OR THE BURNING OF THE DEAD. 93 



" 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 *?" 

 Though they carried the bones to the sepulchres, they did not 

 venture to bring out the dead body before cremation, lest others 

 should be infected. 



From several passages in the Sacred Writings, it has been in- 

 ferred, that the Jews in a later age actually burnt their dead. 

 But it is to be observed, that as the language refers exclusive- 

 ly to their kings, it is not said that they burnt their bodies, but 

 only that they " made burnings for them f." Even from the 

 account which is given of the honours paid to the memory of 

 Asa, though it has been urged as a proof that the Jews had 

 adopted cremation, it is evident that the burning was a cere- 

 mony superadded to his interment ; for it would appear that 

 his body was wrapped in spices : " They buried him in his 

 " own sepulchre, which he had made for himself in the city of 

 " David, and laid him in the bed," the coffin or sarcophagus, 

 as would seem, " which was filled with sweet odours and di- 

 " vers kinds of spices prepared by the apothecaries art ; and 

 " they made a very great burning for him J." The writers of 

 the Ancient Universal History suppose, that these spices were 

 burnt around the body §. But this does not seem likely ; for 

 we cannot well conceive, how, in this case, the body itself 

 should not have been affected by the force of the fire. It may, 

 therefore, more naturally be supposed, that this burning did 

 not take place in the sepulchre. Perhaps, though the Jews did 

 not consume the body, yet on such occasions they so far com- 

 plied 



* Amos, vi. 10. f 2 Chron. xxi. 19. ; Jer. xxxiv. 5. 



% 2 Chron. xvi. 14. § Vol. iii. p. 173. 



