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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comJamieson Fausset Brown Commentary - 2 Chronicles 16:14 - 16:14
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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 (2Ch 21:19; 1Sa 31:12; Jer 34:5; Amo 6:10).