John Gill Commentary 2 Chronicles 16:14

"And they buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had hewn out for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odors and divers kinds [of spices] prepared by the perfumers` art: and they made a very great burning for him." — 2 Chronicles 16:14 (ASV)

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 in it 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 strewn 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 as we call apothecaries; this bed was strewn with spices, myrrh, aloes, cassia, cinnamon and which perhaps might be made up into a liquid and 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 by the Jews; but they burned 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 .

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FOOTNOTES:

• F18: Herodian. Hist. l. 4. c. 3. Vid. Kirchman. de Funer. Roman. l. 1. c. 11. & Alstorph. de Lect. Vet. c. 19. p. 151, 152.
• F19: Joseph. de Bello Jud. l. 1. c. 33. sect. 9.