Isaiah 36:3

3 and go forth unto him doth Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who [is] over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph, the remembrancer.

Isaiah 36:3 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 36:3

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 ( 2 Kings 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 ( Isaiah 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, ( Isaiah 22:15 ) : and Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder;
the master of requests, or the "remembrancer" ^F5; 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.

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FOOTNOTES:

F5 (rykzmh) "recordator, commonfactor", Vatablus; "commenefaciens", Montanus: "a nemoria", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Isaiah 36:3 In-Context

1 And it cometh to pass, in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, come up hath Sennacherib king of Asshur against all the fenced cities of Judah, and seizeth them.

2 And the king of Asshur sendeth Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem, unto the king Hezekiah, with a heavy force, and he standeth by the conduit of the upper pool, in the highway of the fuller's field,

3 and go forth unto him doth Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who [is] over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph, the remembrancer.

4 And Rabshakeh saith unto them, `Say ye, I pray you, unto Hezekiah, `Thus said the great king, the king of Asshur, What [is] this confidence in which thou hast confided?

5 I have said: Only, a word of the lips! counsel and might [are] for battle: now, on whom hast thou trusted, that thou hast rebelled against me?