the defeated people were forced to do.
David required all the cities of the people
The people are referred to by their city. AT: "David required all the peoples of the cities" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
crown
gold
precious
labor
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.