2 Samuel 14:26-33

14:26 When he would shave his head – at the end of every year he used to shave his head, for it grew too long ¹  and he would shave it – he used to weigh the hair of his head at three pounds ²  according to the king’s weight. 14:27 Absalom had ³  three sons and one daughter, whose name was Tamar. She was a very attractive woman. ⁴ 

14:28 Absalom lived in Jerusalem for two years without seeing the king’s face. 14:29 Then Absalom sent a message to Joab asking him to send him to the king, but Joab was not willing to come to him. So he sent a second message to him, but he still was not willing to come. 14:30 So he said to his servants, “Look, Joab has a portion of field adjacent to mine and he has some barley there. Go and set it on fire.” ⁵  So Absalom’s servants set Joab’s ⁶  portion of the field on fire.

14:31 Then Joab got up and came to Absalom’s house. He said to him, “Why did your servants set my portion of field on fire?” 14:32 Absalom said to Joab, “Look, I sent a message to you saying, ‘Come here so that I can send you to the king with this message: ⁷  “Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me if I were still there.”’ Let me now see the face of the king. If I am at fault, let him put me to death!”

14:33 So Joab went to the king and informed him. The king ⁸  summoned Absalom, and he came to the king. Absalom ⁹  bowed down before the king with his face toward the ground and the king kissed him. ¹⁰ 

[14:26]  ¹ tn Heb “for it was heavy upon him.”

[14:26]  ² tn Heb “two hundred shekels.” The modern equivalent would be about three pounds (1.4 kg).

[14:27]  ³ tn Heb “and there were born.”

[14:27]  ⁴ tc The LXX adds here the following words: “And she became a wife to Rehoboam the son of Solomon and bore to him Abia.”

[14:30]  ⁵ tc The LXX adds here the following words: “And the servants of Absalom burned them up. And the servants of Joab came to him, rending their garments. They said….”

[14:30]  ⁶ tn The word “Joab’s” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[14:32]  ⁷ tn Heb “saying.”

[14:33]  ⁸ tn Heb “he.” Joab, acting on behalf of the king, may be the implied subject.

[14:33]  ⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Absalom) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:33]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Absalom.” For stylistic reasons the name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation.