Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 22:15
Thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, Go, get thee unto this treasurer, [even] unto Shebna, which [is] over the house, [and say],
15. this treasurer ] Better: this official. The “this” is contemptuous. The word for “official” ( skn) is not elsewhere found. It seems to mean either “associate” (like the “king’s friend” of 2Sa 15:37; 2Sa 16:16; 1Ki 4:5; 1Ch 27:33), or “administrator” (the Assyrian aknu).
which is over the house ] (cf. 1Ki 4:6; 1Ki 18:3). This office has been compared to that of “mayor of the palace” under the Merovingian kings.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Ch. Isa 22:15-25. A Philippic against an influential Politician
Shebna, the minister here addressed, is supposed from his name and from Isaiah’s indignation at his ambitious desire to have a magnificent sepulchre in Jerusalem, to have been a foreigner in the royal service. The office which he holds is the highest in the court, and is of course a measure of his influence with the king. That he was a partisan of the Egyptian alliance may be safely assumed, and it is likely that Isaiah had found in him the most astute and resolute opponent of the policy which he advocated. This opposition, together with hearty contempt for the character of the man, is the occasion of Isaiah’s only invective against an individual. The prophecy is therefore probably contemporaneous with ch. 28 31. Eliakim was probably the leader of the party favourable to Isaiah’s views, and the substitution of the one minister for the other was equivalent to a radical change of policy on the part of Hezekiah. This change seems to have taken place before the crisis of the invasion, for in ch. Isa 36:3, Isa 37:2 we find Eliakim in possession of the dignity which Shebna here holds. But since the latter then occupied the lower office of secretary, we must conclude that some compromise had been arranged, and that Shebna’s power was not altogether broken.
The passage contains three parts:
i. The denunciation of Shebna, and the announcement of his deposition and banishment, Isa 22:15-19.
ii. The installation of Eliakim, and the honour of his family, Isa 22:20-23.
iii. A very perplexing appendix, which seems to warn Eliakim against nepotism, and to anticipate the ruin of his house, Isa 22:24-25.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Analysis of Isa 22:15-25. – Vision 20.
The remainder of this chapter Isa 22:15-25 is occupied with a prediction respecting Shebna, and the promotion of Eliakim in his place. From the prophecy itself it appears that Shebna was prefect of the palace Isa 22:15, or that he was in the highest authority in the time of Hezekiah. That he was an unprincipled ruler is evident from the prophecy, and hence, Isaiah was directed to predict his fall, and the elevation of another in his place. Whether this Shebna is the same that is mentioned in Isa 36:3, is not known. The Shebna there mentioned is called a scribe Isa 22:22, and that was after the fall of Shebna mentioned here, for it occurred after Eliakim had been placed over the palace. Eliakim was then in office, and was sent on that embassy to Sennacherib Isa 36:2, Isa 36:22; Isa 37:2. The probability is, therefore, that this was some other man of the same name, unless it may have been that Shebna, after being degraded from the rank of prefect of the palace or prime minister, became a scribe, or had an inferior office under Eliakim. The prophecy contains the following things:
1. A command to Isaiah to go to Shebna, and to reprove him for his self-confidence in his sin Isa 22:15-16.
2. A declaration that he should be carried captive to a foreign land Isa 22:17-18.
3. A declaration that he should be deposed and succeeded by Eliakim Isa 22:20.
4. A description of the character and honors of Eliakim, and his qualifications for the office Isa 22:21-24, and
5. A confirmation of the whole prophecy, or a summing up the whole in a single declaration Isa 22:25.
Isa 22:15
Thus saith the Lord God of hosts – (see the note at Isa 1:9).
Go, get thee – Hebrew, Go, come to. This was one of the instances in which the prophets were directed to go personally, and even at the hazard of their life, to those who were high in office, and to denounce on them the divine judgment for their sins.
Unto this treasurer – ( hassoken). The Vulgate renders this, To him who dwells in the tabernacle. The Septuagint renders it, rion Eis to pastophorion, denoting properly what is borne into a recess, cell, or chapel, and referring properly to a place where an idol was placed in a temple; and then any recess, or chamber, as a treasury, and referring here to the room which the treasurer of the temple occupied. The Hebrew word shakan means to dwell with anyone; then to be an associate or friend, and hence, the participle is applied to one entrusted with the care of anything, a steward, a treasurer. Jerome explains this in his Commentary as meaning, go to him who dwells in the tabernacle, which in Hebrew is called Sochen. He understands by this some room, or recess in the temple, where the treasurer or the prefect of the temple dwelt. Our translators have expressed probably the true sense by the word treasurer.
Which is over the house – That is, either who is over the temple, or over the palace. I understand it of the latter. Shebna was not high priest, and the expression, over the house, more properly denotes one who had the rule of the palace, or who was the principal minister of the king. See 1Ki 18:3 : And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. What was the offence or crime of Shebna, it is impossible to say. The Jewish commentators say that he was intending to betray the city to Sennacherib, but although this is possible it has no direct proof.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 22:15-19
Shebna
Shebna
In the councils of Hezekiah there was a strong party favourable to an alliance between Judah and Egypt.
At the head of the party stood Shebna. He occupied a post corresponding to that of our prime minister, and was treasurer, or chief adviser of the king. His tenure of office bode no good to Jerusalem: his pro-Egyptian policy, like the pro-Assyrian policy of Ahaz, was utterly displeasing to Jehovah, and alien to the best traditions of Davids house. Against this policy Isaiah is specially commissioned to raise his voice. In the discharge of this mission he singles out Shebna, a stranger apparently, who had by ambition raised himself to high office, and was devoid of religious principle. He had been securing honour for himself, establishing his family in the land, as he thought, and, as the custom was, hewing out for himself a sepulchre. But from that high office he would soon be disgracefully ousted, when king and people would alike come to see the unworthy Character of an Egyptian alliance. And it is worthy of remark that this prophecy was speedily fulfilled. For when the Rabshakeh is met by Hezekiahs messengers, Shebna does not occupy the first place. (B. Blake, B. D.)
The prophecy concerning Shebna
This prophecy illustrates the influence wielded by Isaiah in the domestic polities of Judah. (Prof. S. R. Driver, D. D.)
Shebna a foreigner
To judge from the form of his name he was probably a Syrian. (Prof. S. R. Driver, D. D.)
Shebnas vain expectation
In the rock of [the east slope of Zion] from the top downwards, the tombs of the kings were hewn. So high a position, does Shebna occupy, and so great does he think himself, that he hopes after his death to be laid to rest among kings, and by no means far down. (F. Delitzsch.)
Shebnas tomb
The mention of the height of Shebnas new tomb is supposed to indicate his extreme pretension to pomp and dignity. The ancients, not excepting the Jews, attached much more importance than we do to everything connected with the burial of the dead, because they were so much less able to distinguish the human person from the earthly body, or to apprehend the substantial reality of the former a part from the latter. Our burials symbolise, and express our faith in, immortality and a resurrection; but the Jews shared more or less the common feeling of antiquity that there was some real connection between a mans due obsequies and his state after death. Still their faith, though obscure, was in me main spiritual and elevating, when held as it was by David, Hezekiah, or Job. But the worldly and sense-bound man then, as indeed he does now, contemplated the costly preparations for his burial, and for the preservation of his embalmed and entombed body, as the last possible act of regard for that sensual existence which he alone cared for. It was but the consistent maintenance to the last of his sensual creed, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. (Sir E. Strachey, Bart)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 15. Go – unto Shebna] The following prophecy concerning Shebna seems to have very little relation to the foregoing, except that it might have been delivered about the same time; and Shebna might be a principal person among those whose luxury and profaneness is severely reprehended by the prophet in the conclusion of that prophecy, Isa 22:11-14.
Shebna the scribe, mentioned in the history of Hezekiah, Isa 36:11, seems to have been a different person from this Shebna, the treasurer or steward of the household, to whom this prophecy relates. The Eliakim here mentioned was probably the person who, at the time of Sennacherib’s invasion, was actually treasurer, the son of Hilkiah. If so, this prophecy was delivered, as the preceding, (which makes the former part of the chapter,) plainly was, some time before the invasion of Sennacherib. As to the rest, history affords us no information.
“And say unto him”] Here are two words lost out of the text, which are supplied by two of Dr. Kennicott’s MSS., one ancient, which read veamarta elaiv, and thou shalt say unto him; by the Septuagint, , and in the same manner by all the ancient versions. It is to be observed that this passage is merely historical, and does not admit of that sort of ellipsis by which in the poetical parts a person is frequently introduced speaking, without the usual notice, that what follows was delivered by him.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Get thee unto this treasurer; which the prophet might boldly do, because he had the protection not only of God, who sent him upon this errand, but probably of Hezekiah also, who at the time of this prophecy was either king, or his fathers viceroy, or at least heir-apparent to the crown.
Shebna; who seems to have been advanced by wicked Ahaz, and to have been a great patron of impiety and injustice in his reign, and by politic compliance with Hezekiah thought to gain his favour, and so to keep his place and power at court.
Over the house; over the house of David, as is more fully expressed below, Isa 22:22. Possibly he was not only the lord treasurer, but also the kings prime minister of state.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
15. Go, get thee untorather,”Go in to” (that is, into the house to).
treasurer“him whodwells in the tabernacle” [JEROME];namely, in a room of the temple set apart for the treasurer. Rather,”the king’s friend,” or “principal officer of thecourt” (1Ki 4:5; 1Ki 18:3;1Ch 27:33, “the king’scounsellor”) [MAURER].”This” is prefixed contemptuously (Ex32:1).
unto ShebnaThe Hebrewfor “unto” indicates an accosting of Shebna with anunwelcome message.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thus saith the Lord God of hosts, Go,…. These words are spoken to the prophet, bidding him go to Shebna’s house; so the Arabic version, “go to the house”; or however, by some means or other, let him know that he should be displaced, and turned out of his office, and another put in his room:
get thee unto this treasurer; or governor, as the Targum; treasurer in the house of King Hezekiah, as Kimchi: the word has the signification of profit; and Jarchi, from the Talmud s, calls him master of the profits; that is, of the profits and revenues belonging to the king; though, perhaps, he sought more his own profit and advantage than the king’s: it has also the signification of danger, and so may be rendered, “this dangerous” man to the king and state. The Jews say t he entered into conspiracy with some others in Jerusalem, to deliver up the city and king into the hands of Sennacherib. It is also used for a cherisher or nourisher, 1Ki 1:2 and may be understood of him, as a cherisher and encourager of the scoffers before mentioned, and a fomenter of secret conspiracies against the king and the city. Some render it, “this Sochenite”, so called from the place of his birth, or from whence he came; and the Jews u say he came from Sochen, a place in Egypt; and he seems by what follows to have been a foreigner, and not an inhabitant of Jerusalem; nor is it likely that he should be twice described by his office:
[even] unto Shebna, which [is] over the house; that is, over the king’s house, so Kimchi; the steward, that had the ordering of all the affairs civil and domestic in it, which was a very high post; he had the keys of the money, stores, and provisions in it; see
Isa 22:22. The Vulgate Latin version calls him the governor of the temple; so Jarchi understands it, that he was over the house of the sanctuary, the temple; some Jewish writers say he was a high priest; and others that he was an “amarcal” w, which was a name of office in the temple, a governor there, that had the keys of the stores in it:
[and say]; this is not in the text, but is supplied; the message to him follows.
