All the valiant men arose
Of the city of Jabeshgilead, fired with indignation at the Philistines' ill usage of Saul and the bodies of his sons:
and went all night;
not only for secrecy, but for haste:
and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of
Bethshan, and came to Jabesh;
brought them with them thither, the Philistines either having no knowledge of it, or not daring to oppose them:
and burnt them there:
that is, the flesh of them, for the bones they buried, as in ( 1 Samuel 31:13 ) ; and this they did, contrary to the common usage of the country, which was not to burn; but this they did, that if the Philistines should come to recover them, they would not be able to do it: though the Targum is,
``they burnt over them, as they burn over their kings there;''they made a burning for them of spices over them; or of their beds, and other household goods, as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe, though they prefer the other sense; see ( 2 Chronicles 16:14 ) ( 21:19 ) perhaps the true reason might be, because they were putrid and infectious.