What Does 2 Chronicles 16:14 Mean?
And they buried him in his own graves, which he had hewn for himself in the city of David, and laid him down in the bed that was filled with sweet smells and spices of many kinds, prepared by the work of the mixers. And they burned for him a very great burning.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
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.THE KEY
That great burning is a measure of funeral honor: the same Hebrew word later marks the rite a king is denied.
THE MEANING
Death is fully present here: the body rests in a prepared place, and the living answer with fragrance and a public rite. Honor can surround a loss, but it does not undo death.
THE ROOT
שְׂרֵפָה
śĕrēp̄āh
GROWS FROM
שׂרף
Burn, consume by fire.
“burned for him a very great burning” in this verse is śĕrēp̄āh. The verse first places Asa in a bed filled with aromatics, then says a great burning is made “for him.” A parallel funeral description uses the same root, making this a rite performed for the dead rather than a statement that Asa’s body is burned.
ALSO GROWS
śārap̄: To burn or consume by fire.
שָׂרַף
The verb names the action carried by the noun “burning.”
śĕrēp̄āh: A burning or burning rite.
שְׂרֵפָה
The same noun appears in 2 Chronicles 21:19, where a king’s people make no such burning for him.
וַיַּשְׁכִּיבֻהוּ
wayyaškîvuhû
GROWS FROM
שכב
Lie down; in the causative form, lay someone down.
“laid him down in” in this verse is wayyaškîvuhû. Hebrew repeats the root in וַיַּשְׁכִּיבֻהוּ (wayyaškîvuhû, “they laid him”) and מִשְׁכָּב (miškāv, “bed”). English separates the action from the object; Hebrew lets you hear that he is laid down in a place of lying.
ALSO GROWS
šākav: To lie down or recline.
שָׁכַב
This is the underlying action in the causative form translated “laid him.”
miškāv: A bed or place of lying.
מִשְׁכָּב
The bed where Asa is placed is formed from the same root as the verb describing how he is laid there.
מְרֻקָּחִים
meruqqāḥîm
GROWS FROM
רקח
Blend or compound perfumed substances.
“the work of the mixers” in this verse is meruqqāḥîm. The English “prepared” can sound general, yet this root also names the perfumer and the crafted compound. The burial bed is filled with intentionally blended fragrance, not an unspecified preparation.
ALSO GROWS
rōqēaḥ: A perfumer or compounder of aromatics.
רֹקֵחַ
This is the craft behind the “apothecaries’ art” in the verse.
mirqaḥat: A perfumed compound or mixture.
מִרְקַחַת
It names the blended aromatic preparation associated with the bed.
THE PATTERN
The dead are met with deliberate bodily preparation and material signs of honor.
And Joseph commanded his servants, the healers, to spice his father, and the healers spiced Israel.Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the custom of the Jews to bury.And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought sweet spices, so that they might come and rub him with them.THE THREAD
And it happened, from days to days, after the end of two years, that his bowels came out through his sickness, and he died in evil sicknesses. And his own people did not burn for him, as they had burned for his fathers.The Hebrew root שׂרף (śārap̄, “burn”) appears in both accounts as שְׂרֵפָה (śĕrēp̄āh, “burning”). Its presence for Asa and absence for Jehoram shows that this burning carries the weight of a funeral honor.
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