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.
They buried him in his own sepulchres. The tombs in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem were excavated in the side of a rock. One cave contained several tombs or sepulchres.
And 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; but 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 (2 Chronicles 21:19; 1 Samuel 31:12; Jeremiah 34:5; Amos 6:10).