Verse 12
(12) 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 31:0 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 11:0
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