2 Chronicles 16:14

And they buried him. — The particulars of this verse are also added by the chronicler.

In his own sepulchres. — Not therefore in the ordinary tombs of the Kings. The plural sepulchres indicates a family tomb containing many cells.

Which he had made. — Digged, or hewn out of the rock. (Comp. Job 3:14; Isaiah 22:16.) Like the Pharaohs, Asa, who was a great and powerful sovereign, prepared his own last resting-place.

Which was filled. — Literally, which one had filled.

Sweet odours. — Bĕsamîm, “spices” (2 Chronicles 9:1; 2 Chronicles 9:9). Kinds. Heb., zènim, an Aramaic word common in the Targums, but in Old Testament Hebrew only found here and in Psalms 144:13.

Prepared by the apothecaries’ art. — Literally, Compounded in a compound of work (art). The participle mĕruqqah only occurs here. The word rendered compound means an ointment or compost of various spices (1 Chronicles 9:30). The full phrase “compound of the work of the compounder” occurs Exodus 30:25; Exodus 30:35.

And they made. — Literally, And they burned.

Very. — ‘Ad limeôd. Only here, a later equivalent of ‘ad mcud (Genesis 27:33). The burning of aromatic woods and spices was usual at the obsequies of kings (see 2 Chronicles 21:19; Jeremiah 34:5, and Note on 1 Chronicles 10:12). Asa’s distinction as a wealthy and powerful monarch, and the high esteem with which his subjects regarded him, are indicated by the extraordinary amount of spices burnt in his honour. There is no ground for supposing that the chronicler blames “the exaggerated splendour and lavish excess with which this custom was observed at the burial of Asa, as if it were the burial of an Egyptian Pharaoh” (Zöckler). His account of the splendour of Solomon proves that he delighted to dwell on the glory of the ancient kings of his people.