s T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 26. 2. t Jarchi & Kimchi in loc. & Sanhedrin, ib. col. 1. u Vajikra Rabba, sect. 5. fol. 150. 2. w Ibid.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
“Thus spake the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, Go, get thee to that steward there, to Shebna the house-mayor. What has thou here, and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewn thyself out a sepulchre here, hewing out his sepulchre high up, digging himself a dwelling in rocks? Behold, Jehovah hurleth thee, hurling with a man’s throw, and graspeth thee grasping. Coiling, He coileth thee a coil, a ball into a land far and wide; there shalt thou die, and thither the chariots of thy glory, thou shame of the house of thy lord! And I thrust thee from thy post, and from thy standing-place he pulleth thee down.” , go, take thyself in – not into the house, however, but into the present halting-place. It is possible, at the same time, that the expression may simply mean “take thyself away,” as in Gen 45:17 and Eze 3:4. The preposition is interchanged with , which more commonly denotes the coming of a stronger man upon a weaker one (1Sa 12:12), and is here used to designate the overwhelming power of the prophet’s word. “ That steward there: ” this expression points contemptuously to the position of the minister of the court as one which, however high, was a subordinate one after all. We feel at once, as we read this introduction to the divine address, that insatiable ambition was one of the leading traits in Shebna’s character. What Isaiah is to say to Shebna follows somewhat abruptly. The words “and say to him,” which are added in the Septuagint, naturally suggest themselves. The question, What hast thou to do here, and whom hast thou to bury here? is put with a glance at Shebna’s approaching fate. This building of a sepulchre was quite unnecessary; Shebna himself would never lie there, nor would he be able to bury his relations there. The threefold repetition of the word “here” ( poh ) is of very incisive force: it is not here that he will stay – here, where he is even now placing himself on a bier, as if it were his home. The participles and (with c hirek c ompaginis : see on Psa 113:1-9) are also part of the address. The third person which is introduced here is syntactically regular, although the second person is used as well (Isa 23:2-3; Hab 2:15). Rock-tombs, i.e., a collection of tombs in the form of chambers in the rocks, were indeed to be found to the east of Jerusalem, on the western slope of the Mount of Olives, and in the wall of rock to the west of Jerusalem; but the word m arom (“high up”), in connection with the threefold “here” ( poh ), and the contemptuous “that administrator there,” warrants us in assuming that m arom refers to “the height of the sepulchres of the sons of David” (2Ch 32:33), i.e., the eastern slope of Zion, where the tombs of the kings were excavated in the rocks.
So high did Shebna stand, and so great did he think himself, that he helped after his death to rest among kings, and by no means down at the bottom. But how he deceived himself! Jehovah would hurl him far away ( tul , to be long; pilpel , to throw or stretch out to a distance),
(Note: In the later form of the language, this verbal stem signifies generally to move onward; hence tiyyul , motion, or a walk, and metalteln , furniture, i.e., moveable goods.)
. This is either equivalent to , with a man’s throw (Rosenmller), or is in apposition to Jehovah (Gesenius and Knobel). As taltelah stands too baldly if the latter be adopted, for which reason the vocative rendering “O man,” which is found in the Syriac, does not commend itself, and as such an elliptical combination of the absolute with the genitive is by no means unusual (e.g., Pro 22:21; Jer 10:10), we give the preference to the former. Jerome’s rendering, “as they carry off a cock,” which he obtained from the mouth of his Hebraeus, cannot be taken into consideration at all; although it has been retained by Schegg (see Geiger, Lesestcke aus der Mischna, p. 106). The verb does not give a suitable sense as used in Jer 43:12, where it merely signifies to cover one’s self, not to wrap up; nor can we obtain one from 1Sa 15:19; 1Sa 25:14; 1Sa 14:32, since the verbal forms which we find there, and which are to be traced to (from which comes , a bird of prey), and not to , signify “to rush upon anything” (when construed with either or ). It is better, therefore, to take it, as Michaelis, Rosenmller, Knobel, and others do, in the sense of grasping or laying hold of. On the other hand, tzanaph , which is applied in other instances to the twisting of a turban, also signifies to wrap up, make up into a bundle, or coil up. And c addur , like tzenephah , signifies that into which Shebna would be coiled up; for the Caph is not to be taken in a comparative sense, since the use of c addur in the sense of globus or sphaera is established by the Talmud (see at Job 15:24), whereas the Arabic daur only means gyrus , periodus . Shebna is made into a round coil, or ball, which is hurled into a land stretching out on both sides, i.e., over the broad surface of Mesopotamia, where he flies on farther and farther, without meeting with any obstacle whatever.
(Note: Compare the old saying, “The heart of man is an apple driven by a tempest over an open plain.”)
He comes thither to die – he who, by his exaggeration and abuse of his position, has not only dishonoured his office, but the Davidic court as well; and thither do his state carriages also come. There can be no doubt that it was by the positive command of Jehovah that Isaiah apostrophized the proud and wealthy Shebna with such boldness and freedom as this. And such freedom was tolerated too. The murder or incarceration of a prophet was a thing of rare occurrence in the kingdom of Judah before the time of Manasseh. In order to pave the way for the institution of another in Shebna’s office, the punishment of deposition, which cannot be understood in any other way than as preceding the punishment of banishment, is placed at the close of the first half of the prophecy. The subject in Isa 22:19 is not the king, as Luzzatto supposes, but Jehovah, as in Isa 22:19 (compare Isa 10:12).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Downfall of Shebna; The Advancement of Eliakim. | B. C. 714. |
15 Thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, Go, get thee unto this treasurer, even unto Shebna, which is over the house, and say, 16 What hast thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here, as he that heweth him out a sepulchre on high, and that graveth a habitation for himself in a rock? 17 Behold, the LORD will carry thee away with a mighty captivity, and will surely cover thee. 18 He will surely violently turn and toss thee like a ball into a large country: there shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall be the shame of thy lord’s house. 19 And I will drive thee from thy station, and from thy state shall he pull thee down. 20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah: 21 And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. 22 And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. 23 And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father’s house. 24 And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons. 25 In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off: for the LORD hath spoken it.
We have here a prophecy concerning the displacing of Shebna, a great officer at court, and the preferring of Eliakim to the post of honour and trust that he was in. Such changes are common in the courts of princes; it is therefore strange that so much notice should be taken of it by the prophet here; but by the accomplishment of what was foretold concerning these particular persons God designed to confirm his word in the mouth of Isaiah concerning other and greater events; and it is likewise to show that, as God has burdens in store for those nations and kingdoms abroad that are open enemies to his church and people, so he has for those particular persons at home that are false friends to them and betray them. It is likewise a confirmation in general of the hand of divine Providence in all events of this kind, which to us seem contingent and to depend upon the wills and fancies of princes. Promotion comes not from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south; but God is the Judge,Psa 25:6; Psa 25:7. It is probable that this prophecy was delivered at the same time with that in the former part of the chapter, and began to be fulfilled before Sennacherib’s invasion; for now Shebna was over the house, but then Eliakim was (ch. xxxvi. 3); and Shebna, coming down gradually, was only scribe. Here is,
I. The prophecy of Shebna’s disgrace. He is called this treasurer, being entrusted with the management of the revenue; and he is likewise said to be over the house, for such was his boundless ambition and covetousness that less than two places, and those two of the greatest importance at court, would not satisfy him. It is common for self-seeking men thus to grasp at more than they can manage, and so the business of their places is neglected, while the pomp and profit of them wholly engage the mind. It does not appear what were the particular instances of Shebna’s mal-administration, for which Isaiah is here sent to prophesy against him; but the Jews say, “He kept up a traitorous correspondence with the king of Assyria, and was in treaty with him to deliver the city into his hands.” However this was, it should seem that he was a foreigner (for we never read of the name of his father) and that he was an enemy to the true interests of Judah and Jerusalem: it is probable that he was first preferred by Ahaz. Hezekiah was himself an excellent prince; but the best masters cannot always be sure of good servants. We have need to pray for princes, that they may be wise and happy in the choice of those they trust. These were times of reformation, yet Shebna, a bad man, complied so far as to keep his places at court; and it is probable that many others did like him, for which reason Sennacherib is said to have been sent against a hypocritical nation, ch. x. 6. In this message to Shebna we have,
1. A reproof of his pride, vanity, and security (v. 16): “What hast thou here, and whom hast thou here? What a mighty noise and bustle dost thou make! What estate has thou here, that thou was born to? Whom hast thou here, what relations, that thou art allied to? Art thou not of mean and obscure original, filius populi–a mere plebeian, that comest we know not whence? What is the meaning of this then, that thou hast built thyself a fine house, hast graved thyself a habitation?” So very nice and curious was it that it seemed rather to be the work of an engraver than of a mason or carpenter; and it seemed engraven in a rock, so firmly was it founded and so impregnable was it. “Nay, thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre,” as if he designed that his pomp should survive his funeral. Though Jerusalem was not the place of his father’s sepulchres (as Nehemiah called it with a great deal of tenderness, Neh. ii. 3), he designed it should be the place of his own, and therefore set up a monument for himself in his life-time, set it up on high. Those that make stately monuments for their pride forget that, how beautiful soever they appear outwardly, within they are full of dead men’s bones. But it is a pity that the grave-stone should forget the grave.
2. A prophecy of his fall and the sullying of his glory. (1.) That he should not quickly be displaced and degraded (v. 19): I will drive thee from thy station. High places are slippery places; and those are justly deprived of their honour that are proud of it and puffed up with it, and deprived of their power that do hurt with it. God will do it, who shows himself to be God by looking upon proud men and abasing them,Job 40:11; Job 40:12. To this v. 25 refers. “The nail that is now fastened in the sure place (that is, Shebna, who thinks himself immovably fixed in his office) shall be removed, and cut down, and fall.” Those are mistaken who think any place in this world a sure place, or themselves as nails fastened in it; for there is nothing here but uncertainty. When the nail falls the burden that was upon it is cut off; when Shebna was disgraced all that had a dependence upon him fell into contempt too. Those that are in high places will have many hanging upon them as favourites whom they are proud of and trust to; but they are burdens upon them, and perhaps with their weight break the nail, and both fall together, and by deceiving ruin one another–the common fate of great men and their flatterers, who expect more from each other than either performs. (2.) That after a while he should not only be driven from his station, but driven from his country: The Lord will carry thee away with the captivity of a mighty man,Isa 22:17; Isa 22:18. Some think the Assyrians seized him, and took him away, because he had promised to assist them and did not, but appeared against them: or perhaps Hezekiah, finding out his treachery, banished him, and forbade him ever to return; or he himself, finding that he had become obnoxious to the people, withdrew into some other country, and there spent the rest of his days in meanness and obscurity. Grotius thinks he was stricken with a leprosy, which was a disease commonly supposed to come from the immediate hand of God’s displeasure, particularly for the punishment of the proud, as in the case of Miriam and Uzziah; and by reason of this disease he was tossed like a ball out of Jerusalem. Those who, when they are in power, turn and toss others, will be justly turned and tossed themselves when their day shall come to fall. Many who have thought themselves fastened like a nail may come to be tossed like a ball; for here have we no continuing city. Shebna thought his place too strait for him, he had no room to thrive; God will therefore send him into a large country, where he shall have room to wander, but never find the way back again; for there he shall die, and lay his bones there, and not in the sepulchre he had hewn out for himself. And there the chariots which had been the chariots of his glory, in which he had rattled about the streets of Jerusalem, and which he took into banishment with him, should but serve to upbraid him with his former grandeur, to the shame of his lord’s house, of the court of Ahaz, who had advanced him.
