All the valiant men. — Literally, every man of valour. Samuel adds, “and marched all the night.”
Took away. — Carried off. Samuel has “took,” (ceperunt).
The body. — A common Aramaic word, gûfâh, only read here in the Old Testament, for which Samuel has the pure Hebrew synonym a’wîyah. Samuel adds, “from the wall of Beth-shan.”
And brought them. — Samuel, “and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there.” To burn a corpse was a further degradation of executed criminals (Joshua 7:25; Leviticus 20:14; Leviticus 21:9), and as the Jews did not ordinarily practise cremation, it is supposed that the phrase “burnt them,” in 1 Samuel 31 means “made a burning for them” of costly spices, as was done at the funerals of kings (Jeremiah 34:5; 2 Chronicles 16:14; 2 Chronicles 21:19). But perhaps the bodies were burnt in this exceptional case because they had been mutilated by the enemy.
Buried their bones. — Samuel, “took and buried.” The phrase “their bones,” contrasted with their “corpses,” certainly seems to imply that the latter had been burnt.
The oak. — Heb., terebinth, or turpentine tree. Samuel, “tamarisk.” The difference points to another source used by Chronicles.
And fasted seven days. — In token of mourning. (Comp. the friends of Job, Job 2:11-13; and Ezekiel among the exiles at Tel-abib, Ezekiel 3:15.) For the behaviour of the men of Jabesh, comp. 1 Samuel 11