2 Samuel 14:25

²³ So Joab arose and went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.

²⁴ And the king said, Let him turn to his own house, and let him not see my face. So Absalom returned to his own house, and saw not the king’s face.

But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.

²⁶ And when he polled his head, (for it was at every year’s end that he polled it: because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he polled it:) he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels after the king’s weight.

²⁷ And unto Absalom there were born three sons, and one daughter, whose name was Tamar: she was a woman of a fair countenance.

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: Now there was not a man in all Israel as handsome and highly praised as Absalom. From the sole of his foot to the top of his head, he did not have a single flaw.
KJV: But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.
WEB: Now in all Israel there was no one to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty. From the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no defect in him.
ASV: Now in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.
DARBY: But in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.
BLB: And there was no handsome man in all Israel who was praised as much as Absalom. From the sole of his foot and to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.

ÅB: Men så fager en mann som Absalom fantes det ikke i hele Israel, ingen som ble prist så høyt; fra fotsåle til isse fantes det ikke lyte på ham.
OTB: Nå var det i hele Israel ingen som ble rost for sitt utseende som Absalom; fra fotsålen til kronen av hans hode, var det ingen feil ved ham.
B1930: Men så fager en mann som Absalom fantes det ikke i hele Israel, ingen som blev prist så høit; fra fotsåle til isse fantes det ikke lyte på ham.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Isaiah 1:6
From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.
Read in context
Job 2:7
So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.
Read in context
Deuteronomy 28:35
The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.
Read in context
Proverbs 31:30
Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
Read in context
1 Samuel 16:7
But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.
Read in context
1 Samuel 9:2
And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.
Read in context
Matthew 23:27
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
Read in context
Ephesians 5:27
That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
Read in context