Isaiah 22:17

17 Behold, the LORD will carry thee away in a hard captivity and will surely cover thy face.

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 Thus saith the Lord GOD of the hosts, Go, get thee unto this treasurer, even unto Shebna, which is over the house, and say,

16 What hast thou here? or whom hast thou here that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here as he that hews himself out a sepulchre on a high place or that graves a habitation for himself in a rock?

17 Behold, the LORD will carry thee away in a hard captivity and will surely cover thy face.

18 He will surely violently turn and toss thee like a ball into a large country, there shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall come to an end, the shame of the house of thy Lord.

19 And I will drive thee from thy place, and he shall pull thee down from thy state.