II. The prophecy of Eliakim’s advancement, v. 20, c. He is God’s servant, has approved himself faithfully so in other employments, and therefore God will call him to this high station. Those that are diligent in doing the duty of a low sphere stand fairest for preferment in God’s books. Eliakim does not undermine Shebna, nor make an interest against him, nor does he intrude into his office but God calls him to it: and what God calls us to we may expect he will own us in. It is here foretold, 1. That Eliakim should be put into Shebna’s place of lord-chamberlain of the household, lord-treasurer, and prime-minister of state. The prophet must tell Shebna this, v. 21. “He shall have thy robe, the badge of honour, and thy girdle, the badge of power; for he shall have thy government.” To hear of it would be a great mortification to Shebna, much more to see it. Great men, especially if proud men, cannot endure their successors. God undertakes the doing of it, not only because he would put it into the heart of Hezekiah to do it, and his hand must be acknowledged guiding the hearts of princes in placing and displacing men (Prov. xxi. 1), but because the powers that are, subordinate as well as supreme, are ordained of God. It is God that clothes princes with their robes, and therefore we must submit ourselves to them for the Lord’s sake and with an eye to him, 1 Pet. ii. 13. And, since it is he that commits the government into their hand, they must administer it according to his will, for his glory; they must judge for him by whom they judge and decree justice, Prov. viii. 15. And they may depend upon him to furnish them for what he calls them to, according to this promise: I will clothe him; and then it follows, I will strengthen him. Those that are called to places of trust and power should seek unto God for grace to enable them to do the duty of their places; for that ought to be their chief care. Eliakim’s advancement is further described by the laying of the key of the house of David upon his shoulders, v. 22. Probably he carried a golden key upon his shoulder as a badge of his office, or had one embroidered upon his cloak or robe, to which this alludes. Being over the house, and having the key delivered to him, as the seals are to the lord-keeper, he shall open and none shall shut, shut and none shall open. He had access to the house of the precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices; and to the house of the armour and the treasures (ch. xxxix. 2), and disposed of the stores there as he thought fit for the public service. He put whom he pleased into the inferior offices and turned out whom he pleased. Our Lord Jesus describes his own power as Mediator by an allusion to this (Rev. iii. 7), that he has the key of David, wherewith he opens and no man shuts, he shuts and no man opens. His power in the kingdom of heaven, and in the ordering of all the affairs of that kingdom, is absolute, irresistible, and uncontrollable. 2. That he should be fixed and confirmed in that office. He shall have it for life, and not durante bene placito–during pleasure (v. 23): I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place, not to be removed or cut down. Thus lasting shall the honour be that comes from God to all those who use it for him. Our Lord Jesus is as a nail in a sure place: his kingdom cannot be shaken, and he himself is still the same. 3. That he should be a great blessing in his office; and it is this that crowns the favours here conferred upon him. God makes his name great, for he shall be a blessing, Gen. xii. 2. (1.) He shall be a blessing to his country (v. 21): He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. he shall take care not only of the affairs of the king’s household, but of all the public interests in Jerusalem and Judah. Note, Rulers should be fathers to those that are under their government, to teach them with wisdom, rule them with love, and correct what is amiss with tenderness, to protect them and provide for them, and be solicitous about them as a man is for his own children and family. It is happy with a people when the court, the city, and the country, have no separate interests, but all centre in the same, so that the courtiers are true patriots, and whom the court blesses the country has reason to bless too; and when those who are fathers to Jerusalem, the royal city, are no less so to the house of Judah. (2.) He shall be a blessing to his family (Isa 22:23; Isa 22:24): He shall be for a glorious throne to his father’s house. The consummate wisdom and virtue which recommended him to this great trust made him the honour of his family, which probably was very considerable before, but now became much more so. Children should aim to be a credit to their parents and relations. The honour men reflect upon their families by their piety and usefulness is more to be valued than that which they derive from their families by their names and titles. Eliakim being preferred, all the glory of his father’s house was hung upon him; they all made their court to him, and his brethren’s sheaves bowed to his. Observe, The glory of this world gives a man no intrinsic worth or excellency; it is but hung upon him as an appurtenance, and it will soon drop from him. Eliakim was compared to a nail in a sure place, in pursuance of which comparison all the relations of his family (which, it is likely, were numerous, and that was the glory of it) are said to have a dependence upon him, as in a house the vessels that have handles to them are hung up upon nails and pins. It intimates likewise that he shall generously take care of them all, and bear the weight of that care: All the vessels, not only the flagons, but the cups, the vessels of small quantity, the meanest that belong to his family, shall be provided for by him. See what a burden those bring upon themselves that undertake great trusts; they little think how many and how much will hand upon them if they resolve to be faithful in the discharge of their trust. Our Lord Jesus, having the key of the house of David, is as a nail in a sure place, and all the glory of his father’s house hangs upon him, is derived from him, and depends upon him; even the meanest that belong to his church are welcome to him, and he is able to bear the stress of them all. That soul cannot perish, nor that concern fall to the ground, though ever so weighty, that is by faith hung upon Christ.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verse 15-25: DENUNCIATION AND COMMENDATION OF JUDAH’S LEADERS
1. In verses 15-19 the prophet is commanded to, personally, confront Shebna – the presumptuous treasurer over the Palace.
a. So lofty is this one, in his own eyes, that he is seen hewing a sepulchre for himself and his family high up in the rocks – among the great ones.
b. He is wasting his time and effort, for he will not be buried there.
c. A disgrace to his master’s house, he will be removed from office and cast violently, like a ball, into a far-off country, where he will die.
2. The office vacated by Shebna will be filled by Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who will be a faithful father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, (Verse 20-21).
b. He will fill his office with honor to his father’s house.
c. It seems obvious that Eliakim serves as a type of Christ – the God-man, who was also the Son of David, (cf. Isa 9:6).
3. If “the peg’, of verse 25, refers to Shebna, it describes the fall of all who were associated with him, (Exo 20:5); if to Eliakim, it prophesies the ultimate fall of Judah.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
15. Thus saith the Lord. This is a special prediction against a single individual; for, having spoken of the whole nation, he turns to Shebna, whom he will afterwards mention. (Isa 37:2.) To this person the Prophet gives two titles, that of “scribe” or “chancellor,” and that of “steward of the house,” for while in this passage he calls him “steward,” in the thirty-seventh chapter he calls him “scribe.” This has led some to think that, at the time of this prediction, he had resigned his office as steward, and that Eliakim was put in his room. But this is uncertain, though the words of the Prophet, in reference to Shebna himself, lead us to conclude that he cherished wicked envy, which led him to attempt to degrade Eliakim from his rank. Nor is it improbable that this prediction was uttered, when Sennacherib’s army was discomfited, and Jerusalem was saved in a miraculous manner. (2Kg 19:35; Isa 37:36.) During the interval, many things might have happened which are now unknown to us; and it is not improbable that this treacherous scoundrel, having obtained the highest authority, made an unjust use of it to the injury of Eliakim. It is evident, from the history of the Book of Kings, that Shebna was a “scribe” or “secretary,” and one of high rank, such as we now call chancellor.
There is greater difficulty about the word סכן, ( sōchēn.) Some think that it means “treasurer,” because סכן ( sāchăn) signifies to store up; but, as he elsewhere calls him “chancellor,” I think it is not probable that he was treasurer. Besides, the Prophet shews plainly enough that his office as governor was such as allowed others to have scarcely any share of authority along with him. Such a rank could not belong to a treasurer, and therefore I think that the Prophet means something else. As סכן ( sāchăn) sometimes signifies “to abet,” and “to foment,” סכן ( sōchēn) may here mean “an abettor,” or, as we commonly say, “an accomplice.” It is certain that this Shebna had communications with the enemy, and was a cunning and deceitful person; for he cherished a concealed friendship with the Egyptians and Assyrians, and held treacherous communications with them, so as to provide for his own safety in any event that might arise, and to maintain his authority.
Others think that סכן ( sōchēn) is a word denoting the country to which he belonged, and that he was called a Sochnite from the city of which he was a native; for he is said to have been an Egyptian. I certainly do not reject that opinion, but I prefer the former; for he abetted both sides, and thought that, by his cunning, he would be preserved, even though everything should be turned upside down.
The particle הזה, ( hăzzēh,) this, is evidently added in contempt. It is as if he had said, “ That cunning man, ready for all shifts, ( πανοῧργος,) who abets various parties, who curries favor on all sides.” In this sense סכן ( sōchēn) is used (1Kg 1:2) when it relates to a maid who was about to be brought to the aged king in order to cherish him. Yet, if it be thought preferable to understand it as meaning a hurtful and injurious person, I do not object, for the word signifies also “to impoverish.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
b. INSOLENT AGENT
TEXT: Isa. 22:15-25
15
Thus saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, Go, get thee unto this treasurer, even unto Shebna, who is over the house, and say,
16
What doest thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out here a sepulchre? hewing him out a sepulchre on high, graving a habitation for himself in the rock!
17
Behold, Jehovah, like a strong man, will hurl thee away violently; yea, he will wrap thee up closely.
18
He will surely wind thee round and round, and toss thee like a ball into a large country; there shalt thou die, and there shall be the chariots of thy glory, thou shame of thy lords house.
19
And I will thrust thee from thine office; and from thy station shalt thou be pulled down.
20
And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah:
21
and I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand; and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.
22
And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; and he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.
23
And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a throne of glory to his fathers house.
24
And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his fathers house, the offspring and the issue, every small vessel, from the cups even to all the flagons.
25
In that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, shall the nail that was fastened in a sure place give way; and it shall be hewn down, and fall; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off; for Jehovah hath spoken it.
QUERIES
a.
Who is Shebna?
b.
Whose house was he over?
c.
Who is Eliakim?
PARAPHRASE
The Lord, Jehovah of Heavens armies, said to me, Go, find this insolent Shebna, the kings chief administrator, and say to him, Who do you think you are and what do you think you are doing by building this magnificent monument to remembrance? Who told you to perpetuate your memory in such a high-handed fashion as to have a burying place hewn out for yourself up among the kings? Look! Jehovah, the Strong One, will hurl you away with great force. Indeed, Jehovah will wind you up like threads are wound into a ball and throw you into a country of vast proportions. In this far off place you will die, you who have brought shame to your king, and all the power you gloried in shall become shame. Jehovah says, I will thrust you out of your office and pull you down from your high position. And then I will call My servant Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, to replace you. I will give him your robes and I will turn over to him your office. He will humble himself before Me and be a real benefactor to the people of Jerusalem and Judah. I will give him authority in the kings government. Whatever he says will be done. He shall be second to none save the king himself. He will become a strong and steady support upon which much of the responsibility of government shall hang. There will be this danger for him. Many, especially all his family and relatives, will seek patronage, position and power from him. If he uses his office for nepotism or other forms of partiality, his office will crash down upon his head to the ruin of all those that sought to attach themselves to him, as well as to his own ruin. Jehovah has spoken!
