2 Chronicles 16:14

2Ch 16:14 And they buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had made for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odours and divers kinds [of spices] prepared by the apothecaries’ art: and they made a very great burning for him.

Ver. 14. And they buried him in his own sepulchre.]. Heb., Sepulchres; haply because large and capacious.

Which he had made.] Heb., Digged. This was well done. But that he filled it so full of sweet odours, Pellican blameth him for; whether justly or not, aliorum esto iudicium.

And laid him in the bed which was filled.] Or, Which he had filled. See the preceding note. What would Pellican have said if he had been in France, when after the death of Charles IX, his image was laid in a rich bed in triumphant attire, with the crown upon his head, and the collar of the order about his neck, and forty days at ordinary hours, dinner and supper was served in with all accustomed ceremonies, as sewing, water, grace, carving, &c., all the cardinals, prelates, lords, gentlemen, and officers attending in far greater solemnity than if he had been alive! {a}

With sweet odours.] Congesta cremantur thurea dona. {b} A good name is better than all these. {Ecc 7:1}

And they made a very great burning for him.] Not of his body, but of sweet odours only, at and in his sepulchre. See 2Ch 21:19 Jer 34:5.

{a} Dr Hakew., Apolog.

{b} Virg.

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.

2Ch 16:14. They buried him in his sepulchre which he had made for himself — As one mindful of his grave. And laid him in the bed with sweet odours, and divers kinds of spices — After the manner of those nations, Gen 50:2; 2Ch 21:19. And made a very great burning — Of precious spices; thereby testifying their respect to him, notwithstanding his miscarriages. The eminent piety and usefulness of good men ought to be remembered to their praise, though they have had their blemishes. Let their faults be buried in their graves, while their services are remembered over their graves.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

16:14 Asa had an honorable burial despite his sins. He had made extravagant preparations for his burial during his lifetime, including a tomb he had carved out for himself. Asa might have been imitating the pharaohs of Egypt in making these preparations. • The custom of a huge funeral fire is unknown outside of Chronicles and Jeremiah (cp. Jer 34:5).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

they buried him in his own sepulchres--The tombs in the neighborhood of Jerusalem were excavated in the side of a rock. One cave contained several tombs or sepulchres.

laid him in the bed . . . filled with sweet odours and divers kinds of spices--It is evident that a sumptuous public funeral was given him as a tribute of respect and gratitude for his pious character and patriotic government. But whether "the bed" means a state couch on which he lay exposed to public view, the odoriferous perfumes being designed to neutralize the offensive smell of the corpse, or whether it refers to an embalmment, in which aromatic spices were always used in great profusion, it is impossible to say.

they made a very great burning for him--according to some, for consuming the spices. According to others, it was a magnificent pile for the cremation of the corpse--a usage which was at that time, and long after, prevalent among the Hebrews, and the omission of which in the case of royal personages was reckoned a great indignity (Ch2 21:19; Sa1 31:12; Jer 34:5; Amo 6:10).

Next: 2 Chronicles Chapter 17

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 14. And laid him in the bed] It is very likely that the body of Asa was burnt; that the bed spoken of here was a funeral pyre, on which much spices and odoriferous woods had been placed; and then they set fire to the whole and consumed the body with the aromatics. Some think the body was not burned, but the aromatics only, in honour of the king.

How the ancients treated the bodies of the illustrious dead we learn from Virgil, in the funeral rites paid to Misenus.

Nec minus interea Misenum in littore Teucri

Flebant, et cineri ingrato suprema ferebant.

Principio pinguem taedis et robore secto

Ingentem struxere pyram: cui frondibus atris

Intexunt latera, et ferales ante cupressas

Constituunt, decorantque super fulgentibus armis, c.

AEN. vi. 214.

"Meanwhile the Trojan troops, with weeping eyes,

To dead Misenus pay their obsequies.

First from the ground a lofty pile they rear

Of pitch trees, oaks, and pines, and unctuous fir.

The fabric's front with cypress twigs they strew,

And stick the sides with boughs of baleful yew.

The topmost part his glittering arms adorn:

Warm waters, then, in brazen caldrons borne

Are poured to wash his body joint by joint,

And fragrant oils the stiffen'd limbs anoint.

With groans and cries Misenus they deplore:

Then on a bier, with purple cover'd o'er,

The breathless body thus bewail'd they lay,

And fire the pile (their faces turn'd away.)

Such reverend rites their fathers used to pay.

