2 Chronicles 16:14
in 2 Chronicles 16And he was buried in the tomb that he had cut out for himself in the City of David. They laid him on a bier that was full of spices and various blended perfumes; then they made a great fire in his honor.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had hewn out for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odors and divers kinds of spices prepared by the perfumers’ art: and they made a very great burning for him.
KJV
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.
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This verse in 2 Chronicles 16
Commentary
8 notes on this verseAnd 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 honor of the king. How the ancients treated the bodies of the illustrious dead we learn from Virgil, in the funeral rites paid to Misenus.
This site's exposition
died and rested with his fathers
on 2 Chronicles 16:13-14
Asa dies “in the forty-first year of his reign”. He is buried in the tomb he cut for himself, with “a great fire in his honor”. Clarke takes the fire as spices and fragrant woods burned with the body, an honor later withheld from Jehoram at 21:19.
This site's exposition
a great fire in his honor
Clarke thinks the bier was a funeral pyre, and the body burned with the spices and fragrant woods. Others hold that only the spices were burned in the king's honour, and Clarke compares the rites Virgil describes for Misenus. Asa had cut his own tomb.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Note, 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. He that said, There is not a just man that doeth good and sinneth not, yet said also, The memory of the just is blessed; and let it be so.
How then could this be done in his thirty-sixth year, when Baasha's family was quite cut off, and Omri was upon the throne? It is generally said to be meant of the thirty-sixth year of the kingdom of Asa, namely, that of Judah, beginning from the first of Rehoboam, and so it coincides with the sixteenth of Asa's reign; but then ( ch. xv.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
And they buried him in his own sepulchres which he had made for himself in the city of David,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
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;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
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).
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
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.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
22 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּקְבְּרֻ֣הוּ | vaiyikberuhu | and people buried him | H6912 → | 133 times |
| בְקִבְרֹתָ֗יו | vekivrotav | in own grave<s> his | H6913 → | 67 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| כָּֽרָה־ | karah- | he had dug | H3738 → | |
| לוֹ֮ | lo | for himself | ||
| בְּעִ֣יר | beir | in [the] city of | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| דָּוִיד֒ | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| וַיַּשְׁכִּיבֻ֗הוּ | vaiyashkivuhu | and they made lie him | H7901 → | 212 times |
| בַּמִּשְׁכָּב֙ | bamishkav | in the lying place | H4904 → | |
| אֲשֶׁ֤ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| מִלֵּא֙ | mile' | he had filled | H4390 → | 249 times |
| בְּשָׂמִ֣ים | besamim | spices | H1314 → | 29 times |
| וּזְנִ֔ים | uzenim | and kinds | H2177 → | |
| מְרֻקָּחִ֖ים | merukachim | mixed | H7543 → | |
| בְּמִרְקַ֣חַת | bemirkachat | as ointment of | H4842 → | |
| מַעֲשֶׂ֑ה | maaseh | work | H4639 → | 236 times |
| וַיִּשְׂרְפוּ־ | vaiyisrefu- | and they burned | H8313 → | 117 times |
| ל֥וֹ | lo | for him | ||
| שְׂרֵפָ֖ה | serefah | a burning | H8316 → | 13 times |
| גְּדוֹלָ֥ה | gedolah | great | H1419 → | 526 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | up to | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| לִמְאֹֽד׃ פ | limod | <to> muchness | H3966 → | 300 times |
וַיִּקְבְּרֻ֣הוּand people buried him
vaiyikberuhuH6912 →133 times
בְקִבְרֹתָ֗יוin own grave<s> his
vekivrotavH6913 →67 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
כָּֽרָה־he had dug
karah-H3738 →
לוֹ֮for himself
lo
בְּעִ֣ירin [the] city of
beirH5892 →1090 times
דָּוִיד֒David
davidH1732 →999 times
וַיַּשְׁכִּיבֻ֗הוּand they made lie him
vaiyashkivuhuH7901 →212 times
בַּמִּשְׁכָּב֙in the lying place
bamishkavH4904 →
אֲשֶׁ֤רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
מִלֵּא֙he had filled
mile'H4390 →249 times
בְּשָׂמִ֣יםspices
besamimH1314 →29 times
וּזְנִ֔יםand kinds
uzenimH2177 →
מְרֻקָּחִ֖יםmixed
merukachimH7543 →
בְּמִרְקַ֣חַתas ointment of
bemirkachatH4842 →
מַעֲשֶׂ֑הwork
maasehH4639 →236 times
וַיִּשְׂרְפוּ־and they burned
vaiyisrefu-H8313 →117 times
ל֥וֹfor him
lo
שְׂרֵפָ֖הa burning
serefahH8316 →13 times
גְּדוֹלָ֥הgreat
gedolahH1419 →526 times
עַד־up to
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
לִמְאֹֽד׃ פ<to> muchness
limodH3966 →300 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Mark 16:1When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so they could go and anoint the body of Jesus.
it leads to
- Luke 23:56
Then they returned to prepare spices and perfumes. And they rested on the Sabbath, according to the commandment.
- Matthew 28:1–10
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.
- John 20:1–10
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.
- Mark 15:40
And there were also women watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome.
- Mark 15:47
Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where His body was placed.
- Luke 23:56
Through
Jeremiah 34:5you will die in peace. As spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who preceded you, so people will burn spices for you and lament, ‘Alas, O master!’ For I Myself have…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 22:18
Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: “They will not mourn for him: ‘Alas, my brother! Alas, my sister!’ They will not mourn for him: ‘Alas,…
- Jeremiah 22:18
Through
Genesis 50:2And Joseph directed the physicians in his service to embalm his father Israel. So they embalmed him,
it leads to
- Genesis 50:26
So Joseph died at the age of 110. And they embalmed his body and placed it in a coffin in Egypt.
- Mark 16:1
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so they could go and anoint the body of Jesus.
- Genesis 50:26
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Chronicles
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.