Isaiah 22:15-25

Listen to Isaiah 22:15-25

A Message for Shebna

15 This is what the Lord GOD of Hosts says: “Go, say to Shebna, the steward in charge of the palace:
16 What are you doing here, and who authorized you to carve out a tomb for yourself here—to chisel your tomb in the height and cut your resting place in the rock?
17 Look, O mighty man! The LORD is about to shake you violently. He will take hold of you,
18 roll you into a ball, and sling you into a wide land. There you will die, and there your glorious chariots will remain—a disgrace to the house of your master.
19 I will remove you from office, and you will be ousted from your position.
20 On that day I will summon My servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah.
21 I will clothe him with your robe and tie your sash around him. I will put your authority in his hand, and he will be a father to the dwellers of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.
22 I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. [a]
23 I will drive him like a peg into a firm place, and he will be a throne of glory for the house of his father.
24 So they will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house: the descendants and the offshoots—all the lesser vessels, from bowls to every kind of jar.
25 In that day, declares the LORD of Hosts, the peg driven into a firm place will give way; it will be sheared off and fall, and the load upon it will be cut down.” Indeed, the LORD has spoken.

Isaiah 22:15-25 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 22

This chapter contains two prophecies, one concerning the invasion of Judah and Jerusalem, not by the Medes and Persians, but by the Assyrian army, under which they served; and the other of the removal of Shebna, an officer in Hezekiah's court, and of the placing of Eliakim in his stead. After the title of the former of these prophecies, the distress of the people, through the invasion, is described, by their getting up to the housetops, Isa 22:1 by the stillness of the city, having left both trade and mirth; by the slain in it, not by the sword, but through fear or famine, Isa 22:2 by the flight of the rulers, and by the lamentation of the prophet, Isa 22:3-5 the instruments of which distress were the Persians and Medes serving under Sennacherib, who are described by their quivers and shields, their chariots and horsemen, Isa 22:6,7 the methods the Jews took to defend themselves, and their vain confidence, are exposed; for which, with their disrespect to the Lord, and his admonitions, their carnal security and luxury, they are threatened with death, Isa 22:8-14 then follows the prophecy of the deposition of Shebna, who is described by his name and office, Isa 22:15 whose pride is exposed as the cause of his fall, Isa 22:16 and he is threatened not only to be driven from his station, but to be carried captive into another country, suddenly and violently, and with great shame and disgrace, Isa 22:17-19 and another put in his place, who is mentioned by name, Isa 22:20 and who should be invested with his office and power, and have all the ensigns of it, Isa 22:21,22 and should continue long in it, to great honour and usefulness to his family, Isa 22:23,24 yet not always, Isa 22:25.

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Footnotes 1

  • [a] See Revelation 3:7.
The Berean Bible and Majority Bible texts are officially placed into the public domain