Isaiah 22

His what of v. 16 names the man: what right hast thou to this place and office? Shebna over the household.

The steward is Hezekiah’s officer.

Calvin: come, go to this treasurer, even unto Shebna, which is over the house. He now comes to a particular person, the steward of the king’s house, whose pride he rebukes. The Lord of hosts sends the prophet to one man in the valley of vision.

Shebna over the house.

Wesley: What—what right hast thou to this place and office? Whom—what kindred or relations? For the Jews say, he was a stranger by birth; which is the more probable, because his pedigree is not mentioned in any of those places of scripture where he is named. On high—in an high and eminent place. An habitation—he erected a stately house to live in, and a stately sepulchre to receive him when he died. A rock—a fit place both for strength and state.

The rock-tomb is pride in Jerusalem. Do not preach a later mausoleum as this verse.

Calvin: what hast thou here, and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here, as he that heweth him out a sepulchre on high, and that graveth an habitation for himself in a rock? He has no right to nest in Judah as if the place were his forever. The carved tomb is a claim the Lord will undo.

Undisputed: tomb on the height, dwelling in the rock.

Wesley: Will carry—will cause thee to be carried into captivity by a strong hand. Cover—this may be an allusion to the ancient custom of covering the faces of condemned persons. Hurled, seized.

The strong man is still Shebna.

Calvin: behold, the Lord will carry thee away with a mighty captivity, and will surely cover thee. The strong man is seized by a stronger hand. Covering the face is the condemned man’s shame.

Both traditions agree: violently taken.

Wesley: Thy chariots—thy glorious chariots where thou didst ride in great state at Jerusalem, shall be turned into shame to thyself, and to thy master. A ball into a large country; chariots become shame.

The wide land is captivity’s country, not a twenty-first-century map.

Calvin: he will violently turn and toss thee like a ball into a large country; there shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall be the shame of thy lord’s house. The ball has no say in where it lands. Glory on wheels dies far from the rock-tomb.

Thrown like a ball; shame of the master’s house.

Wesley: He—the Lord; such sudden changes of persons being very usual in these writings. Thrust from office and station.

The Lord himself deposes.

Calvin: I will drive thee from thy station, and from thy state shall he pull thee down. The change of persons is the Lord’s own voice. Office is held at his pleasure.

Neither side disputes this: pulled down.

Wesley: Call—by my powerful providence. Eliakim called my servant.

Eliakim son of Hilkiah is a named officer in Hezekiah’s court (36:3; 37:2). Where Shebna carved himself a tomb, Eliakim is set over the palace to be “a father” to Jerusalem (v. 21)—office given as service.

Calvin: in that day that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah. The Lord names the successor before Shebna is gone. My servant: office is service, not a tomb in the rock.

God calls Eliakim son of Hilkiah.

Wesley: Girdle—there was a peculiar sort of robe and girdle which was the badge of his office. A father—he shall govern them with fatherly care and affection. Robe, sash, authority; a father to Jerusalem and Judah.

Judah will have a fatherly government under Eliakim. The badge changes hands because the Lord clothes him.

Calvin: I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand; and he will be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. By father he shews the duty of a good magistrate; a good king holds the place of a father. Eliakim will perform that part because he has been endued with the Spirit of God.

A father to Jerusalem and Judah.

Wesley: The key—the government, the power of opening and shutting, of letting men into it, or putting them out of it, whereof a key is a fit emblem. Shoulder—he mentions the shoulder rather than the hand, in which keys are commonly carried, from some ceremony then in use, of carrying a key upon the shoulder of the officer of state. Common to both: key of David’s house on the shoulder.

The key is Eliakim’s office in David’s court.

Calvin: and the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder. This expression is metaphorical, taken from an ordinary custom: keys are delivered to stewards. By the house of David is meant the royal house, because it had been promised to David that his kingdom would be for ever. Some commentators have viewed this passage as referring to Christ, but improperly; the Prophet draws a comparison between two men, Shebna and Eliakim. Eliakim was not a type of Christ; the Prophet does not here describe any hidden mystery. By the keys he means the government of the king’s house. (Christ later uses key-speech for the office of teaching, Matthew 16:19; that is another text.)

The key of David’s house rests on Eliakim’s shoulder, so what he opens no one can shut.

Wesley: Fasten—I will establish the power in his hands. Sure place—in the strong walls, or solid timber, in the house. He shall be—by his prudent and righteous government he shall procure great glory, to all that have any relation to him. Both readings: a peg fastened; a throne of honor.

Calvin: I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father’s house. The Lord guards and upholds such a prince. If he permits even tyrants for a time, what shall happen when a prince defends justice and the true worship of God? He will be still more confirmed.

On this both agree: fastened in a sure place.

Wesley: The glory—of his own kindred and family, who shall all depend upon him, and receive glory from him; of the house of David, which is called his father’s house, because he was of the blood-royal. The offspring—great and small, the children and grand-children of his father’s house. All vessels—all sorts of vessels, great or small, mean or precious, may be hanged upon him, without any fear of falling. Neither side disputes this: cups to flagons hang on the peg.

Even the small vessels of his father’s house hang on him.

Calvin: and they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father’s house, the grandchildren and great-grandchildren, all vessels of small quantity. Eliakim would be fully qualified and not indolent; the office of a prince is laborious. Father’s house: Eliakim was of royal blood; he will have charge of all in the king’s house. Smaller vessels: uniform justice, the lowest rank as well as nobles; musical vessels explain little—nothing so small that he would not take charge of it.

No dispute here: whole honor hung on him.

Wesley: The nail—Shebna, who seemed to be so. The burden—all those wicked officers that were advanced and supported by his power. Both traditions agree: the seeming-sure peg falls; the load is cut off.

Shebna’s sure place was sure only to men. The LORD has spoken.

Calvin: in that day. It might be thought inconsistent with what he had said; but he no longer speaks of Eliakim, for he returns to Shebna, who was about to be cast down from his rank. In a sure place: this must be understood with respect to men; God casts it down with the smallest breath. And the burden that was upon it shall be cut off: when wicked men are ruined, all who relied on their authority must also be ruined.

Shared with Wesley: not Eliakim’s sure nail, but the steward who seemed fastened.