And a man's uncle shall take him up, and he that burneth him, to bring out the bones out of the house, and shall say unto him that is by the sides of the house, Is there yet any with thee? and he shall say, No. Then shall he say, Hold thy tongue: for we may not make mention of the name of the LORD.
A man's uncle shall take him up. The nearest relatives had the duty of burying the dead (Genesis 25:9; Genesis 35:29; Judges 16:31, "His (Samson's) brethren, and all the house of his father, came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him"). No nearer relative was left of this man than an uncle.
And he that burneth him - the uncle, who is also at the same time the one that burneth him (one of the "ten," Amos 6:9). Burial was the usual Hebrew mode of disposing of their dead. The custom of interring in a common burial-place implied their belief in the coming resurrection. But in cases of necessity, as when the men of Jabesh-gilead took the bodies of Saul and his three sons from the walls of Bethshan, and burned them, to save them from being insulted by the Philistines, burning was practiced. So in this case, to prevent contagion. Here it heightens the sadness of the picture that there was not admissible the decent mode of interment, but that a mode had to be adopted most alien to their feelings and religion-namely, burning, and this by the one who loved the dead most, the uncle х dowdow (H1730), implying love; as amita is akin to amata], now that father and brothers were gone.
To bring out the bones out of the house - "the bones," i:e., the dead body (Genesis 50:25). Perhaps here there is an allusion in the phrase to the emaciated condition of the body, which was little else but skin and bones.
And shall say unto him that is by the sides of the houses - i:e., to the only one left of the ten in the interior of the house (Maurer): cf. note, Isaiah 14:13, "in the sides of the north."
Is there yet any with thee? And he shall say, No. Then shall he say, Hold thy tongue; for we may not Is there yet any with thee? And he shall say, No. Then shall he say, Hold thy tongue; for we may not make mention of the name of the Lord. After receiving the reply that none is left besides the one addressed, when the man outside fancies the man still surviving inside to be on the point, as was customary, of expressing devout gratitude to God who spared him, the man outside interrupts him, 'Hold thy tongue; for there is not now cause for mentioning with praise (Joshua 23:7) the name of Yahweh;' for thou also must die; as all the ten are to die, to the last man (Amos 6:9; cf. Amos 8:31). Formerly ye boasted in the name of Yahweh, as if ye were His special people; now ye shall be silent, and shudder at His name as hostile to you, and as one from whom ye wish to be hidden (Revelation 6:16). (Calvin.) The one survivor was sick, and in the remote corner of the house. None else was left. All, even the bodies, had now been removed. One alone remained of all the throng that once filled with sounds of merry-making the luxurious mansion. Even he is silenced, when he ventures to speak of God, as though hope from God is now utterly gone.