COMMENTS
Isa. 22:15-19 REJECTION: This treasurer or steward, which is a more literal rendering of the original language, one Shebna by name, was an outstanding example of the irreverence and insolence of many of the people. Over the house is an indication that Shebna was probably the kings chief of staff. He was the chief administrator of the kings governmental policies. Edward J. Young points out that this office was never legislated by God when the kingdom was begun under Saul and David. (Solomon seems to have had a chief steward (1Ki. 4:6). Why Isaiah was commanded to denounce him, publicly, by name, is not clear at first. Some commentators suggest he may have been leading the look-to-Egypt party which was such an abomination to Jehovah. Others suggest that he may have been an Aramaean (as the name Shebna hints) usurper who had worked his way into the government of the covenant people. However, Gods main indictment appears to be that Shebna is exploiting his position and office for his own selfish aggrandizement and not to serve and be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem as Eliakim will (Isa. 22:21). Shebna is oblivious to the needs of the people. He thinks his position is to be served rather than to serve. So he is having an expensive and prestigious burial vault hewn out for himself. He is even having it hewn out on high which probably means up where the kings are buried. This would be an especial irreverence toward God. The whole tenor of this chapter is to point out the almost complete disregard both the people and the leaders of Judah have for directing the kingdom in Jehovahs paths. Judah is almost totally immersed in its own plans and pleasures. Shebna is concerned only with perpetuating his own name and glorifying himself. These people are very little different from all those pagan nations which have come under the judgment of God in this section of Isaiah (chapters 1323).
By way of later history we find Shebna appearing again (Isa. 36:3; Isa. 37:2). He is still holding office in the government but not nearly so high as over the house. Leupold points out that it is possible Shebna took this rebuke of Isaiahs to heart, was demoted, but still was found worthy to occupy a lower post of honor at court. Whatever the case, God brought him down.
Isa. 22:20-25 REPLACEMENT: We also learn from Isa. 36:3; Isa. 36:22, etc. that Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, had become over the household. Eliakim was chosen by God to replace Shebna as chief of staff to the king. Eliakim was Gods servant and a father to the people. He evidently fulfilled in a humble manner what the office was intended to fulfill. He was given an authority so graphically described as could be second only to that of the king himself. He was apparently a good administrator and a peg upon which much weight and responsibility of government was fastened. He was evidently trustworthy and stable.
Isa. 22:24-25 appear to indicate that within a very short time Eliakim, the peg was hewn down. It is not necessary, however, to read these verses as having already happened. They may be read as conditional clauses (a construction that the Hebrew syntax very definitely allows) and then they become warnings for Eliakim concerning a danger that he will soon face in his new office. His relatives and friends shall swarm in upon him seeking special favors and patronage. If he yields to nepotism and partiality, his office will crash down upon his head to the ruin of all those that sought to attach themselves to him, as well as to his own ruin.
So, in spite of the fact that most of the people of Jerusalem and Judah were irreverently and insolently plunging headstrong in their own directions and violently using the kingdom of God to serve their own selfish ends, there were a few, like Eliakim, Hezekiah, Isaiah, and others, who hearkened to the call of Jehovah. While the majority demanded to be served, a faithful remnant surrendered to serve. None of them were perfect and sinless (e.g. Hezekiah, Isaiah). They were faithful. There is more joy in heaven over one sinner like Hezekiah and Isaiah who repents, than over ninety-nine who need no repentance.
QUIZ
1.
How important a figure was Shebna?
2.
Why was Isaiah told to pronounce Gods judgment on Shebna?
3.
Where do we learn of Shebna other than this passage?
4.
Why was Eliakim called to replace Shebna?
5.
How great would Eliakims power and influence be?
6.
What is the prophets warning to Eliakim?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(15) Go, get thee unto this treasurer, even unto Shebna.The section that follows opens a chapter in the internal politics of the reign of Hezekiah. The word for treasurer (literally, companion) implies a position like that of a vizier, identical, probably, with that of the kings friend of Gen. 26:26; 2Sa. 15:37; 1Ki. 4:5. In addition to this office Shebna had the position of being over the house, an office, like that of a Lord Chamberlain, of such importance that it was sometimes held by a kings son (2Ch. 26:21). It gave him supreme control over the treasury of the king and the internal affairs of his kingdom, and made him almost like a maire du palais under the Merovingian kings. It is obvious that his influence was exercised to thwart the prophets counsels; and the probable sequence of thought connecting the two sections is that he was prominent as the representative of the false security and luxury which the prophet had condemned; probably also of the party which rested their hope on an alliance with Egypt. What follows seems to show that he was a novus homo, with no ancestral dignities in his house, possibly even a foreigner (the name is Aramaean in form), pushing himself forward with an obtrusive ambition. We note the touch of scorn in this Shebna.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
15, 16. The “Burden” now passes from the character of the people to that of chief individuals, and of their characters in contrast.
Unto Shebna This is not a person’s name, but an official title; not that of treasurer, for the original means, dear friend, but that of prefect of the palace over the house. The name appears again in Isa 36:3, thus making this prophecy to apply in part to Hezekiah’s time. What hast thou here whom, etc. What right, what claims, for making a family sepulchre in Jerusalem? The tone of the questions implies that this officer was a foreigner as well as a wicked man, using also, quite probably, the public funds for a personal object.
Sepulchre on high At a height in a cliff, to be secure from depredation; hence an extravagant and presumptuous use of public funds.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Self-Important First Minister ( Isa 22:15-19 ).
The first to be dealt with is Shebna, the self-important First Minister. God determined to get him out of the way to a place where he could do no harm.
Isa 22:15-16
‘Thus says the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, “Go, get yourself to this Vizier, even to Shebna, who is over the house, and say, ‘What are you doing here, and whom have you here, that you have hewed yourself out here a sepulchre?’ Hewing himself out a sepulchre on the height, cutting (graving) a habitation for himself in the rock.” ’
Having depicted the false attitude of Judah this is now seen as reflected in their leadership. Shebna was ‘over the house’, that is responsible for administration on behalf of the royal house (compare 1Ki 4:6; 2Ch 26:21). He was the Vizier or First Minister. But rather than concentrating on his responsibilities at this difficult time he was full of himself and seeking to establish his name for all time. He had utilised valuable resources by hewing out a sepulchre from rock, in a high place, so that all would see it and remember whose it was. If they were to die he was ensuring that he would be permanently remembered. He was seeking a permanent name, a permanent resting place, and full prominence in men’s eyes, seeking to some extent to replace God in their eyes. He wanted men to look to him, admiring him because of the grand tomb that awaited him, and then admiring him in death. So the questions mean, ‘who does he think he is? What permanent status does he think that he has?’
We are probably intended to recognise as significant that all his thoughts were seen to be concentrated on death.
‘This Vizier.’ A contemptuous way of depicting how unimportant he really is in God’s eyes. The fact that his father’s name is not given suggests that he has come from humble beginnings, or that it is deliberately omitted in order to humble him. But he is not condemned for that, only for his self-promulgation.
Isa 22:17-19
‘Behold, Yahweh will hurl you away violently, O you great man, yes he will wrap you up closely (take firm hold of you). He will surely twist you and throw you like a ball into a large country. There you will die, and there will be the chariots of your glory, you disgrace of your lord’s house. “And I will thrust you from your office.” And he will pull you down from your high position.’
God has no time for this man. He intends to get rid of him. He will play with him as a child plays, wrapping him up in His hand and twisting him into a ball and hurling him into a wide open space. No doubt the game was familiar to his readers. ‘O you great man’ is sarcastic. He is not really seen as great at all, he only thinks that he is. And now he has become but a plaything.
The purpose is to be rid of him. He is something to be thrown away. The ‘large country’ may simply mean somewhere well away from the palace where he can do no harm, ‘the wide open spaces’, or it may suggest that he will be forcibly exiled or more probably sent somewhere as an ambassador or similar. For while he is to be demoted, he will still have his chariots which he thinks bring him glory, which is why it seems possible that he will be an ambassador or something similar. God will let him keep his chariots, but he will die there. God will exile him permanently even if man does not. ‘You disgrace of your lord’s house’ is clearly said with some feeling. It is clear that Shebna is advising the king unwisely, against the will of God, possibly to enter into foreign alliances.
“And I will thrust you from your office.” These words are probably to be seen as quoting Yahweh. He is so moved at the situation that He conveys His own message. Isaiah then declares that He will do precisely that. He will be pulled down from his high position. We possibly find the partial fulfilment of this Isa 36:3; Isa 37:2, although that may have been a different Shebna.
A similar indictment might be made against some preachers who try to make themselves look big, with big homes and big cars and big egos.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Two Ministers ( Isa 22:15-25 ).
This passage is presumably intended to come under the general heading of the Burden of the Valley of Vision, indicating problems among the leadership as well as among the people. When a people are dishonest before God it is not long before their leaders become the same. So here two important ministers are dealt with, both of whom were failing in one way or another. They are seen as following the trend and as a corrupting influence in Judah as a result of their bad example. They are seen as two men who shared some of the responsibility for Judah’s sinful attitudes. They illustrate all that is wrong with Judah. This demonstrates that underneath all Judah’s problems lay the self-aggrandisement and disobedience and sinfulness of the people. It was their attitudes and behaviour that were at fault.
Analysis of Isa 22:15-25.
a Thus says the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, “Go, get yourself to this Vizier, even to Shebna, who is over the house, and say, ‘What are you doing here, and whom have you here, that you have hewed yourself out here a sepulchre?’ Hewing himself out a sepulchre on the height, cutting (graving) a habitation for himself in the rock.”
b Behold, Yahweh will hurl you away violently, O you great man, yes He will wrap you up closely (take firm hold of you). He will surely twist you and throw you like a ball into a large country. There you will die, and there will be the chariots of your glory, you disgrace of your lord’s house. “And I will thrust you from your office.” And He will pull you down from your high position (Isa 22:17-19).
c And it will come about in that day that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and I will clothe him with your robe, and strengthen him with your girdle (Isa 22:20).
d And I will commit your authority into his hand. And he will be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah (Isa 22:20-21).
d And I will lay on his shoulder the key of the house of David, and he will open and none shall shut, and he will shut, and none shall open (Isa 22:22).
c And I will fasten him as a peg in a sure place, and he will be for a throne of glory to his father’s house, and they will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the issue, every small vessel, from the vessels of cups even to all the vessels of flagons (Isa 22:23-24).
b “In that day,” says Yahweh of hosts, “the nail that was fastened in a sure place will give way, and it will be hewn down, and fall, and the burden that was on it will be cut off” (Isa 22:25 a).
a “For Yahweh has spoken it” (Isa 22:25 b).
