Thus saith the Lord God of hosts: Go, get thee in to him that dwelleth in the tabernacle, to Sobna who is over the temple: and thou shalt say to him:

“voluptuary (סוֹכֵן), he was lustful of pleasures. Comp. (I Kings 1:2): “And she shall be to him a warmer (סוֹכֶנֶת),” (San. 26b, where Rashi cites exegetes who claim that Shebna had homosexual tendencies.) Midrash Aggadah states: He was from Sichni, and he came to Jerusalem. This is in Lev. Rabbah (5:5). appointed over the Temple (lit., the house.) He was appointed over the entire Temple. Some say he was the High Priest and some say he was a Temple trustee.”

“The burden of the valley. Here he threatens against those who were joined to the people of God by right of leadership, and yet despoiled it of its goods: and first as regards those to whom leadership pertained in temporal matters; second, against those to whom it pertained in spiritual matters: "thus says the Lord." Now leadership in temporal matters pertained to kings: and therefore in the first part he threatens against Jerusalem, which was the seat of the kingdom; and concerning this he does two things. First the title is set down, "valley," that is, Jerusalem — not on account of the location's site, since it is on a mountain, but on account of vileness, because to it, as to a valley, filth flowed together from every side, while it followed the practice of the neighboring nations. Ezek. 5: "This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the midst of the nations." Or it is called a valley on account of the lowest part of the city, which was handed over by Shebna to Sennacherib. "Of vision," on account of the holiness of the temple: for in it visions were made to the prophets by the Lord; or on account of the eminence of the place, because it could be seen from afar; or on account of the name which Abraham gave to that place, as is said in Gen. 22: "and he called the name of that place, On the mountain the Lord will see." Second, the threat itself is set down; and concerning this he does three things. First he charges the fault; second he threatens the punishment: "and your slain"; third he shows, within the punishment itself, the persistence of obstinacy: "and you gathered together." Concerning the first he does two things. First he charges a twofold sin. Of idolatry: "what ails you then, that you have gone up to the housetops" — to sacrifice to idols — and you, who rejoiced in the special act of a holy privilege? Hosea 4: "If you play the harlot, Israel, let not Judah at least offend." And the sin of strife: "full of clamor." Above, 5: "I looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes." Second, to aggravate the sin, a twofold benefit of God is set down: namely of the multitude of men, "a populous city": Lam. 1: "How does the city sit solitary, that was full of people?" And of the fullness of joys, "an exulting city," once, in the time of Solomon, on account of excessive prosperity. Ps. 47: "is founded with the exultation of the whole." "Slain." Here he sets down the punishment: and first he threatens the destruction of men as regards those besieged who died of famine: not slain by the sword, but by famine and thirst. Lam. 4: "It was better for those slain by the sword than by famine." As regards the fugitive princes, namely those who were seized and bound, as is read in Jeremiah, last chapter: "all the princes." Lam. 1: "the princes have become like rams that find no pasture." As regards those seized in the city, who were likewise taken captive: "all who were found," "afar off" — into a distant land, led into captivity. Deut. 28: "The Lord will lead into a distant nation." Second, he sets down the prophet's inconsolable compassion: "depart" — you consoling prophets — "do not press upon me," in the manner of those who console. Jer. 9: "Who will give water to my head, and to my eyes a fountain of tears, that I may weep for the slain of my people?" Third, he sets down the manner and order of the punishment: "a day of slaughter"; and concerning this he sets down three things. First, God's indignation: "a day of slaughter" impends. "Searching" — causing a search to be made by the enemies; "magnificent" — making the enemies magnificent: for they trusted in mountains and walls. Zeph. 1: "At that time he will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will visit upon the men who are settled on their lees." Second, he sets down the overpowering by the enemies: "and Elam" — a city of Persia, from which fighters came with Nebuchadnezzar, who held the monarchy of the East. "The shield," borne against Jerusalem, "has laid bare the wall," on which it had been hung for the adornment of the house. Jer. 46: "Prepare shield and buckler." Or otherwise: "the shield" — the power of the Chaldean — "has laid bare the wall" of the temple of the gold with which it was clothed. Third, he sets down the infliction of loss as regards four things. First as regards the devastation of possessions. "They shall be choice; of chariots" — of Babylon. Jer. 49: "Why do you glory in the valleys? Your valley has flowed away, delicate daughter." Second, as regards the capture of the cities: "horsemen at the gate," lest anyone escape. Jer. 39: "All the princes of Babylon entered, and sat in the middle gate." Third, as regards the profanation of holy things: "and it shall be uncovered" — it shall be laid bare — "the covering," that is, the holy things previously covered, which it was lawful for none but the priest to see. Lam. 1: "The nations have seen your shame." Fourth, as regards the destruction of the armory: "you will see the armory" — that is, the house of the forest, in which weapons were stored — overthrown; concerning the building of which, 3 Kings 7. "Of the city of David," most strong; or Jerusalem itself, with a strong wall in many places. Cant. 4: "The tower of David is built with bulwarks." "And you gathered the waters." Here he sets down the persistence of obstinacy: and first he charges the fault of obstinacy; second he sets forth against them the divine sentence: "and it has been revealed." Now their obstinacy is charged as regards two things. First, as regards the divine help which they did not invoke, trusting in their own strength and ingenuity: "you gathered" — into one place within the city, through hidden channels — "the waters of the lower pool," which had waters flowing from the earth, which, however, could be cut off by the enemies. "You numbered," so that the water might be dispensed by number and measure; "you destroyed the houses" which were next to the wall, so that they would not hinder the defenders; "a reservoir," of the lower pool, "you made," "to flow" between the two walls with which the city was girded; and the water — namely, you