Pure oil and incense on the fire they throw,

And fat of victims which their friends bestow.

These gifts the greedy flames to dust devour,

Then on the living coals red wine they pour.

And last the relics by themselves dispose,

Which in a brazen urn the priests enclose.

Old Corineus compass'd thrice the crew,

And dipp'd an olive branch in holy dew

Which thrice he sprinkled round, and thrice aloud

Invoked the dead, and then dismiss'd the crowd."

DRYDEN.

All these rites are of Asiatic extraction. Virgil borrows almost every circumstance from Homer; (see Iliad, xxiii., ver. 164, c.) and we well know that Homer ever describes Asiatic manners. Sometimes, especially in war, several captives were sacrificed to the manes of the departed hero. So, in the place above, the mean-souled, ferocious demon, ACHILLES, is represented sacrificing twelve Trojan captives to the ghost of his friend Patroclus. Urns containing the ashes and half-calcined bones of the dead occur frequently in barrows or tumuli in this country; most of them, no doubt, the work of the Romans. But all ancient nations, in funeral matters, have nearly the same rites.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(14) And they buried him.—The particulars of this verse are also added by the chronicler.

In his own sepulchres.—Not therefore in the ordinary tombs of the Kings. The plural sepulchres indicates a family tomb containing many cells.

Which he had made.—Digged, or hewn out of the rock. (Comp. Job_3:14; Isa_22:16.) Like the Pharaohs, Asa, who was a great and powerful sovereign, prepared his own last resting-place.

Which was filled.—Literally, which one had filled.

Sweet odours.—Bĕsamîm, “spices” (2Ch_9:1; 2Ch_9:9). Kinds. Heb., zènim, an Aramaic word common in the Targums, but in Old Testament Hebrew only found here and in Psa_144:13.

Prepared by the apothecaries’ art.—Literally, Compounded in a compound of work (art). The participle mĕruqqah only occurs here. The word rendered compound means an ointment or compost of various spices (1Ch_9:30). The full phrase “compound of the work of the compounder” occurs Exo_30:25; Exo_30:35.

And they made.—Literally, And they burned.

Very.—‘Ad limeôd. Only here, a later equivalent of ‘ad mcud (Gen_27:33). The burning of aromatic woods and spices was usual at the obsequies of kings (see 2Ch_21:19; Jer_34:5, and Note on 1Ch_10:12). Asa’s distinction as a wealthy and powerful monarch, and the high esteem with which his subjects regarded him, are indicated by the extraordinary amount of spices burnt in his honour. There is no ground for supposing that the chronicler blames “the exaggerated splendour and lavish excess with which this custom was observed at the burial of Asa, as if it were the burial of an Egyptian Pharaoh” (Zöckler). His account of the splendour of Solomon proves that he delighted to dwell on the glory of the ancient kings of his people.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

14. in his own sepulchres] In 1 Kin. with his fathers.

which he had made for himself] R.V. which he had hewn out for himself. This clause is absent from 1 Kin.

divers kinds of spices] Mar_16:1; Joh_12:3; Joh_12:7; Joh_19:39-40.

a very great burning] Cp. 2Ch_21:19. What is here meant is not cremation of the body, but only a burning of spices; Jer_34:5.

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.

The explanation of the plural - “sepulchres” - will be seen in 1Ki 13:30 note.

The burning of spices in honor of a king at his funeral was customary (compare the marginal references).

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Sepulchre. Heb. "sepulchres," as there were many separate apartments in the same cavern. C. --- Asa had prepared one cell, as David and Solomon had done. M. T. --- Odoriferous (mertriciis.) Such as harlots delight in, (Proverbs vii. 16,) to entice the sensual. D. --- Heb. zenim, may be derived from zana, fornicari. It denotes a mixture of perfumes. M. --- But here the Vulgate read zunim. D. --- Heb. and Sept. "they laid him on a bed, and filled it with aromatical spices, and with various sorts of perfumers’ ointments, and they made him a very great funeral, or (H.) burning." Protestants --- It is not clear whether the body was placed on a bed of state, and these perfumes were used to remove every disagreeable smell, or the body itself was rather consumed along with them, a practice which seems to have become more common since the days of Asa, Jeremias xxxiv. 5., 1 K. xxxi. 12., and Amos vi. 10. Joram was deprived of this honour, C. xxi. 19. C. --- Sanctius adduces many examples, to prove that the spices were burnt only near the body; (T.) and the Hebrews generally preferred to inter the corpse. Corpora condere quam cremare e more Ægyptio. Tacitus, Hist. v.