This is a passage of deliberate contrasts, but both parties fail in their own way. In ‘a’ Yahweh has spoken against Shebna because he has used his office for personal aggrandisement. He has ‘hewn’ out his own sepulchre in a prominent position to enhance himself in the people’s eyes, and in the parallel Yahweh has spoken against Eliakim. In ‘b’ Shebna will be hurled away and thrust from office, and in the parallel the nail that has been fastened in a sure place will give way and fall. In ‘c’ Eliakim is called and is made strong, and in the parallel Eliakim is to be fastened securely and to prosper in office. In ‘d’ Eliakim is to replace Shebna in his responsibilities and become father to the people, and in the parallel the key of the house of David will be laid on his shoulders so that he will be able to open and shut doors.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Oracle Against Shebna
v. 15. Thus saith the Lord God of hosts, v. 16. What hast thou here, and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulcher here, v. 17. Behold, the Lord will carry thee away with a mighty captivity, v. 18. He will surely violently turn and toss thee like a ball, v. 19. And I will drive thee from thy station, v. 20. And it shall come to pass in that day, v. 21. and I will clothe him with thy robe and strengthen him with thy girdle, v. 22. And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder, v. 23. And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place, v. 24. And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father’s house, v. 25. In that day,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Isa 22:15. Thus saith the Lord God of Hosts The other part of this discourse, which contains the judgment upon Shebna, the overseer of the palace, is so connected with the former, as plainly to shew that this man was the chief and most eminent among the profane nobles of that time, against whom the prophet declaims in the preceding period; who, having the first place in the state and palace after the king, had corrupted many, himself the head and chief of the profane and irreligious. This period contains, first, a command given to the prophet, concerning a judgment to be denounced on Shebna, in the name of the Lord, Isa 22:15. Secondly, the sum of that judicial denunciation, which is two-fold; convictive, and penal. Convictive, wherein the security and confidence conceived in his mind, concerning the liability of his fortune and estate, is very sharply rebuked, Isa 22:16. Penal, which sets forth the sentence passed against him, or the punishments determined by the divine judgment, and the confirmation of this sentence added as a clause to this penal denunciation. The punishments are, his being carried away from the land of Canaan into a distant country, and as is probable into Assyria, Isa 22:17-18. A deprivation from his high state and dignity, Isa 22:19 and the substitution of Eliakim, his rival, in his place, with the high authority and prosperity of his house, Isa 22:20-24. Then follows in the 25th verse the confirmation, and, as it were, recapitulation of the whole sentence. We know nothing certain concerning this Shebna; it is hardly probable that he was the same person with that mentioned, 2Ki 18:18. And it has been thought by some, that he was not a native Jew, but a foreigner, and a man of low birth; which they would collect from the pride of his desire to ennoble himself by a splendid sepulchre, Isa 22:16.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
1. AGAINST THE PRIDE OF SHEBNA THE STEWARD OF THE HOUSE
Isa 22:15-25
15Thus saith the Lord God of hosts;
Go, get thee unto this 10treasurer,
Even unto Shebna, which is over the house, and say,
16What hast thou here, and whom hast thou here,
That thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here,
11As he that heweth him out a sepulchre on high,
And that graveth an habitation for himself in a rock?
17Behold, the Lord [12]will carry thee away with a mighty captivity,
And will surely cover thee.
18He will surely violently turn,
And toss thee like a ball into a 13large country;
There shalt thou die,
And there the chariots of thy glory
Shall be the shame of thy lords house.
19And I will drive thee from thy station,
And from thy state shall he pull thee down.
20And it shall come to pass in that day,
That I will call my servant Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah;
21And I will clothe him with thy robe,
And strengthen him with thy girdle,
And I will commit thy government into his hand;
And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
And to the house of Judah.
22And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder,
So he shall open, and none shall shut;
And he shall shut, and none shall open.
23And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place;
And he shall be for a glorious throne to his fathers house.
24And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his fathers house,
The offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity,
From the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons.
25In that day, saith the Lord of hosts,
Shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed,
And be cut down, and fall;
And the burden that was upon it shall be cut off;
For the Lord hath spoken it.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
Isa 22:15. comp. Isa 26:20; Eze 3:4; Eze 3:11; 2Ki 5:5. The change of and without any perceptible difference of meaning, which is very common in Jeremiah (comp. on Jer 10:3) occurs also in Isaiah not unfrequently (comp. on Isa 10:3).
Isa 22:16. is accusative of the place.
Isa 22:17. Grammar forbids our considering (it and Pilp. only here in Isaiah) as in the construct state. For in all cases where this anomaly appears to occur, the second word is in apposition. To take as a vocative (as after the Syriac version many do, also Cheyne and Diestel), is still harder than to regard it as in apposition to . For though a tolerable irony might lie in , yet there is no example of the word so standing alone as vocative. The subst. stands instead of the customary infinitive absolute. I do not understand why it is said that cannot have the signification wrap up, inwrap, for it signifies induere in 1Sa 28:14; Psa 104:2; Psa 71:13. Comp. Psa 109:19; Psa 109:29; Isa 59:17; Jer 43:12; and this induere cannot be understood in many of these places as merely covering, but must denote an inwrapping or enveloping ones self tightly. It might be said that then signifies to inwrap ones self, and stands with the accusative of the thing which is put on or in which a person wraps himself, while in the passage before us is joined with the accusative of the person. But it is well known that the Hebrew verbal stems are by no means clearly discriminated in respect to transitive and intransitive use, and besides, Isaiah employs here only rare verbal forms. It appears to me that the Prophet by indicates the laying together of the coverings on the person of Shebna. denotes the rolling together into a ball, the casting forth. is to wrap round, obvolvere (the verb only here and Lev 16:4). Thence comes , what is rolled or wound together (. .). is not with the prefix, but belongs to the stem. Comp. Isa 29:3 and Job 15:24. The signification is pila, sphaera, globus, ball. It is to be construed in apposition to . The word is found only here in Isaiah. , and only here in Isaiah; is found besides Isa 14:17 and in Piel Isa 49:17.
Isa 22:21. (with double accusative after the analogy of verbs of clothing) is to make fast, strengthen (Nah 2:2).
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. The prophecy, which chastises the haughty and defiant spirit of the inhabitants of Jerusalem is followed by another which has for its subject the pride of a single person. Shebna, the steward of the palace, and first minister of the king, was a haughty, insolent man. He went so far in his arrogance that he caused a sepulchre to be hewn out for himself in a rock on high (probably on the height of Mount Zion). He was standing beside his new sepulchre, which was yet in course of construction, when Isaiah, by Gods command, came to him and asked him by what right and title he was hewing for himself here a sepulchre in the rock on the height (Isa 22:15-16)? Jehovah will cast him away as a ball into a distant, level country. There shall he die, and the disgrace of the house of David will be there his funeral pomp. But before that, the Lord will remove him from his office (Isa 22:17-19). The Lord will call to his place as steward of the palace Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who will prove a father to Jerusalem and Judah, and the key of authority over the realm shall be put into his hand (Isa 22:20-22). Eliakim will thereby raise his family also to high honors. As one hangs on a nail all vessels of the house, so will he elevate and bear all the descendants of his house; but this procedure will not remain unpunishedfor the nail will break, and the vessels hanging on it will fall down and be dashed to pieces (Isa 22:23-25).
2. Thus saithover the house.
Isa 22:15. occurs only here. The feminine is applied as a predicate to the Shunammite Abishag (1Ki 1:2; 1Ki 1:4). A [Margin of English BibleBHS: a cherisher] is there sought for the king and also found in the person of Abishag. That in this connection the signification: intimate friend, amica intima, familiarissima, suits, is obvious. The signification intimate friend is favored by the related root, , to dwell, with the additional signification, to dwell together (. Comp. Pro 8:12; Ges.Thes. p. 1408), and the Arabic sakan, friend, and the Hiphil. , to form acquaintance (Job 22:21), cognitum habere (Psa 139:3) consuevisse (Num 22:30). That this was in the East a title of office is well known. (Comp. the Lexicons and Gesenius on this place). I therefore translate by privy counsellor. The pronoun this, involves, like the Latin iste, the idea of contempt. The name (written , 2Ki 18:18; 2Ki 18:26; comp. ibid. Isa 19:2; Isa 36:3; Isa 36:11; Isa 36:22; Isa 37:2) is in the O. T. applied only to this one individual. From the circumstance that his genealogy is not given, some have been inclined to infer that he was a novus homo, an upstart, perhaps not even an Israelite. Neither conclusion seems to me to be justified. For, that Isaiah does not name the father of Shebna because he was a homo ignobilis, or quite unknown, is so unlikely, that we must rather on the contrary say, if the father of Shebna had been a man of base, or not even of Israelitish origin, or a person quite unknown, Isaiah would have given prominence to this circumstance, because it would serve to set the haughtiness of Shebna in the moreglaring light. It is therefore more probable that Isaiah, contrary to the approved custom of the East, omitted the name of the father, because he would not show this respect to the son. The fact that Shebna is further described as placed over the house, indicates that was only a general title. He belonged, in general, to the friends of the king, but he was, in particular, the highest among them, viz.: major domus, maire du palais. He filled at the same time the first office at court and in the state. Comp. 1Ki 4:6; 1Ki 16:9; 1Ki 18:3; 2Ki 10:5. From 2Ki 15:5 we learn that even the son of the king and subsequently his successor on the throne filled this office.
