Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 36:3
Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah’s son, which was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph’s son, the recorder.
3. The words “and they called the king” in 2Ki 18:18 are omitted. which was over the house ] See ch. Isa 22:15. It will be seen that in accordance with ch. Isa 22:20, Eliakim here occupies the office formerly held by Shebna, although the latter still appears in a subordinate capacity as scribe or rather secretary (R.V. marg.).
the recorder ] Lit. the remembrancer.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Then came forth unto him – Isaiah has here omitted what is recorded in 2Ki 18:18, namely, that Rabshakeh and his companions called to the king, and as the result of that probably Hezekiah sent out Eliakim.
Eliakim, Hilkiahs son, which was over the house – Respecting Eliakim, and his character, see the notes at Isa 22:20-25.
And Shebna the scribe – This may have been some other man than the one mentioned in Isa 22:15. He is there said to have been over the house, and it is stated that he should be degraded from that office, and succeeded by Eliakim. It is possible, however, that Hezekiah retained him as scribe, or as secretary (see the analysis of Isa 22:15-25).
And Joah, Asaphs son, the recorder – The chronicler; the officer to whom was entrusted the keeping of the records of state. The Hebrew word means the remembrancer; him by whose means former events might be recalled and remembered, perhaps an officer such as would be called historiographer.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 3. Then came forth unto him] Before these words the other copy, 2Kg 18:18, adds, vaiyikreu el hammelech, “And they demanded audience of the king.”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
3. Eliakimsuccessor toShebna, who had been “over the household,” that is, chiefminister of the king; in Isa22:15-20, this was foretold.
scribesecretary,recorderliterally, “one who reminds”; a remembrancer tokeep the king informed on important facts, and to act ashistoriographer. In 2Ki 18:18,the additional fact is given that the Assyrian envoys “called tothe king,” in consequence of which Eliakim, &c., “cameout to them.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then came forth unto him,…. Being sent by Hezekiah; for otherwise Rabshakeh had the impudence to call to him, in order to parley, and treat with him about the surrender of the city; but as this was not thought either safe or honourable for the king to go in person, his following ministers went; see 2Ki 18:18:
Eliakim, Hilkiah’s son, which was over the house; not over the house of the Lord, the temple, as some, but the king’s house, being high steward of if, or “major domo”. This is the same person as is mentioned in
Isa 22:20:
and Shebna the scribe; not of the book of the law, a copier, or interpreter of that, but secretary of state; he had been treasurer, but now removed, Isa 22:15:
and Joah, Asaph’s son, the recorder; the master of requests, or the “remembrancer” e; who, as the Targum, was appointed over things memorable; whose business it was to take notice of things worthy of memory, write them down, and digest them in order; perhaps the king’s historiographer.
e “recordator, commonfactor”, Vatablus; “commenefaciens”, Montanus: “a nemoria”, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Hezekiah’s confidential ministers go there also. Isa 36:3 (K. “And they called to the king) , and there went out to him (K. to them) Eliakim son of Hilkiyahu, the house-minister, and Shebna the chancellor, and Joah son of Asaph, the recorder.” On the office of the house-minister, or major-domo, which was now filled by Eliakim instead of Shebna ( , K. twice ), see Isa 22:15.; and on that of sopher and mazkr . Rabshakeh’s message follows in Isa 36:4-10: “And Rabshakeh said to them, Say now to Hizkiyahu, Thus saith the great king, the king of Asshur, What sort of confidence is this that thou hast got? I say (K. thou sayest, i.e., thou talkest), vain talk is counsel and strength for war: now, then, in whom dost thou trust, that thou hast rebelled against me? (K. Now) Behold, thou trustest (K. ) in this broken reed-staff there, in Egypt, on which one leans, and it runs into his hand and pierces it; so does Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. But if thou sayest to me (K. ye say), We trust in Jehovah our God; is it not He whose high places and altars Hizkiyahu has removed, and has said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before the altar (K. ads, in Jerusalem)? And now take a wager with my lord (K. with) the king of Asshur; I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou