Why were the bodies of King Saul and his sons burned instead of buried in 1 Samuel 31:12All 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.
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In this record, the Philistines took the slain body of Saul, cut off his head, stripped off his armor, and fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan" (1 Samuel 31:10And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan.
See All...). The men of Jabeshgilead "took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there." [Note: According to 1 Chronicles 10:10And they put his armour in the house of their gods, and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon.
See All..., the head of Saul was fastened in the temple of Dagon.] Then they "took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days" (1 Samuel 31:12-13 [12] 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. [13] And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
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Since the Jews normally buried and did not burn (or cremate) their dead, this burning of the bodies of Saul and his sons raises the question as to why they did differently here. Since the text does not say specifically, we must draw conclusions from the evidence the best we can. In the case of Saul, his body had been mutilated (with his head cut off) and desecrated (his head being fastened to the pagan temple of Dagon; see Judges 16:23Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.
See All...; 1 Samuel 5:1-5 [1] And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod. [2] When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. [3] And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again. [4] And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him. [5] Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day.
See All...). This called for some act of cleansing.

It was the practice in several of the tabernacle ceremonies to burn that which was unclean.

Leviticus 7:19And the flesh that toucheth any unclean thing shall not be eaten; it shall be burnt with fire: and as for the flesh, all that be clean shall eat thereof.
See All... And the flesh that toucheth any unclean thing shall not be eaten; it shall be burnt with fire: and as for the flesh, all that be clean shall eat thereof.

Leviticus 13:55And the priest shall look on the plague, after that it is washed: and, behold, if the plague have not changed his colour, and the plague be not spread; it is unclean; thou shalt burn it in the fire; it is fret inward, whether it be bare within or without.
See All... And the priest shall look on the plague, after that it is washed: and, behold, if the plague have not changed his colour, and the plague be not spread; it is unclean; thou shalt burn it in the fire; it is fret inward, whether it be bare within or without.

Most likely, the bodies of Saul and his sons were considered to be unclean. They had been killed by the uncircumcised Philistines (Judges 14:3Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.
See All...; 1 Samuel 17:26And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?
See All..., 36). Their bodies had been mutilated. But more, their bodies had been desecrated by being fastened on walls for display. Saul's head was fastened to the wall of a heathen temple. The burning was probably for the sake of cleansing the defilement they had received. Then, their bones were carefully given a proper burial and their rescuers fasted for seven days in order to give proper respect.