restored it; "him" — that is, God; "her" — the water. Ps. 13: "They did not call upon God." Second, as regards the divine counsel, which they despised: "and he will call." And concerning this he sets down three things. First, the counsel itself: "to weeping" — of the eyes; "to mourning" — of the hands; "to baldness," according to the ancient custom, by which they performed these actions in sorrow. Joel 2: "Turn to me with all your heart, in fasting, and weeping, and mourning." Second, he sets down the contempt of the counsel: "and behold joy" — above, 6: "the harp and the lyre are in your feasts." Third, the spirit of contempt: "let us eat." 1 Cor. 15. Wisdom 2: "for our time is the passing of a shadow." "And it has been revealed." Here the sentence is set down; and it can be read as from the person of the Lord: "this blasphemy of yours has been revealed" — that is, I have heard it. "If it shall be forgiven": as if he were to say, do not believe it — above, 2: "therefore do not forgive." Or from the person of the prophet: "this is the voice of the Lord" that has been revealed. And all these things that have been said pertain to the captivity brought about under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar. "Thus says the Lord." Here the threat is set down against those to whom leadership in spiritual matters pertained: and first against the priest who then was; second against the whole priestly order: "in that day, says the Lord." Concerning the first he does two things. First he foretells the deposing of him who, struck with terror, handed over the city to Sennacherib — that is, the lower part; second, the substitution of another: "and it shall come to pass in that day." Concerning the first he does three things. First he describes the person by his office: "who dwells in the tabernacle." It belonged to the priest to keep watch in the tabernacle, as is found in Num. 1. "Set over" — supreme over ten. Second he charges a threefold fault: of unworthy habitation: "what are you doing here" in my house, unworthy of such a habitation? Jer. 11: "What is it that my beloved has done many wicked things in my house?" Of proud presumption concerning himself: "or as who are you here?" Do you esteem yourself as if you were of some worth, when you are nothing? Zech. 11: "O shepherd, and idol." Of the curious building of a sepulcher: "you have hewn out," here in Jerusalem next to the temple, "a memorial," that is, an epitaph, "in a high place," that is, in the loftiest site of the sepulcher; or literally, he had placed his sepulcher in a high place for his own memory, as is found in 1 Macc. 13. Third he threatens the punishment: "behold, the Lord" — threefold: first, of captivity, just as one is carried off — bound, and without labor — a cock, one that rears chicks in the manner of a hen, being castrated, which they call capons; and, as a garment, lightly lifted upon the shoulder. Jer. 20: "You, Pashhur, and all the inhabitants of your house, shall go into captivity, and you shall come into Babylon, and there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you and all your friends." Second, of confusion: "crowning" — that is, in place of the crown which you used in the pontifical rite, you will have tribulation, like a ball, which finds no lofty resting-place. "The chariots of your glory," in which you were borne gloriously, turned into your confusion. "And the shame of the house of the Lord"; that is, the glory which you had in the house of the Lord will be turned for you into shame. Hosea 4: "I will change their glory into shame." Third, the punishment of deposition: "and I will drive out." 3 Kings 2: "Solomon therefore cast out Abiathar, that he should not be priest of the Lord." "And it shall be." Here he sets down the substitution of another; and concerning this he sets down three things. The election: "I will call" — one of the twenty-four, as is read in 1 Chron. 25; 1 Kings 2: "I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall be according to my heart." Second, his consecration: "and I will clothe him"; for he was consecrated with the pontifical vestments, as is clear from Lev. 18 concerning these vestments, and Exod. 28. Third, he confers jurisdiction: "and power." And first as regards the power which he had over the people, setting down the power: "and the power" — namely, "I will give." Ps. 108: "Let his days be few, and let another take his office." "And he shall be as a father." Jer. 3: "I will give you shepherds according to my own heart, and they shall feed you with knowledge and doctrine." Second, as regards the power which he had over the temple: "and the key," which was golden, "of the house of David," that is, of the temple, for the building of which David prepared the expenses, as is clear at the end of 1 Chron.; "upon his shoulder," that is, his own governance; or because he used it as a kind of ornament. "He shall open," because it was lawful for him to enter once a year into the holy of holies, as is said in Heb. 9. Third, as regards the power which he had over the whole order of ministers: "and I will fasten him as a peg" — a diminutive from "pole"; for just as various vessels are hung upon some pole, so various offices, which have the use of various vessels in the ministries of the house of the Lord, pertained to his charge: "in the place of the faithful," namely, the temple. Concerning this power it is spoken of in Numbers 3 and 4. "In that day." Here he speaks against the whole priesthood, which was destroyed in the time of Zedekiah, when Nebuchadnezzar took captive. For the things that were said about Shebna pertain to the time of Sennacherib. And here "the peg" is called the priesthood itself, which ceased at the time of the captivity. Hosea 3: "The children of Israel shall sit many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without altar, and without ephod, and without teraphim." Note, upon that word "who dwells in the tabernacle," that the tabernacle is manifold. The first, of carnal concupiscence, which is that of swine. Heb., last chapter: "We have an altar, from which they have no right to eat who serve the tabernacle." The second is of temporal and natural life, which is that of men. 2 Pet. 1: "For I am certain that the putting off of my tabernacle is swift." The third is of the Church militant, which is that of those who fight. Above, 4: "It shall be a tabernacle for a shade in the daytime from the heat." The fourth is of contemplative wisdom, which is that of those who rest. Ps. 131: "We will go into his tabernacle." The fifth is of the eternal vision, or the heavenly homeland: which is that of all the blessed. Below, 33: "Your eyes shall see Jerusalem, a wealthy city, a tabernacle that can never be removed."”