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).

Laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odours, as the manner of those nations was. See Gen 50:2; 2Ch 21:19.

They made a very great burning, to wit, of precious spices; thereby testifying their thankfulness for many benefits which they enjoyed under his government, and their respect to him notwithstanding his miscarriages.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

14. Buried him in his own sepulchres — He for some reason had had private tombs excavated in Jerusalem for himself and family, so that, apparently by his own desire, he was not buried in the tombs of the kings of Judah.

Laid him in the bed — The niche or grave-chamber of the tomb which had been prepared for the king.

Sweet odours and divers kinds of spices — The use of large quantities of perfumes and spices, especially at the burial of distinguished persons, was common among the ancient Israelites, as well as among other nations. Eighty pounds of spices are said to have been used at the funeral of Rabbi Gamaliel. At the funeral of Herod the Great five hundred servants attended as spice bearers. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus gave a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes for the burial of Jesus. See Joh_19:39, note.

A very great burning — Not the burning of the dead body, for that practice was very rare in Israel, but a burning of fragrant spices, which was customary at the funerals of kings. Asa’s funeral was distinguished by the unusually large quantity of spices burned on the occasion.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In his own sepulchres; Hebrew, ytrobqi fem. plur. of rbq. The plural designates, of course, the range of burial compartments that formed the tomb of one person or family. So Job_17:1, where the masc. plur. is used, yli In the city of David. (see note on 2Ch_12:16) In the bed; Hebrew, bK; vmi. The use or associations of this word (found about fifty times) are almost entirely, if not entirely, those of the bed of nightly rest, even when not at the time speaking of nightly rest; and this is the first and only occasion that it is employed to link the grave in kindly analogy with the couch of bodily repose during lifetime. The fact might have suggested Bishop Ken"s lines in the evening hymn

Teach me to live, that I may dread The grave as little as my bed.

In the present instance, however, the writer, whoever he was (query, was he the compiler of our Chronicles, or his original?), is doubt-leas led to the analogy by considerations mere earthly than those enshrined in Ken"s hymn, viz. by the somewhat "vain show" of attractiveness and fragrance (probably designed partly for preservative purposes) with which the place was filled, and which were among even patriarchal indications of faith in a future state. Sweet odours; Hebrew, Of the twenty-nine times that this word occurs in Exodus, Kings, and Chronicles, Esther, Canticles, Isaiah, and Ezekiel, it is rendered in the Authorized Vermon "spices" twenty-four times, "sweet cinnamon" once, "sweet calamus" once, and "sweet odours" or "sweet smell" three times. The chief and determining references are those inW; Exo_25:6 Exo_30:23 Exo_35:8, Exo_35:28. And divers kinds; Hebrew, plur. of z; from the root, nz unused, but probably one with an Amble root, meaning "to shape;" hence our noun, meaning a kind or species, used here and, Psa_144:13 (where the margin renders literally, "from kind to kind") and in the Chaldee of Dan_3:5, Dan_3:7, Dan_3:10, Dan_3:15. Prepared; Hebrew, syjiQ; rum; solitary occurrence of pual conjugation of the root jqr "to spice," i.e. , to spice, season, or prepare oil for ointment purposes. This root occurs in kal future once; (Exo_30:33) in kal part. poel five times (Exo_30:25, 35 37:29; Ecc_10:1) and in hiph. infin. once. (Eze_24:10) By the apothecaries" art; Hebrew, hc tjqrmib. Translate the clause, and divers kinds compounded by the compounding of art, which means to say spices skilfully treated and wrought into ointments by professional hands. A very great burning; literally, and they burned for him a burning great even to an exceeding extent. The burn ing is not the burning of 1Sa_31:12, 1Sa_31:13. (comp. 2Sa_21:10-12; 1Ch_10:12) but the burning of spices, indicated by the language of 2Ch_21:19 and Jer_34:5.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Burning - Of precious spices; thereby testifying their respect to him notwithstanding his miscarriages.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

and divers kinds These are kinds of spices, and the spices were prepared with the perfumer’s art, a mixture. The meaning is: prepared with the perfumer’s art.

and they kindled an exceedingly great fire They burned good spices for him into ashes, and they scattered those ashes on him. Others explain this like (Abodah Zarah 11a): “We may burn for the kings.” Now what did they burn? Their biers and the utensils they used.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.