3. What hast thoupull thee down.
Isa 22:16-19. The question What hast thou here? evidently means: What entities thee to make thy grave here? While the question Whom hast thou here? intimates that Shebna will not succeed in burying here even one of his kindred. The thrice-repeated , here, intimates that the place was a select one, not standing open to every person. The following words to the end of the verse, make on one the impression that they are a quotation from some poem unknown to us. For 1) the third person does not suit the connection here; 2) the parallelism, consisting of two members, and the forms and indicate a poetic origin. What height is meant appears from the statement in many passages (1Ki 2:10; 1Ki 11:43, etc.;2Ch 16:14, etc.) that the sepulchres of the kings were in the city of David, i. e., on Zion, and according to 2Ch 32:33, on the height of Zion. [Eng. Ver. there runs in the chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David; but height should be substituted for chiefest.D. M.]. In this quarter, although not in the proper sepulchres of the kings, those kings also were interred who did not appear worthy of the full honor of a kingly burial (2Ch 24:16). Comp. Herzog,R.- Enc. I., p. 773 sqq. In the neighborhood of the royal sepulchres on the height of Zion, Shebna also seems to have laid out for himself a tomb hewn in a rock. An honor which was voluntarily accorded to such a man as Jehoiada he arrogates to himself. The last member of verse 16 bears evidently the character of poetic parallelism, for it repeats for the sake of rhetorical effect the thought of the preceding clause, though somewhat modified (the grave is described as a habitation for the dead). Comp. Oba 1:3; Hab 2:19. Shebna believes that he is able to secure for himself and his family, even after death, a permanent dwelling for all times. But the Prophet announces to him that the Lord will cast him forth, will whirl him out with a whirl as a man, i. e., with the force of a strong man. Isa 22:18. We have here a pregnant construction. besides meaning to roll together, must have latent in it the idea of rolling forth, as it is connected with . is then not the act of rolling, but that which is rolled together. The expression , widely extended on both sides, is found further only in Gen 34:21; Jdg 18:10; 1Ch 4:40; Neh 7:4. The Prophet evidently means by this large country Mesopotamia, which then still belonged to the Assyrian empire. It seems to me that there is also an antithesis in this expression. As being cast forth stands in opposition to the peaceful staying at home which Shebna hoped for, so the broad country is in contrast to the elevated rock-hewn sepulchre above the narrow valley. There, consequently, in a place which is the very opposite of the place where Shebna wished to build his grave, there shall he die, and there shall he be buried. But even the burial ceremonies will contrast strangely with those which Shebna had anticipated. Almost all interpreters take as vocative. But then the sentence and there the chariots, etc., would be without a predicate; or we must supply an unmeaning predicate such as crunt, venient, or an arbitrary one such as peribunt. The Vulgate and the Peshito have taken the words to together as subject and predicate. But when they translate et ibi erit currus gloriae tuae ignominia domus domini tui we must not think that they take currus as the subject; for this construction yields no tolerable sense. But ignominia, etc. ( ) is the subject. We have, indeed, so far as I know, no express statements respecting the use of chariots at the funerals of the Hebrews. Only in 2Ki 23:30 we read that the dead body of king Josiah was brought in a chariot (comp. 2Ch 35:24) from Megiddo to Jerusalem. But the thing is in itself probable, and in the passage before us the mention of chariots would be well explained if we durst assume that Isaiah thought of the magnificent funeral with chariots which Shebna might expect. In this supposition I translate and there will thy state-carriages bethe shame of the house of thy lord; that is, the shame which the house of thy lord will suffer, and that, too, chiefly through thy fault, this shame will be the escort of thy dead body, it will serve thee instead of the chariots with which they would have furnished thy funeral here, suitably to thy dignity as placed over the palace, it will constitute thy obsequies and accompany thee to the grave. That in the expression shame of thy lords house, there is an allusion to the house of the king over which Shebna was placed, is self-evident. There is no hysteron proteron when the Prophet announces the deposition of Shebna from his office. For, in fact, this deposition is only the consequence of the judgment which was to come on Shebna on account of his presumption in building himself a vault. How can a man, against whom such a sentence has been published, remain steward of the palace? He displeases the King of kings. How can the earthly king, if he will not draw on himself the wrath of the heavenly King, retain him? He must dismiss the man to whom Jehovah Himself has given notice of dismissal. Isa 22:19. The change of person in the two verbs is best explained, after what has been remarked, in this way: the first person refers to the Lord as the Supreme Ruler; the third person, to the human authority, by means of which the divine will is executed on Shebna. This third person is not mentioned by name, and is to be rendered by he or one. Shebnas pride was certainly only one symptom of a spirit displeasing to God. He was assuredly no servant of the Lord; he therefore did not employ his power to promote the cause of Jehovah, and he must give way to a better man.
4. And it shall comehath spoken it.
Isa 22:20-25. On the day when Shebna must quit his post, Eliakim the son of Hilkiah will occupy his place. We know of this Eliakim nothing except what we learn from the present passage and from 36 and 37. He was in all probability of the priestly race. For Hilkiah, as his father was called, was a common name of priests. At all events, all persons called Hilkiah mentioned in the O. T. are, with a single doubtful exception (Jer 29:3) of priestly, or at least of Levitical origin, Jer 1:1; 2Ki 22:4 sqq.; 1 Chron. 5:39; 6:30; 26:11; Ezr 7:1; Neh 8:4; Neh 11:11; Neh 12:7. It seems to follow from Isa 22:21, that the steward of the house had an official dress, with the putting on of which his installation was connected. The , tunic was one of the principal parts of the dress of the priests. (Exo 28:40; Exo 29:5; Exo 29:8, etc.). The girdle () also belonged to the dress of the priests (Exo 28:29; Leviticus 8). in the sense of sphere of rule, jurisdiction, in Isaiah besides only Isa 39:2. Where the paternal authority stands so high as among the Jews the expression, to be a father to one denotes a right to rule, which has no other limits than those which nature itself imposes on a father in relation to his child (Gen 45:8; Jdg 17:10; Jdg 18:19). The expression the house of Judah is found in Isaiah besides only Isa 37:31. It occurs first in Hosea (Hos 1:7; Hos 5:12; Hos 5:14); and is especially frequent in the older parts of Jeremiah (Jer 3:18; Jer 5:11; Jer 11:10; Jer 11:17, etc.), and in Ezekiel (Eze 4:6; Eze 8:17; Eze 9:9, etc.). Respecting the distinction between Judah and Jerusalem comp. on Isa 2:1; Isa 5:3. Isa 22:22. The power over the house is essentially a power of the keys. For the key opens the entrance to the house, to the apartments and to all that is in them. He, therefore, who alone has this key, has alone also the highest power. The expression reminds us on the one hand of Isa 9:5 (on his shoulder is a symbolical representation of the office as a burden to be carried), on the other hand of Job 12:14. The Lord Himself is in Rev 3:7 represented after the present passage as He who has the key of David. Eliakim is not only to possess the highest authority at court and in the State, he is also to use his position for advancing all his house to high honor. This will not happen without abuse of power and evil consequences. A double image is used to express what Eliakim will be to his house. First, he shall be fastened as a nail ( Isa 33:20; Isa 54:2) in a sure place (i. e., in a place where it sticks fast). I do not think that is here to be taken as a tent-peg; for that would not suit Isa 22:25. The figure is intended first of all to convey the idea that Eliakims influential position will be firmly established and secure. The word of the Lord has called him to it. In this secure and influential place Eliakim will be for his own family a throne of honor (1Sa 2:8; Jer 14:21; Jer 17:12), i. e., he will bear his whole family, it will honorably rest on him, as upon a throne. We see that the two figures come substantially to the same thing. But the figure of a nail is in itself a less honorable one than that of a throne. For the nail is only a common article serving simply for the hanging up of vessels. It happens then to Eliakim that he is a nail to which all that belongs to the house of Hilkiah attaches itself, in order to attain to honor by him (Isa 22:24 a). They hang on Eliakim the offspring ( an expression which occurs only Job 5:25; Job 21:8; Job 27:14; Job 31:8 and Isa 34:1; Isa 42:5; Isa 44:3; Isa 48:19; Isa 61:9; Isa 65:23) and the issue; the two expressions, denote the direct and collateral issue. properly parasite plants, hangers-on. , . ., is a contemptuous expression, as we can see from (Eze 4:15). All vessels of small quantity, of smallness (Isa 36:9, comp. Exo 15:16) from the basins (Exo 24:6) to the skin bottles, or vessels like skin bags or bottles. Thus his entire kindred will fasten themselves on him. The proper, literal expressions the offspring and the issue are illustrated by the figurative expressions which follow. Isa 22:25. In that day (with significant allusion to Isa 22:20) i. e., at the time when this nepotism will be at its height, and be ripe for judgment, the nail which was fastened in a sure place will give way, break and fall, and the burden hanging on it will be dashed to pieces. Many interpreters take offence at this turn of the prophecy, which unexpectedly betokens disaster, and Hitzig pronounces Isa 22:24 sq. a later addition. But as the prophecy directed against Shebna had the effect that he actually resigned his post in favor of Eliakim, and was content with the lower office of a scribe (Isa 36:3 sqq.), in like manner the unexpected statement, Isa 22:24 sq., can have had the salutary design, and effect of warning Eliakim. If this result followed, then the words were not, in fact, pregnant with disaster, but with profit. If Eliakim did not let himelf be admonished, he deserved what is threatened.
Footnotes:
[10]privy counsellor.
[11]Or, O he.
[12]will whirl thee out with a whirl as a man.
[13]Heb. large of spaces.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. On Isa 21:2 God punishes one villain by means of another, and a man is punished by the very sin which he himself commits (Wis 11:17). Thus God punished the Babylonians by the Persians, the Persians by the Greeks, the Greeks by the Romans, the Romans by the Goths, Longobardi, and Saracens.Cramer. [The Persians shall pay the Babylonians in their own coin; they that by fraud and violence, cheating and plundering, unrighteous wars and deceitful treaties, have made a prey of their neighbors, shall meet with their match, and by the same methods shall themselves be made a prey of. Henry. D. M.].
2. On Isa 21:3. The Prophets do not rejoice at the loss suffered by their enemies; but have sympathy for them as for men made in the image of God. We ought not to cast off every humane feeling towards our foes (Mat 5:34).Cramer.
3. On Isa 21:5. Invadunt urbem vino somnoque sepultam. Virgil. We see here how people commonly feel the more secure, the more they indulge their fleshly lusts, although they are drawing nearer their punishment. So was it with the antediluvian world, so is it now also in these last times when the coming of Christ is expected, as He says, Mat 24:38.Renner. The Prophet Isaiah expounded, etc.Stuttgart, 1865, p. 73.
4. On Isa 21:6 sqq. It is a grand, infallible evidence of the prophetic Scriptures, and of their divine inspiration, that they do not speak in general uncertain terms, but describe future things so accurately, and exactly, as if we saw them before our eyes. This serves to establish the authority of the Holy Scriptures.Cramer.
5. On Isa 21:10. Only what the Lord said to him, and all that the Lord said to him, the Prophet declares. Therefore he is sure and certain, even when he has incredible things to announce. Therefore is he firm and courageous, though what he has to proclaim does not please the world. He conceals and keeps back nothing; neither does he add anything. He is a faithful declarer of the mind of God, and does not spare even himself. The proof, fulfilment and accomplishment he leaves to Him who spake through him.
6. On Isa 21:11. He who sets the watch without God, watches in vain (Psa 127:1). And when God Himself is approaching, then no care of the watchmen is of any use, whether it be day or night. For when the day of the Lord begins to burn, even the stars of heaven and his Orion, do not shine brightly. For God covers the heavens, and makes the stars thereof dark, and covers the sun with a cloud (Eze 32:7). For when God the Creator of all things frowns on us, then all creatures also frown on us, and are terrible and offensive to us.Cramer. From this place Christian Friedr. Richter, has composed his fine morning hymn:
Hter, wird die Nacht der Snden
Nicht verschwinden?
[Comp. in English Bowrings well-known hymn:
Watchman, tell us of the night,
What its signs of promise are.D. M.]
7. On Isa 21:14. We ought not to forget to be hospitable towards the needy (Heb 13:1).Cramer.
8. On Isa 21:16. I regard as a true Prophet him who does not declare a matter upon mere imagination and conjecture, but measures the time so exactly that he fixes precisely when a thing shall happen.Cramer.
9. On Isa 22:2 sqq. To see the enemy at the gates, and at the same time to regard him merely with curiosity, and to indulge in mirth and jollity, as if all were well, and this too at a time when Gods servants warn men with tears, as Isaiah did Jerusalem (Isa 22:4), this is blind presumption which God will punish. But when the calamity has burst upon them, and all expedients by which they try to avert it are of no avail, for men to despise then the only one who can help them, and to spend the brief remaining time in sensual pleasure, this is open-eyed defiance, and will lead to judicial blindness, and that sin which will not be forgiven (Mat 12:32).
