Isaiah 22:15-25

Isaiah 22:15-25. A Philippic against an influential Politician

Shebna, the minister here addressed, is supposed from his name and from Isaiah's indignation at his ambitious desire to have a magnificent sepulchre in Jerusalem, to have been a foreigner in the royal service. The office which he holds is the highest in the court, and is of course a measure of his influence with the king. That he was a partisan of the Egyptian alliance may be safely assumed, and it is likely that Isaiah had found in him the most astute and resolute opponent of the policy which he advocated. This opposition, together with hearty contempt for the character of the man, is the occasion of Isaiah's only invective against an individual. The prophecy is therefore probably contemporaneous with ch. 28 31. Eliakim was probably the leader of the party favourable to Isaiah's views, and the substitution of the one minister for the other was equivalent to a radical change of policy on the part of Hezekiah. This change seems to have taken place before the crisis of the invasion, for in ch. Isaiah 36:3; Isaiah 37:2 we find Eliakim in possession of the dignity which Shebna here holds. But since the latter then occupied the lower office of secretary, we must conclude that some compromise had been arranged, and that Shebna's power was not altogether broken.

The passage contains three parts:

i. The denunciation of Shebna, and the announcement of his deposition and banishment, Isaiah 22:15.

ii. The installation of Eliakim, and the honour of his family, Isaiah 22:20.

iii. A very perplexing appendix, which seems to warn Eliakim against nepotism, and to anticipate the ruin of his house, Isaiah 22:24.