art able for thy part to give horsemen upon them. And how couldst thou repel the advance of a single satrap among the least of the servants of my lord?! Thou puttest thy trust then in Egypt for chariots and riders! And (omitted in K.) now have I come up without Jehovah against this land to destroy it (K. against this place, to destroy it)? Jehovah said to me, Go up to (K. against) this land, and destroy it.” The chronicler has a portion of this address of Rabshakeh in 2Ch 32:10-12. And just as the prophetic words in the book of Kings have a Deuteronomic sound, and those in the Chronicles the ring of a chronicle, so do Rabshakeh’s words, and those which follow, sound like the words of Isaiah himself. “The great king” is the standing royal title appended to the names of Sargon and Sennacherib upon the Assyrian monuments (compare Isa 10:8). Hezekiah is not thought worthy of the title of king, ether here or afterwards. The reading in Isa 36:5 (thou speakest vain talk) is not the preferable one, because in that case we should expect , or rather (according to the usual style) . The meaning is, that he must look upon Hezekiah’s resolution, and his strength ( connected as in Isa 11:2) for going to war, as mere boasting (“lip-words,” as in Pro 14:23), and must therefore assume that there was something in the background of which he was well aware. And this must be Egypt, which would not only be of no real help to its ally, but would rather do him harm by leaving him in the lurch. The figure of a reed-staff has been borrowed by Ezekiel in Isa 29:6-7. It was a very appropriate one for Egypt, with its abundance of reeds and rushes (Isa 19:6), and it has Isaiah’s peculiar ring (for the expression itself, compare Isa 42:3; and for the fact itself, Isa 30:5, and other passages). does not mean fragile (Luzz. quella fragil canna ), but broken, namely, in consequence of the loss of the throne by the native royal family, from whom it had been wrested by the Ethiopians (Isa 18:1-7), and the defeats sustained at the hands of Sargon (Isa 20:1-6). The construction cui quis innitur et intrat is paratactic for cui si quis . In Isa 36:7 the reading commends itself, from the fact that the sentence is not continued with ; but as Hezekiah is addressed throughout, and it is to him that the reply is to be made, the original reading was probably . The fact that Hezekiah had restricted the worship of Jehovah to Jerusalem, by removing the other places of worship (2Ki 18:4), is brought against him in a thoroughly heathen, and yet at the same time (considering the inclination to worship other gods which still existed in the nation) a very crafty manner. In Isa 36:8, Isa 36:9, he throws in his teeth, with most imposing scorn, his own weakness as compared with Asshur, which was chiefly dreaded on account of its strength in cavalry and war-chariots. does not refer to the performance and counter-performance which follow, in the sense of “connect thyself” (Luzz. associati ), but is used in a similar sense to the Omeric , though with the idea of vying with one another, not of engaging in war (the synonym in the Talmud is himrah , to bet, e.g., b. Sabbath 31 a): a bet and a pledge are kindred notions (Heb. , cf., Lat. vadari ). On pechah (for pachah ), which also occurs as an Assyrian title in Eze 23:6, Eze 23:23. , two constructives, the first of which is to be explained according to Ewald, 286, a (compare above, Isa 36:2, ), form the logical regens of the following servorum dominin mei minimorum ; and heshbh pene does not mean here to refuse a petitioner, but to repel an antagonist (Isa 28:6). The fut. consec. deduces a consequence: Hezekiah could not do anything by himself, and therefore he trusted in Egypt, from which he expected chariots and horsemen. In Isa 36:10, the prophetic idea, that Asshur was the instrument employed by Jehovah (Isa 10:5, etc.), is put into the mouth of the Assyrian himself. This is very conceivable, but the colouring of Isaiah is undeniable.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
3. And Eliakim went to him. Eliakim was formerly mentioned. It was he to whom the Lord promised that he would give him the chief power in the kingdom after the banishment of Shebna. (Isa 22:20.) It now appears as if that promise had failed, when he is sent to an enemy as a suppliant, and as one who is about to surrender himself and his companions, and to undergo cruel tyranny. This might also fill the hearts of believers with anxiety, and lead them to doubt the promises of God. Besides, the godly king had such a scarcity of good men, that, along with Eliakim, he was compelled to send Shebna, whom he knew well to be deceitful and treacherous.