10. On Isa 22:13. This is the language of swine of the herd of Epicurus, comp. Isa 56:12; Wis 2:6 sqq.; 1Co 15:32.
11. On Isa 22:14. It is true, as Augustine says, that no one should despair of the remission of his sin, seeing that even they who put Christ to death obtained forgiveness, and the blood of Jesus Christ was so shed for the forgiveness of all sins that it could wash away the sins of those by whom it was shedbut that obstinacy, which refuses to see the needed help, excludes itself from grace and forgiveness.
12. On Isa 22:15 sqq. The mission which Isaiah here receives, reminds us strongly of that which Jeremiah had to discharge towards Jehoiakim (Jer 22:1 sqq., esp. Isa 22:19), and also of what he was obliged to say to Pashur (Isa 20:6). A Prophet of the Lord must show no respect of persons. Isaiah indeed seems to have produced the desired effect; for we find 36 and 37. Shebna as Scribe and Eliakim as steward of the house. But Jeremiah received as recompense for the fulfilment of his mission bitter hatred and cruel persecution.
13. On Isa 22:17. The Vulgate translates here: Ecce Dominus asportari te faciet, sicut asportatur gallus gallinaceus. And Jerome in his exposition says: Hebraeus, qui nos in lectione veteris Testamenti erudivit, gallum gallinaceum transtulit. Sicut inquit gallus gallinaceus humero portatoris de allo loco transfertur ad alium, sic te Dominus de loco tuo leviter asportabit. The cock which is never mentioned in the Old Testament, and for which we have no genuine Hebrew word, is in fact called by the Talmudists. Conscience, wanting the word of God, is as a ball rolling on the ground, and cannot rest.Luther.
14. On Isa 22:19. Service at court is not in itself to be condemned, and a good ruler and a worthy prime minister are the gift of God (Sir 4:8; Sir 4:11; Ch. 10). Let him therefore who is called to such an office abide, as the Lord has called him (1Co 7:17), and beware of excessive pomp. For God can quickly depose the proud.Cramer.
15. On Isa 22:21 sqq. The comparison of a magistrate in high position with a father is very appropriate. The whole extent, and the proper measure of a rulers power are involved in this similitude. The authority of a father and that of a ruler have a common root in love. Eliakim in having the keys of the house of David laid on his shoulder that he might open and no one shut, and shut and no one open is (Rev 3:7) viewed as a type of Christ, who is the administrator appointed by God over the house of David in the highest sense, i. e., over the kingdom of God. Christ has this power of the keys in unrestricted measure. The ministers of the Lord exercise the same only in virtue of the commission which they have from Him; and their exercise of it is only then sanctioned by the Lord, when it is in the Spirit which the Lord breathed into the disciples before He committed to them the power of the keys (Joh 20:22 sq.). [The application of the same terms to Peter (Mat 16:19) and to Christ Himself (Rev 3:7) does not prove that they here refer to either, or that Eliakim was a type of Christ, but merely that the same words admit of different applications. Alexander. It is God that clothes rulers with their robes, and, therefore, we must submit ourselves to them for the Lords sake and with an eye to Him (1Pe 2:13). And since it is He that commits the government into their hand,they must administer it according to His will, for His glory. And they may depend on Him to furnish them for what He calls them to; according to the promise here. I will clothe him: and then there follows, I will strengthen him. After HenryD. M.]
16. On Isa 22:25. No one is so exalted or raised to such high dignity as to abide therein. But mans prosperity, office and honor, and whatever else is esteemed great in the world are, like human life, on account of sin inconstant, vain and liable to pass away. This serves as an admonition against pride and security. Cramer.
HOMILETICAL HINTS ON 2122
1. On Isa 21:1-4. Gods judgments are terrible, 1) for him on whom they fall; 2) for him who has to announce them.
2. On Isa 21:6-10. The faithful watchman. 1) He stands upon his watch day and night. 2) He announces only what he has seen and what he has heard from the Lord (Isa 22:9-10). 3) But he announces this as a lion, i. e. aloud and without fear.
3. On Isa 22:11-12. The spiritual night on earth. 1) It is a. a night of tribulation, b. a night of sin. 2) It awakens a longing for its end. 3) It does not entirely cease till the Lord vouchsafes to us a happy end, and graciously takes us from this valley of weeping to Himself in heaven.
4. On Isa 21:14 sq. We may fitly employ this text for a charity sermon on any occasion when an appeal is made to the benevolence of the congregation (especially for exiles, as those banished from the Salzburg territory for their Evangelical faith). What we ought to consider when our contributions are asked. 1) Our own situation (we dwell in the land of Tema, a quite fertile oasis). 2) The situation of those who come to us in their distress. 3) What we have to give them.
5. On Isa 22:1-7. Warning against thoughtlessness. Pride precedes a fall. Blind presumption is often changed into its opposite.
6. On Isa 22:8-14. Blind presumption is bad, but open-eyed obstinacy is still worse. The latter is when one clearly perceives the existing distress, and the insufficiency of our own powers and of the means at our command, and yet refuses to look to Him who alone can help, or to consider the fate which awaits those who die without God, and seeks before the impending catastrophe happens to snatch as much as possible of the enjoyments of this world.
7. On Isa 22:15-19. He who will fly high is in danger of falling low. God can easily cast him down. The waxen wings of lcarus. Shebna illustrates, 1Pe 5:5.
8. On Isa 22:20-25. A mirror for those in office. Every one who has an office, ought 1) to be conscious that he has come into the office legally, and according to the will of God; 2) He ought to be a father to those over whom he is set; 3) He ought so to do everything which he does in his office, that its justice is apparent, and that no one can impugn it. 4) He ought not to be like a nail on which all the relations of his family strive to fasten their hope of success; for that is bad for himself and for those who would so abuse his influence.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
The removal of Shebna from the office of treasurer, no doubt, took place in the history of Judah; perhaps in the event of the invasion. But the introduction of the subject here seems to have reference to what the Prophet had in commission to deliver concerning a greater than Shebna, in the close of the chapter. Shebna, therefore, is the representative of every man, who setteth up his rest on this side the land of promise; who takes confidence in anything short of Jesus. Oh! for grace to make a better choice!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 22:15 Thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, Go, get thee unto this treasurer, [even] unto Shebna, which [is] over the house, [and say],
Ver. 15. Go, get thee unto this treasurer. ] This is Actio Iesaiae in Shebnam, sicut Ciceronis in verrem. Shebna was a great courtier and an ill member, advanced likely by King Ahaz, and tolerated for a time by good Hezekiah, as Joab was by David, because he could neither will nor choose; or as Stephanus the Persian was by Justinian, the second emperor of Constantinople; who, being praefectus aulae likewise, set over the house, grew so insolent that he spared not the emperor’s mother, though she were Augusta, but whipped her as if she had been his bond slave. a This Shebna is thought to have been an Egyptian, a Sochite, and of mean parentage.
“ Asperius nihil est humili cum surgit in altum. ”
Shebna likely was one of those jeering epicures above taxed, and now particularly threatened. Some for treasurer render fautor, adiutor, a favourer and helper, sc., of those profane scoffers, Isa 22:13 or of the enemies, with whom he underhand dealt and packed; he is therefore threatened to be ex-officed and sent packing into a strange country.
a Funccius.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Isa 22:15-25
15Thus says the Lord GOD of hosts,
Come, go to this steward,
To Shebna, who is in charge of the royal household,
16’What right do you have here,
And whom do you have here,
That you have hewn a tomb for yourself here,
You who hew a tomb on the height,
You who carve a resting place for yourself in the rock?
17Behold, the LORD is about to hurl you headlong, O man.
And He is about to grasp you firmly
18And roll you tightly like a ball,
To be cast into a vast country;
There you will die
And there your splendid chariots will be,
You shame of your master’s house.’
19I will depose you from your office,
And I will pull you down from your station.
20Then it will come about in that day,
That I will summon My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah,
21And I will clothe him with your tunic
And tie your sash securely about him.
I will entrust him with your authority,
And he will become a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.
22Then I will set the key of the house of David on his shoulder,
When he opens no one will shut,
When he shuts no one will open.
23I will drive him like a peg in a firm place,
And he will become a throne of glory to his father’s house.
24So they will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house, offspring and issue, all the least of vessels, from bowls to all the jars. 25In that day, declares the LORD of hosts, the peg driven in a firm place will give way; it will even break off and fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut off, for the LORD has spoken.
Isa 22:15-19 This describes YHWH’s judgment on Shebna, King Hezekiah’s steward. The exact reason for Shebna’s replacement with Eliakim (cf. Isa 22:20-25) is uncertain, but it must have been serious and in context, may be a self-reliant spirit.
Shebna is probably Shebnah of 2Ki 18:18, who was Eliakim’s scribe.
Isa 22:16 This is a series of questions challenging Shebna’s right to serve.
Isa 22:17-19 Sin has consequences. Leaders are especially responsible. YHWH is described as the personal agent of judgment.
1. to hurl you, Isa 22:17, BDB 376, KB 373, Pipel PARTICIPLE; and related NOUN (BDB 376), hurl you violently
2. to grasp you firmly, Isa 22:17, Qal PERFECT and Qal INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE of BDB 742 II, KB 814 II
3. roll you tightly like a ball to be cast, Isa 22:18, Qal INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE and Qal IMPERFECT VERB, as well as the NOUN, of the same root (BDB 857, KB 1039)
4. die an outcast in a foreign land, Isa 22:18 c,d
5. I will depose you, Isa 22:19, BDB 213, KB 239, Qal PERFECT
6. I will pull you down, Isa 22:19, BDB 248, KB 256, Qal IMPERFECT
There is an interesting lexical theory connected to #2. NIDOTTE, vol. 3, pp. 380-381, suggests that the root means delouse, as a metaphor for complete destruction (cf. Jer 43:12).
Isa 22:20-25 These verses describe what YHWH will do to Shebna’s successor, Eliakim (cf. 2Ki 18:18; 2Ki 18:26; 2Ki 18:37; 2Ki 19:2; Isa 22:20; Isa 36:3; Isa 36:11; Isa 36:22; Isa 37:2).
1. YHWH will summon him, lit. call, Isa 22:20, BDB 894, KB 1128, Qal PERFECT
2. YHWH will clothe him with a tunic, Isa 22:21, BDB 527, KB 519, Hiphil PERFECT
3. YHWH will tie a sash securely about him, Isa 22:21, VERB from #2 implied
4. YHWH will entrust him with your authority, Isa 22:21, BDB 304, KB 302, Piel IMPERFECT
5. YHWH will set the key of the house of David on his shoulders, Isa 22:22, BDB 678, KB 733, Qal PERFECT
6. YHWH will drive him like a peg into a firm place, Isa 22:23, BDB 1075, KB 1787, Qal PERFECT
Isa 22:21-23 These verses describe what he will do.
1. he will become a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Isa 22:20
2. he opens and no one will shut, he shuts and no will open, Isa 22:22
3. he will become a throne of glory to his father’s house, Isa 22:23 (cf. Isa 22:24)
In some sense these verses see Eliakim as a type or foreshadowing of the Messiah. This same foreshadowing is seen in Zechariah with Zerubbabel and Joshua (cf. Zechariah 3-4).
Isa 22:23 firm See Special Topic following, especially II., A., 1., b., (2).
