“Now in all Israel there was no one so much to be praised for his beauty as Absalom; from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him. And when he cut the hair of his head (for at the end of every year he used to cut it; when it was heavy on him, he cut it), he weighed the hair of his head, two hundred shekels by the king’s weight” (2 Sam 14:25-26).
The pile of hair left on the floor each year, after Absalom’s haircut, weighed 200 shekels. How much is 200 shekels? It is an amazing 4.4 pounds!
Now, do you remember how Absalom died in his fight against his father, King David?
“Absalom was riding upon his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak, and his head caught fast in the oak, and he was left hanging [presumably by his hair] between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on….
“Joab said, “I will not waste time like this with you.” And he took three darts in his hand, and thrust them into the heart of Absalom, while he was still alive in the oak. And ten young men, Joab’s armor-bearers, surrounded Absalom and struck him, and killed him” (2 Sam 18:9, 14-15 ).
This Post Has 5 Comments
WOW! Mr. Ray you are so awesome! Stories and connections like these “remember Judas, what did he do to his king? And how did he die?” are so interesting! I’ve set your blog as my home page. Thank you for doing such a great job spreading Christ’s Kingdom!!! I really appreciated the time you and Mrs. Ray spent with our ILS group in Rome. I learned so much invaluable information that week and it was very inspiring to see a healthy, Catholic married couple. Good couples are few and far between these days. God bless you and your work! Keep the blogs coming.
Matt Merry (from Rome)
I would like to e-mail my family. They are with you on this pilgramage. How do I do this so I can hear how they are doing? I love the videos. I have been able to see them a little through those. There names are Larry, Alex, Amy, and Ashley De Paulis. Thanks
Greetings to all and a special request of Mike Aquilina.
Could you please smuggle some extra water from the Jordan River?
My brother has been diagnosed with cancer.
May God bless your journey!
Steve, Great article. I don’t know where the artwork is from (Absalom standing with his foot on the stool), but I was wondering how I might obtain permission to use that on our web-site for an article we’ll be publishing on Absalom. Thank you for your advisement, and keep up the greta work. Tony
STEVE RAY HERE: THE PAINTING OF ABSALOM IS BY TISSOT AND IS IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN. YOU CAN FIND THESE PICTURES ON LINE I THINK. SOME COMPANIES HAVE ENHANCED AND COPYRIGHTED THEM, BUT IF I RECALL, HIS WORK IS FREE TO USE.
I’ll bet that if you add up all the hair (head, face, chest, arms, etc.) that men lose every year (except those with no head hair, sorry Steve) it would add up to 4 or 5 pounds!
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