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Subject: Re: burial

From: "M. Brody" <mbrody AT earthling.net>
To: Biblical Hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Subject: Subject: Re: burial
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1998 21:14:02 +0200

From: "Bryan Rocine" <596547 AT ican.net>
*Dear B-Haverim,
*...my question is
*why were the bodies of Saul and his sons burnt rather than buried (1 Sam
*31:12)? is it because the corpses were headless? did the kol 'i$ xayil
*err?
*Shalom,
*Bryan

Why should we think that the bodies were burnt?
In the next verse "And they took their bones and buried them...".

Rabbi David Kimche brings three possibilities:
-the king's belongings were burnt
-or incense was burnt [as with Asa - Chronicles II 16:14]
-or since the flesh was putrid with worms, the flesh was burned and the
bones were buried.

Menachem Brody
Machon Helkat Hasadeh
Elon Moreh

Subject: Re: burial, M. Brody, 12/31/1998