SPECIAL TOPIC: Believe, Trust, Faith, and Faithfulness in the Old Testament ()
Isa 22:25 Even Eliakim (i.e., the peg driven in a firm place), with all of YHWH’s help, cannot stop the judgment that is coming.
1. peg will give way (BDB 559 I, KB 561, Qal IMPERFECT)
2. peg will break off (BDB 154, KB 180, Niphal PERFECT)
3. peg will fall (BDB 656, KB 709, Qal PERFECT)
4. load will be cut off (BDB 503, KB 500, Niphal PERFECT)
Judgment is coming, YHWH said (BDB 180, KB 210, Piel PERFECT).
the peg It (BDB 450) may refer to
1. Shebna
2. Eliakim
3. Judah
4. Jerusalem
5. Messiah
In context #1 or #2 is best, but the others address YHWH’s future plans (cf. Isa 22:11).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Shebna. See 2Ki 18:18, 2Ki 18:26. Probably a foreigner, or heathenized Jew.
and say. Some codices, with Aramaean, Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, read “and thou shalt say unto him”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Isa 22:15-19
Isa 22:15-19
“Thus saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, Go, get thee unto this treasurer, even unto Shebna, who is over the house, and say, What doest thou here? and whom hast thou here? that thou hast hewed thee out here a sepulchre? hewing him out a sepulchre on high, graving a habitation for himself in the rock? Behold, Jehovah, like a strong man, will hurl thee away violently; yea, he will wrap thee up closely. He will surely wind thee round and round, and toss thee like a ball into a large country; there shalt thou die, and there shall be the chariots of thy glory, thou shame of thy lord’s house. And I will thrust thee from thine office; and from thy station shalt thou be pulled down.”
“This treasurer …” The whole attitude of Isaiah here is one of depreciation and scorn. Every line in the paragraph is designed to belittle and to show contempt for Shebna. The office mentioned here was an important one. “Over the house,” means over the king’s house; and apparently, Isaiah visited Shebna at the site where his rock sepulchre was being carved out at a place high on some cliff or mountainside, and there uttered the words of this prophecy. We do not know just why a special prophecy was directed to the “comptroller of the king’s house”; but it could be that God in the person of this selfish official was rebuking all of Judah, especially its officialdom, who were making their plans as if they thought they would live forever; whereas, demotion, military conquest, and captivity awaited all of them in the not too distant future.
Regarding the date of this oracle against Shebna, Payne placed it a year or two prior to 701 B.C. This is reasonable, because in 701 B.C. Shebna had already been demoted (Isa 36:3), although even then he still held an important office. (See also 2Ki 18:18.) Archer believed that Shebna and Eliakim, who succeeded him, were singled out here as symbolical representatives of the two general classes in Jerusalem: “(1) Eliakim, a truly devoted follower of God, representing the righteous remnant, and (2) Shebna,” representing the carnal and rebellious majority of the old Israel.
It has also been conjectured by a number of scholars that Shebna was singled out for the denunciation here because he had been one of the advocates of Hezekiah’s joining an alliance with Egypt and Ethiopia against Assyria, an alliance which Isaiah, through the leading of the Lord, bitterly opposed.
In Isa 22:16, there is an abrupt change of persons. First, Isaiah speaks in the second person directly to Shebna; and in the same breath he speaks of Shebna in the third person. This change of persons is characteristic of many passages in the Bible; and, in no case, is such a change an indication either of an interpolation or of different authors. As Peake properly observed, when Isaiah here addressed Shebna in scornful anger in the third person, “He seems to be addressing the bystanders.”
Archer believed that Shebna and Eliakim were singled out in this prophecy as representatives of the two classes in Jerusalem at that time, (1) the righteous remnant who trusted God, and (2) the carnal, worldly element who favored reliance upon their own devices rather than relying upon God’s blessing and protection. The fact of the fall of Eliakim being mentioned a little later is in harmony with this view, because even the righteous remnant were yet destined to go into captivity.
“Wind thee round and round …” Many have commented that the passage is obscure; but Maurer (as quoted by Jamieson) believed that it meant, “I will whirl thee round and round, and then cast thee away, as a stone is first whirled round and round in a sling and then released.”
Isa 22:15-19 REJECTION: This treasurer or steward, which is a more literal rendering of the original language, one Shebna by name, was an outstanding example of the irreverence and insolence of many of the people. Over the house is an indication that Shebna was probably the kings chief of staff. He was the chief administrator of the kings governmental policies. Edward J. Young points out that this office was never legislated by God when the kingdom was begun under Saul and David. (Solomon seems to have had a chief steward (1Ki 4:6). Why Isaiah was commanded to denounce him, publicly, by name, is not clear at first. Some commentators suggest he may have been leading the look-to-Egypt party which was such an abomination to Jehovah. Others suggest that he may have been an Aramaean (as the name Shebna hints) usurper who had worked his way into the government of the covenant people. However, Gods main indictment appears to be that Shebna is exploiting his position and office for his own selfish aggrandizement and not to serve and be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem as Eliakim will (Isa 22:21). Shebna is oblivious to the needs of the people. He thinks his position is to be served rather than to serve. So he is having an expensive and prestigious burial vault hewn out for himself. He is even having it hewn out on high which probably means up where the kings are buried. This would be an especial irreverence toward God. The whole tenor of this chapter is to point out the almost complete disregard both the people and the leaders of Judah have for directing the kingdom in Jehovahs paths. Judah is almost totally immersed in its own plans and pleasures. Shebna is concerned only with perpetuating his own name and glorifying himself. These people are very little different from all those pagan nations which have come under the judgment of God in this section of Isaiah (chapters 13-23).
By way of later history we find Shebna appearing again (Isa 36:3; Isa 37:2). He is still holding office in the government but not nearly so high as over the house. Leupold points out that it is possible Shebna took this rebuke of Isaiahs to heart, was demoted, but still was found worthy to occupy a lower post of honor at court. Whatever the case, God brought him down.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Shebna
Is 22:15-19. A foreigner and court favourite displaced as treasurer by Eliakim.; Isa 36:3; Isa 37:2.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
treasurer: 1Ch 27:25, Act 8:27
Shebna: Isa 36:3, Isa 37:2, 2Ki 18:18, 2Ki 18:37, 2Ki 19:2
which: 1Ki 4:6, 2Ki 10:5
Reciprocal: Isa 22:25 – the nail
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 22:15. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, &c. This second part of the prophets discourse, which contains the judgment upon Shebna, seems to be so connected with the former as to give reason to suppose that this man was the chief among the profane nobles of that time, against whom the prophet declaims in the preceding verses; and that, having the first place in the state and palace after the king, he had, by his example, corrupted many others. We know nothing certain concerning him, further than that he was the treasurer, or steward of the kings household. He seems to have been a different person from that Shebna, the scribe, mentioned Isa 37:2. Some have thought that he was not a native Jew, but a foreigner, and a man of low birth; which they infer from the pride of his desire to ennoble himself by a splendid sepulchre: but of these things there is no evidence.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 22:15-25. Shebna to be Deposed and Eliakim Installed in his Office.This denunciation of Shebna, who seems to have been a foreigner, was probably due to the obnoxious character of his policy. Presumably he favoured the Egyptian alliance. The sarcastic description of the abuse of Eliakims position by his relatives, and their subsequent downfall with him, can hardly be due to the author of the remarkable eulogy that has just preceded. Accordingly Isa 22:24 f., at least, must be regarded as a later addition, probably by a scribe unfriendly to Eliakims family. On the other hand, it is not likely that Isa 22:19-23 is also an appendix. Isaiahs address to Shebna may have stopped with Isa 22:18 or Isa 22:19, but in issuing the prophecy he may well have added this prediction of Eliakims elevation. The theory of two appendices is intrinsically improbable, and why should a late writer have composed this glorification of Eliakim? In 701 Eliakim appears as house-steward (Isa 36:3), while Shebna, if the same person, is secretary. The date is probably somewhat earlier than Sennacheribs invasion. The office of house-steward (cf. mg.) was one of great importance and influence. Isaiah not only detested Shebnas policy, but he seems to have resented the elevation of a foreigner to such a position.
This invective is apparently uttered at the site of the sepulchre which Shebna was having hewn out for him. He had no ancestry in Jerusalem and no inherited possession, yet he was hewing out a grave on high in the rock, apparently in a distinguished position where members of old Jerusalem families alone had a right to be buried. Shebna aspired to found a family, perhaps by making his sepulchre there, just as now a man who has risen from the ranks might try to found an aristocratic house by accepting a peerage. Isaiah tells him that he will be flung into a foreign land and die there, where his sepulchre in Jerusalem will be of no use to him. In Isa 22:16 b, where he speaks of Shebna with scornful anger in the third person, he seems to be addressing the bystanders. Then in language of tremendous energy he utters the upstarts doom. Yahweh lays firm hold upon him (mg.), winds him round and round like a ball (mg.), and flings him violently into a foreign land (probably Assyria) so large, that there will be room for him to go a long way before he stops. In contrast to the glory of his chariots, Isaiah reviles the man himself as a disgrace to the court. That Yahweh deposes him from his office seems to be a subsequent modification of the original judgment. It may, however, simply prepare the way for the prophecy of Eliakims elevation to Shebnas office. Yahweh s servant Eliakim, who now sympathises with Isaiahs point of view, and whose appointment would imply a change in the kings policy, is to be invested with Shebnas robe and office, and will worthily use his high position, one of almost absolute authority. He will be firmly fixed in his position like a nail firmly driven into the wall. His family will derive advancement from his dignity; he will be like a throne of glory on which they will be seated. From this glowing eulogy we pass to a sarcastic enumeration (by a later writer) of the people who reap advantage from their kinsmans elevation. The nail fastened in a sure place, bearing the burden hung upon it, gives way under the strain. Eliakim falls through the favouritism to his relatives which he has displayed in his office.
Isa 22:18. To use chariots in the early period was a method of claiming the crown, as we see from the stories of Absalom (2Sa 15:1) and Adonijah (1Ki 1:5). No doubt it had lost this significance in Isaiahs time, but it was probably still a dignity reserved for those of high rank (cf. Jer 17:25).
Isa 22:22. The key is the symbol of authority (cf. Mat 16:19, Rev 1:18). Its holder was the king or kings deputy. The keys were of great size and weight, and carried on the shoulder (cf. Isa 9:6). The passage is practically quoted in Rev 3:7.
Isa 22:25. It is a mistake to suppose that this verse refers to Shebna.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
22:15 Thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, Go, repair to this {q} treasurer, [even] to Shebna, who [is] over the house, [and say],
(q) Because the Hebrew word also signifies one who nourishes and cherishes, there are those of the scholars who think that this wicked man nourished a secret friendship with the Assyrians and Egyptians to betray the Church and to provide for himself against all dangers: in the mean season he packed craftily, and got of the best offices into his hand under Hezekiah, ever aspiring to the highest.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The Lord commanded Isaiah to go to Shebna, who was steward (ruler) over the royal household (cf. Joseph; Gen 39:8-9; 1Ki 4:6; 1Ki 18:3). This was the highest office of state in both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms, and sometimes the heir to the throne occupied it (cf. 2Ch 26:21). As the royal steward, Shebna stood nearest to the king and represented the king.