Isaiah 22:15
15 Thus saith ['amar] the Lord ['Adonay] GOD [Yahovih] of hosts [tsaba'], Go [yalak], get [bow'] thee unto this treasurer [cakan], even unto Shebna [Shebna'],
which is over the house [bayith], and say, KJV-Interlinear
15 Thus says the Lord GOD of hosts, “Come,
go to this steward, to Shebna, who is over the household, and say to him: ESV
Remember that
these are future events. And as the whole
of the community of Jerusalem seems to be turning away toward their own self-serving
wants and desires, even in the face of certain disaster, so too now, a curious
twist is entered into this text.
Isaiah is told
to go to the home of Shebna and this is a curious twist in the passage.
The name Shebna,
means, to grow. There is not much known
about him, other than he is called in this verse a treasurer or steward, and in
chapter thirty-seven, he is referred to as a scribe or chancelor.
The word for
treasurer, ‘cakan,’ does not refer to a person who handles money, but rather to
a person who is in a high office, and has access to the highest levels of conversation
and information.
The phrase,
which is over the house, indicates a high office within the government. The text implies that rank of chancellor or
governor or perhaps a governor’s highest advisor.
Whatever his
rank, the entire passage in these next several verses, reveals that Shebna is a
very bad person.
Several forms of
his name imply a traitor, or someone who is communicating with the enemy.
And therefore,
Isaiah is going to call him out, as they say, and fire him from his office.
Clearly from the
past, the events of Isaiah’s day, will repeat themselves in the future, with
someone attempting to save themselves, by selling out, everyone else. We do not know who the culprit will be, as
the mystery surrounding Shebna, is filled with espionage and intrigue. But in
the future, someone will read this passage in Isaiah and thus figure out the
mystery of that day, and save the defense of the city, from the betrayal of a
scoundrel who would give them all up, to save himself.
Interesting that
something written long ago, will be read in the future and used to foil a
traitorous plot.
