Who Was the First Person Cremated in the Bible?

Who Was The First Person Cremated In The Bible? – Old Testament

If you ever wondered who was the first person cremated in the Bible, that is an interesting question. The word “cremation,” “cremated,” or “cremate” is never used in the King James Version of the Holy Bible. To define cremation, it is the burning of a body, or even body parts, such as human bones, after death. There are only a few instances of cremation recorded in the Bible.

At one time in my life I was personally convinced of the practicality of cremation. I never considered what the Bible said about cremation or even burial. I started thinking about this topic when my uncle was dating a lady but ended the relationship. One of the things he didn’t like about her was her strong desire to be cremated. He had Biblical reasons which he shared with me against cremation.

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Who Was The First Person Cremated In The Bible? – Two Cities Of People

According to the Bible study method called the law of first mention, the first time a word or concept is introduced in the Bible gives a clear indication of God’s viewpoint of that particular doctrine. The first mention of burning of bodies is that of the inhabitants of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. This is how God described those who lived in these cities, Sodom especially:

Genesis 13:13 “But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.” I found it interesting this Bible reference includes two instances of the number 13 which in Biblical numerology represents rebellion.

Who Was The First Person Cremated In The Bible? – First Cremation

The first cremation recorded in the Bible was done by God! The answer to the question of who was the first person cremated in the Bible is all the inhabitants of two cities burned alive! Fire falling from heaven counts as cremation. Here is the account:

Genesis 19:24 – God Sent Fire To Destroy

“Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven” (KJV)

This verse tells what Abraham saw after God cremated these two cities:

Genesis 19:28 – The Effects Of The Heavenly Fire

“And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.” (KJV)

Who Was the First Person Cremated in the Bible? — Achan — The “Troubler of Israel”

The first mention of cremation of an individual is in the Book of Joshua, chapter 7.

Achan sinned against God, and because of Achan’s sin, God was angry with the children of Israel. When Achan was found to be the guilty party, his punishment was death by stoning. After he and his entire family were dead, their bodies were burned. Joshua 7:25 “And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.” (KJV)

The awful incident may have been the first use of cremation among the Hebrew people. Achan, and his family, had no burial. He was remembered as “the troubler of Israel,” according to 1 Chronicles 2:7. Cremation was an ignoble act associated with awfulness of Achan and his sin.

Who Was The First Person Cremated In The Bible? – The Body Of King Saul

There is a seeming contraction in the Bible about funerals and burnings in the disposition of the earthly remains of the bodies of Saul and his sons. After King Saul, the first king of Israel, and his sons, were killed in battle, the Bible mentioned “burning” as applied to the body of Saul and his sons.

It seems that the bodies of Saul and his sons were first cremated, and then their ashes were buried. This account is recorded in 1 Samuel 31:12-13 “All the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there. And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.” (KJV)

The valent actions of the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead to honor their late king was praised by the new king, David, in 2 Samuel 2:4-5: “And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying, That the men of Jabeshgilead were they that buried Saul. And David sent messengers unto the men of Jabeshgilead, and said unto them, Blessed be ye of the LORD, that ye have shewed this kindness unto your lord, even unto Saul, and have buried him.” (KJV)

This same account of the noble actions of the people of Jabesh-Gilead was recorded again by another Bible writer in 1 Chronicles 10:12 “They arose, all the valiant men, and took away the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.” (KJV)

The emphasis in all three of these Scripture passages is on the burial of King Saul and his sons. But the mention of “burning” must be addressed. It was not the custom of the ancient Hebrews to practice cremation. Bible scholars have speculated that this “burning” may have been part of a cleansing procedure in order to rid the bodies of disease since their dead bodies had been in the possession of Israel’s enemies for some time.

Who Was The First Person Cremated In The Bible? – “Burnings”

The term burning is often associated with funerals of ancient Israelite kings. Here are two instances, both of these king were kings of Judah.

2 Chronicles 16:14 – Good King Asa

“And they buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had made for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odours and divers kinds of spices prepared by the apothecaries’ art: and they made a very great burning for him.” (KJV)

2 Chronicles 21:19 – Evil King Jehoram

“And it came to pass, that in process of time, after the end of two years, his bowels fell out by reason of his sickness: so he died of sore diseases. And his people made no burning for him, like the burning of his fathers.” (KJV)

Considering these two verses, both about “burnings” associated with kings, one good and one evil. It seems that these burnings had to do with an honorable funeral. These burnings were made to honor a beloved king and the burning was also associated with spices and sweet smells. Traditionally, in modern-day funerals, the deceased are honored with flowers. Perhaps in the culture of ancient Israel, part of a funeral service honoring a beloved, deceased individual, especially a king, was the burning of various types of incense.

Who Was The First Person Cremated In The Bible? -Idolatry And Human Sacrifice

Many of the heathen nations surrounding Israel practiced cremation in the form of human sacrifice to their gods. This abomination was strictly prohibited by God since He did not want, or demand, human sacrifice. God strictly commanded against such practices.

