Isaiah 22:18 - Printer Friendly

ESV: and whirl you around and around, and throw you like a ball into a wide land. There you shall die, and there shall be your glorious chariots, you shame of your master’s house.

NIV: He will roll you up tightly like a ball and throw you into a large country. There you will die and there the chariots you were so proud of will become a disgrace to your master's house.

NASB: And wrap you up tightly like a ball, To be driven into a vast country; There you will die, And there your splendid chariots will be, You shame of your master’s house!’

CSB: wind you up into a ball, and sling you into a wide land. There you will die, and there your glorious chariots will be--a disgrace to the house of your lord.

NLT: crumple you into a ball, and toss you away into a distant, barren land. There you will die, and your glorious chariots will be broken and useless. You are a disgrace to your master!

KJV: 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 be the shame of thy lord's house.

NKJV: He will surely turn violently and toss you like a ball Into a large country; There you shall die, and there your glorious chariots Shall be the shame of your master’s house.

The condemnation of the Shebna, the steward of the king's house, is both harsh and absolute. The Lord sent Isaiah to confront Shebna about the prestigious tomb he had carved out of the rock (Isaiah 22:15–16). God seems disgusted with how easily Shebna has given up at the threat from the Assyrian army. He has simply accepted death which appears before him. Instead of making a final grab at glory he could have been joining King Hezekiah in praying to the Lord for help and deliverance (Isaiah 37).

Dramatically, Isaiah describes God whirling Shebna around before throwing him far away. Scholars suppose this "wide land" to be Assyria, where Shebna will die instead of being buried in his elaborate crypt. He declares the man to be the shame of his master the king's house. Due to his position, Shebna may have travelled around Jerusalem in luxurious chariots. Isaiah says the glorious chariot will remain behind, likely to be used by someone else, after Shebna has died far away.

A tomb was discovered in Jerusalem in the 1800s with an inscription that some scholars think refers to Shebna. If that was the tomb that Isaiah saw, Shebna was not buried in it, after all. He died without dignity in a foreign land.

Chapter 22:15–25 concludes Isaiah's oracle against Jerusalem with a focus on two men. Shebna is the steward of the king's household. The Lord condemns him for carving his elaborate tomb, with the enemy at the gates, instead of seeking the Lord or serving the king. The Lord gives this steward's authority and position to Eliakim. Eliakim serves with such strength, faithfulness, and integrity that he becomes a father figure to the people. However, he also falls away eventually.

Isaiah presents a prophecy against the city of Jerusalem: "the valley of vision." The prophet condemns the people for partying, perhaps following an astonishing deliverance from the Lord. Instead, they should remember all who died. They should be sobered to realize how helpless they had been. When destruction seemed certain, they should have mourned and cried out to the Lord to save them. Instead, they reveled like nothing mattered. The Lord condemns the steward of the king's house for carving out his tomb instead of trusting God. He puts a man named Eliakim in that position. Eliakim serves with great integrity, faithfulness, and excellence. Yet, he, too, falls away.

Isaiah has recorded several prophecies in preceding chapters. These spoke of nations such as Egypt as well as various tribes. Chapter 22 is an oracle against the city of Jerusalem. Isaiah condemns the people for celebrating instead of mourning and seeking the Lord's help. This could be either before or after a great siege of the city. The prophet weeps for the lost and calls the people to repent. The Lord condemns the king's steward for faithlessness. His replacement, Eliakim, serves with strength and integrity. The next oracles concern Tyre and Sydon, before addressing the entire world.

Isaiah is among the most important prophetic books in the entire Bible. The first segment details God's impending judgment against ancient peoples for sin and idolatry (Isaiah 1—35). The second part of Isaiah briefly explains a failed assault on Jerusalem during the rule of Hezekiah (Isaiah 36—39). The final chapters predict Israel's rescue from Babylonian captivity (Isaiah 40—48), the promised Messiah (Isaiah 49—57), and the final glory of Jerusalem and God's people (Isaiah 58—66).