Isaiah 22:17

17 Lo! the Lord shall make thee to be borne out, as a capon is borne out, and as a cloth, so he shall raise thee. (Lo! the Lord shall make thee to be taken away, like a capon is taken away, and he shall shake thee out, like a cloak is shaken out.)

Isaiah 22:17 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 22:17

Behold, the Lord will carry thee away with a mighty
captivity
Or with the captivity of a man; so the Targum, of a mighty man, Sennacherib king of Assyria; who, as the Jews say ^F26, when he went from Jerusalem, upon the rumour of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia coming against him, carried away Shebna and his company, as with an inundation: or as a man is carried captive, whose captivity is harder, and more severe and cruel, than a woman's, as the Rabbins ^F1 observe; a woman finding more mercy in captivity usually than a man does. Some of the Jewish writers render the word "geber" a cock, as they do elsewhere; and gloss it, as a cock is carried away, and goes from place to place ^F2; and so the Vulgate Latin version,

``behold, the Lord shall cause thee to be carried away, as a cock is carried away;''

but it seems best, with Aben Ezra and Kimchi, to read the word "man" in the vocative case; the Lord will carry thee away, "O man", O mighty man {c}; as mighty a man as thou art in office, in power, in riches, God shall carry thee away with the greatest ease imaginable: and will surely cover thee:
or, "in covering cover thee"; with confusion, as the Targum. Jarchi says the word has the signification of flying; and so interprets it, he shall cause thee to fly like a bird into captivity; that is, very speedily and swiftly. The Rabbins gather from hence that Shebna was struck with leprosy, because the leper was obliged to put a covering upon his upper lip; and this sense is embraced by Grotius; but the allusion seems to be to persons in disgrace, or condemned to die, whose faces used to be covered, ( Esther 7:8 ) ( Job 9:24 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F26 Seder Olam Rabba, c. 23. p. 64.
F1 T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 26. 2.
F2 Jarchi in loc. Vajikra Rabba, sect. 5. fol. 150. 2.
F3 (rbg) "O vir poteus", Grotius; "O tu heros", Tigurine version.

Isaiah 22:17 In-Context

15 The Lord God of hosts saith these things, Go thou, and enter to him that dwelleth in the tabernacle, to Shebna, the sovereign of the temple; and thou shalt say to him, (The Lord God of hosts saith these things, Go thou, and go to him who liveth in the palace, to Shebna, the ruler of the king's household; and thou shalt say to him,)

16 What (hast) thou here, either as who (art thou) here? for thou hast hewed [out] to thee a sepulchre here, thou hast hewed a memorial in (an) high place diligently, a tabernacle in a stone to thee. (What hast thou here, and who art thou? for thou hast hewn out for thyself a tomb here, yea, thou hast diligently hewn out a memorial in a high place, a home for thyself in the stone.)

17 Lo! the Lord shall make thee to be borne out, as a capon is borne out, and as a cloth, so he shall raise thee. (Lo! the Lord shall make thee to be taken away, like a capon is taken away, and he shall shake thee out, like a cloak is shaken out.)

18 He crowning shall crown thee with tribulation; he shall send thee as a ball into a large land and wide; there thou shalt die, and there shall be the chariot of thy glory, and the shame of the house of thy Lord. (He crowning shall crown thee with tribulation; he shall throw thee like a ball into a great wide land; and there thou shalt die, and thy glorious chariots shall be there, but now they shall be the shame of thy lord's house.)

19 And I shall cast thee out of thy standing, and I shall put thee down of thy service. (And I shall throw thee out of thy office, and I shall put thee down from thy service.)