King Saul Was Cremated — So Why Did God Condemn Burning a King’s Bones?

King Saul Was Cremated — So Why Did God Condemn Burning a King's Bones? In the book of Amos, God condemns the nation of Moab for one named crime: "because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime." And the punishment is fire. But in First Samuel, the men of Jabesh-gilead walk all night to take the body of Israel's first king down from an enemy wall, and they "burnt them there." Then David sends them a blessing. Fire on the body of a king, twice in the same Bible. One time it is condemned. The other time the men who did it are called blessed. So what did Moab do that Jabesh did not? In this video we follow Saul's last fear, "lest these uncircumcised come and... abuse me," and the wall of Beth-shan where his body was hung, and we find out where his crown really went. We go back to the night Saul saved Jabesh from losing their right eyes, and we read what the men of that town did for him. Then we ask whether Saul was cremated at all: the plain Hebrew text, the ancient Aramaic Targum ("a fire, as they used to kindle for the kings"), Rashi, Radak, and the version in Chronicles that leaves the fire out. We read Amos word by word, the word "lime" and what the ancient readers said it meant: a king's bones plastered on the walls of a house, because "they treated him with disgrace." We look at the war between Moab and Edom, at Josiah burning bones on the altar at Bethel, at Rizpah guarding her sons "from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven," and at the day David finally laid Saul's bones in his father's tomb. Throughout, we separate what the Bible says from what later Jewish tradition teaches. Subscribe for more of the verses you already know, explained from the text itself, with the sources below. Turn on notifications so you don't miss the next one. And tell us in the comments: before this video, which story did you know, Moab and the king of Edom, Jabesh and King Saul, or Rizpah on the rock? Main sources The Holy Bible, King James Version: 1 Samuel 11:1-15; 19:10; 31:1-13; 2 Samuel 1:1-16; 2:4-5; 21:1-14; 1 Chronicles 10:11-12; 2 Chronicles 16:14; 21:19; Jeremiah 34:5; Amos 1:1-2:3; 6:9-10; Deuteronomy 21:22-23; 27:2; Isaiah 33:12; 1 Kings 12:28-29; 13:2; 2 Kings 3:4-27; 23:15-16; 1 Corinthians 15:35-37. Targum Jonathan on 1 Samuel 31:12 (The Targum of Samuel, translated by Eveline van Staalduine-Sul) and on Amos 2:1. Rashi on 1 Samuel 31:12 (Metsudah), on Amos 2:1 (Judaica Press) and on 2 Kings 3:27. Radak (Rabbi David Kimhi) on 1 Samuel 31:12, Amos 2:1 and 2 Kings 3:27. Babylonian Talmud, Avodah Zarah 11a, as cited by Rashi. Visual credits Archive images (Wikimedia Commons): "Tel Bet She'an and Scythopolis (2)" — Hanay, CC BY-SA 3.0 "Tel Bet She'an Ruins from Tel Bet She'an 1264" — James Emery, CC BY 2.0 "Mount Gilboa Avinadav Trail 09" — Hoshvilim, CC BY-SA 4.0 "Citadel Mountain, Amman 36" — Mohammad hajeer, CC BY-SA 4.0 "Gold diadem. 3rd cent. B.C" — George E. Koronaios, CC BY-SA 4.0 "Lachish Relief, British Museum" — Mike Peel, CC BY-SA 4.0 "Capture of Lachish - Sennacherib" — Zunkir, CC BY-SA 4.0 "Iron age Spearhead from Somerby" — North Lincolnshire Museum, CC BY-SA 2.0 "Iron Age Scythian Iron Short Sword" — Gary Todd, CC0 "Kerak BW 1" — Berthold Werner, CC BY 3.0 "Petra Jordan BW 36" — Berthold Werner, public domain "View over Wadi Arabah from Petra mountains" (1 and 2) — Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0 "Tombs in the Kidron Valley" — Ian Scott, CC BY-SA 2.0 "Jerusalem-Kidron-Valley-KMOGH-2280" — Bukvoed, CC BY 4.0 "2017 Wapiennik w Mielniku 2" — Jacek Halicki, CC BY-SA 4.0 "Frankincense 2005-12-31" — snotch, public domain "The Temple Scroll (11Q20)", "Rashi Pentateuch", "Book of prophets with Rashi's commentary" and Chester Beatty papyrus of Paul's letters — public domain Stock photos and footage: Pexels and Pixabay. The narration voice and many of the images are AI-generated. AI images are conceptual reconstructions, not historical records. Thumbnail: AI-generated illustration. #Bible #KingSaul #Cremation #BookOfAmos #BibleStudy #OldTestament #WhatTheBibleReallyMeans