And they buried him in his own sepulchres which he had made
for himself in the city of David
Where was the burying place of the kings of Judah; here Asa had ordered a vault to be made for himself and his family, and therefore called sepulchres, because of the several cells therein to put separate bodies in:
and laid him in the bed;
not only laid him out, as we express it, but laid him on a bed of state, where he lay in great pomp; or the funeral bed, which, with other nations F18, used to be strowed with sweet smelling flowers and herbs, as follows:
which was filled with sweet odours, and divers kinds of spices prepared
by the apothecaries art;
or rather confectioner or druggist; for it is a question whether there were then any such we call apothecaries; this bed was strowed with spices, myrrh, aloes, cassia, cinnamon and which perhaps might be made up into a liquid, which was sprinkled over the bed and shroud in which he lay:
and they made a very great burning for him;
not that they made a great fire, and burned his body; for burning was not used with the Jews; but they burnt spices and other things in great quantity, in honour of him: (See Gill on Jeremiah 34:5), and this custom continued to the times of Herod, at whose funeral there were five hundred of his domestics and freed men bearing spices F19.