“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 (Isa 36:3); 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, Isa 10:6. In this message to Shebna we have, 1. A reproof of his pride, vanity, and security (Isa 22:16): "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 2:3), 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 (Isa 22:19): 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 Isa 22:25 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, Isa 22:20, etc. 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, Isa 22:21. "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 (Pro 21:1), 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, Pe1 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; they must judge for him by whom they judge and decree justice, Pro 8:15. 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, Isa 22:22. 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 (Isa 39:2), 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 3:7), 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 (Isa 22:23): 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 12:2. (1.) He shall be a blessing to his country (Isa 22:21): 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.”

“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, Kg1 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.”

“PROPHECY THAT SHEBNA SHOULD BE DEPOSED FROM BEING PREFECT OF THE PALACE, AND ELIAKIM PROMOTED TO THE OFFICE. (Isa 22:15-25) Go, get thee unto--rather, "Go in to" (that is, into the house to). treasurer--"him who dwells 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 the court" (Kg1 4:5; Kg1 18:3; Ch1 27:33, "the king's counsellor") [MAURER]. "This" is prefixed contemptuously (Exo 32:1). unto Shebna--The Hebrew for "unto" indicates an accosting of Shebna with an unwelcome message.”

“"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." לך־בּ, 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 אל is interchanged with על, which more commonly denotes the coming of a stronger man upon a weaker one (Sa1 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 חצבי and חקקי (with chirek compaginis: 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 mârom ("high up"), in connection with the threefold "here" (poh), and the contemptuous "that administrator there," warrants us in assuming that mârom refers to "the height of the sepulchres of the sons of David" (Ch2 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 (tūl, 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 tiyyūl, motion, or a walk, and metaltelı̄n, furniture, i.e., moveable goods.) גּבר טלטלה. This is either equivalent to גּבר טלטלת טלטלה, with a man's throw (Rosenmller), or גּבר is in apposition to Jehovah (Gesenius and Knobel). As taltēlah 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 עטה 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 Sa1 15:19; Sa1 25:14; Sa1 14:32, since the verbal forms which we find there, and which are to be traced to עיט (from which comes עיט, a bird of prey), and not to עטה, signify "to rush upon anything" (when construed with either בּ or אל). 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, tzânaph, 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 caddūr, like tzenēphâh, 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 caddūr 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).”