Leviticus 18:21 – God Commanded Against Child Sacrifice

“And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.” (KJV)

Deuteronomy 18:10 – God Repeated His Warning Against Child Sacrifice

“There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch.” (KJV)

But humans have a free will, and despite God’s goodness some of the Israelite people, including some of their kings, did sacrifice to these false gods. Here are two examples:

2 Chronicles 28:3 – King Ahaz Sacrificed His Children As An Offering To A False God

“Moreover he [King Ahaz] burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.” (KJV)

2 Kings 21:6 – King Manasseh Sacrificed His Son To A False God

“And he [King Manasseh] made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.” (KJV)

The prophet Jeremiah mourned over the grievous sin of the people of Israel because of the evil practices that they learned from the heathen nations.

Jeremiah 19:5 – The Prophet Jeremiah Mourned Over Idolatrous Evil Practices

“They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind” (KJV)

Jeremiah 32:35 – The Prophet Jeremiah Wept Over The Practice Of Child Sacrifice

“And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.” (KJV)

The burning of bodies is associated with heathen practices and cultures. Godly cultures, with Christian beliefs, honor the body and memory of the deceased with a burial.

Who Was The First Person Cremated In The Bible? – New Testament

The early Christians practiced burial, not cremation.

Matthew 14:12 – John The Baptist Was Buried

Matthew 14:12 “And his disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus.” (KJV)

Although recorded in the New Testament, John the Baptist and his followers were not Christians. (The term “Christian” was coined after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ back to heaven.) But since these Jewish people buried the body of their beloved leader, this shows it was the custom of the Jews to bury their dead, not burn their bodies.

Christians in the early church practice the standard of traditional burial.

Ananias, and his wife, Sapphira, who agreed together to tempt God, died within hours of each other. But, despite their sin, they were both buried.

Acts 5:9-10 – Ananias And Sapphira Were Buried

“Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband.” (KJV)

Acts 8:2 – Stephen – The First Martyr Was Buried

“And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.” (KJV)

Who Was The First Person Cremated In The Bible? – Burial or Cremation for the Christian Today?

Since the Bible never explicitly forbids the practice of cremation, many people believe the choice of what to do with a deceased body after death is simply a personal preferences. After the physical body dies, and the eternal soul — the spiritual body — is immediately transported to either heaven or hell, how the earthly remains is disposed of is a matter of personal choice.

Christians know that God, Who is the Creator of all things, can take a cremated body or buried body and raise it up, giving that deceased person a new body, in spite of how their old body was disposed. The method of disposing of a lifeless body does not affect the eternal life of the soul. But for those Christians who want to glorify God in life and death, the choice of burial or cremation is vitally important.

The burial of a dead body is a public demonstration, a testimony of that Christian’s faith, which includes a future bodily resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15:42 “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption” (KJV)

The act of burial is a testimony of faith and hope, looking forward to the resurrection of the body. Cremation appears to send a message of hopeless finality.

The wise King Solomon wrote these words about someone who, during his life, seemed to have everything good, yet at the end of his life, like Achan, had no burial. Ecclesiastes 6:3 “If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.” (KJV)

Cremation, especially when the ashes are scattered, is not a burial. According to Solomon, words inspired by the Holy Spirit of God, this ignoble end of life is a tragedy, which all of a person’s blessings during lifetime cannot offset.

Who Was The First Person Cremated In The Bible? – Jesus Christ — Our Perfect Example

The Bible never explicitly forbids cremation nor commands burial. But remember my uncle who broke up with “Jean” because she wanted someday to be cremated? My uncle said, “Jesus was buried. He is our perfect example. We wo follow Christ are commanded to ‘follow in his steps’ 1 Peter 2:21 (KJV). Jesus Christ died and was buried, and then He rose again. Christ’s life, death, and burial is our pattern, our example.”

My uncle had some good thinking. I learned something from what he shared with me on this topic. (It is just very sad his wise thinking on burial and cremation did not carry over to his marital relationships!)

Just as Jesus was buried, so He gave us an example as Christians to follow. This is why, even today, burying is many times called “Christian burial,” which is a reference back to Jesus’ burial.

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If Jesus does not come in the Rapture in my life time, I want to follow His example and have a Christians burial for myself. This is also my thought concerning each of my loved ones, who in my grief and sorrow at losing them temporarily, I have had a part in their futural arrangements.

Who Was The First Person Cremated In The Bible? – Study/Review Questions

1. Who preformed the first cremation recorded in the Bible? – God
2. What happened? God rained down fire from heaven to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
3. Who was the first individual cremated? Achan
4. How does 1 Chronicles 2:7 describe Achan? The troubler of Israel
5. What was the name of the king whose body was burned and his bones buried? King Saul
6. Was cremation a custom of the ancient Hebrews? No, they buried their dead.
7. What king of Israel had “a very great burning” at his funeral? King Jehoram
8. What prophet mourned the idolatrous practice of child sacrifice? The prophet Jeremiah.
9. Who was the first person recorded in the New Testament who was buried? John the Baptist

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