2 Samuel 12:30 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

And he took their king's crown, &c.— David formally deposed this king; and Dr. Trapp thinks that the form of his deposal was, by arraying him in his royal robes, and probably placing him on his throne with his crown upon his head, and then divesting him of all his ensigns of royalty. If instead of weight we read the price or value of his crown, was a talent gold, all the difficulties will be removed which have given commentators so much trouble, arising from the extraordinary weight of this crown, which certainly was too heavy to have been borne upon the head: and the original word will well bear this meaning, which the context seems to confirm; for it is there said, that the value was so much with the precious stones; but if the weight only had been spoken of, certainly the mention of the precious stones would have been improper. See Le Cene's Proposal for a new version. Some, however, who defend the present version, suppose, that the Syriac, not the Hebrew talent is here meant; the latter being four times heavier than the former. See Pfeiffer, and Michaelis.