Isaiah 22:15 - Exposition

The Lord God of hosts . This form, Adonay Jehovah Tsabaoth—rarely used by Isaiah, but occurring above in verses 5, 12, and 13—seems to show that this section is in its right place, being intended as a sequel to the description of Sennacherib's siege. This treasurer . The word " this " is contemptuous. That translated "treasurer" is of doubtful import. The key to it is probably to be found in the cognate noun, translated "storehouse" in 2 Chronicles 32:28 , and "store" in 1 Kings 9:19 ; 2 Chronicles 8:4 , 2 Chronicles 8:6 ; 2 Chronicles 16:4 ; 2 Chronicles 17:12 . Translate, this storekeeper . Shebna . The name, which is not found elsewhere, is thought to be Syriac rather than Hebrew, and Shebna himself is conjectured to have been a foreign adventurer, perhaps "a refugee from Damascus" (Cheyne). (See the next verse.) Which is over the house . An office like the imperial praefectus palatio " at Rome, or the Frankish " mayor of the palace" (see Genesis 41:40 ; 1 Kings 4:6 ; 1 Kings 18:3 ). At this time it seems to have been the highest office that a subject could hold ( 2 Chronicles 26:21 ; 2 Kings 18:18 , etc.).