ספר (sopher) means scribe; and accordingly it often denotes learned men or doctors, and sometimes those who took charge of writings and those who had the custody of the royal records. I have translated it chancellor, for unquestionably it does not relate to legal skill; and we may infer that this Shebna held a high rank, though he had been deprived of his office as governor. מזכיר (mazkir) denotes a secretary or recorder.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(3) Eliakim.It is significant that Eliakim now fills the office which, a short time before, had been filled by Shebna, while the latter is reduced to the inferior position of a scribe (Isa. 22:15-25). The change is clearly traceable to Isaiahs influence. The scribe was the secretary who formulated despatches and degrees; the recorder, probably the registrar of the official annals.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. Only the confidential ministers of Hezekiah went out to Rabshakeh at the upper pool. He had been sent from Lachish, a frontier town southwest from Jerusalem, in Judah, in the fruitful hills just above the western plain. A slab from Kouyunjik, now in the British Museum, represents it as a large fortified town. In the case of Shebna, see fulfilment of Isa 22:19.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Then came out to him Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder.’
‘Came out’ signifies that they came out on to the wall to speak to him from it. These names were popular names at the time and the names, though not necessarily the persons, are attested to on seals that have been discovered. For Eliakim see Isa 22:20, where we are probably to see the same person. He was the royal chamberlain, acting in the king’s name. Shebna, however is a scribe and probably not the one mentioned in Isa 22:15 who was the ‘treasurer’. The recorder (or ‘remembrancer’) would be there to keep a strict record of what was said. The presence of these three powerful men might serve to confirm that there were three important Assyrians waiting to speak to them, ensuring a balancing of the sides.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Eliakim. See and Compare Isa 22:20-25. The promise of Isa 22:20, Isa 22:21 was already fulfilled.
house. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Subject), for household. Eliakim fulfils Shebna’s office, as foretold in Isa 22:15-26.
Shebna. See Isa 22:15.
scribe: or, secretary. Title used of a state officer, first in 2Sa 8:17. Connected with finance (2Ki 22:3). Jer 52:25.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Eliakim: Isa 22:15-20
Shebna: 2Sa 8:16, 2Sa 8:17, 2Sa 20:24, 2Sa 20:25
scribe: or, secretary
Reciprocal: 2Ki 18:18 – Eliakim Isa 22:20 – Eliakim Isa 33:7 – the ambassadors Isa 36:22 – Eliakim Isa 37:2 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
36:3 Then came forth to him Eliakim, Hilkiah’s son, who was {c} over the house, and Shebna {d} the scribe, and Joah, Asaph’s son, the recorder.
(c) For he was now restored to his office, as Isaiah had prophesied in Isa 22:20 .
(d) This declares that there were few godly to be found in the king’s house, when he was driven to end this wicked man in such a weighty matter.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah were all important officials in Hezekiah’s government (cf. Isa 22:20-23). Some commentators believed that Isaiah’s prophecy of Isa 22:20-23 had been fulfilled at this time, since Eliakim was now the prime minister and Shebna was the secretary, a lower position. This may be true, or the exaltation of Eliakim and the humiliation of Shebna may have come later.
The point of the Rabshakeh’s first speech (Isa 36:4-10) was that there is no salvation in faith; no deliverance would come from trusting Yahweh. Judah should surrender because Egypt would not help her (Isa 36:6), Yahweh would not help her (Isa 36:7), she did not have enough military manpower to win (Isa 36:8-9), and Assyria had authority from Yahweh to attack Jerusalem (Isa 36:10). This speech challenged everything Isaiah had been preaching. [Note: The Hebrew word for "trust" occurs seven times in the Rabshakeh’s speech (Isa 36:4-10) making it the key word.]