Shebat (Hastings' Dictionary)

Zee 1'. See Sebat and Time. SHEBER {T^?i ; B Zi^tp, A 2/^fp, Lnc. 2d^o/>).— A son ( f Caleb by his concubine Maacah, 1 Ch 2". SHEBNA (m^, in 2 K IS"-" njjj' BHEBNAH ; LXX ZiM^as [in Is .?G' B 26;9»at, and so Q"»« in 36"]). — A major-domo or palace-governor of king Hezekiah, against whom is directed one of the recorded utterances of Isaiah (Is 22"""). The prophet's language implies tliat Shebna possessed wealth and high position. His chariots and their splendour drew remark (v.').

He had begun the construction of a tomb such as princes made for themselves (v."*). The office he held was domestic in origin, but had become one of the highest in the State. Control of the royal household and man- agement of the affairs of the palace brought the holder of the office into intimate relations with the king, and placed in his hands the dispensing of much favour and patronage.

The palace guards were probably under his control, so that the im- portant element of a certain military power was added to his position. Isaiah refers to the suprem- acy of his authority in the palace (v.^). He also implies that tlie office (3K as in Gn 45') had duties beyond the palace precincts, in Jerusalem and even in Judah (v.*'). ^^'hen Jerusalem was threatened by the Assyrian king, the holder of this otiice was one of three chosen by Hezekiah to negotiate for him (2 K 18 f . ).

The palace-governor, in short, was one of the principal ministers of State. The fuU significance of Isaiah's prediction re- garding Shebna is ajjparent only if it he remem- bered, firstly, that he was a foreigner, and, secondly, that he was just then constructing for himself a tomb which should be his monument and resting- place. It was probably on a day when he was viewing complacently the progress of this work that the prophet came to him with his disturbing, disconcerting message.

He will not rest in the sepulchre he is making, He has not even found, as he had thought, an adopted country. He will be cast out from the land of Judah, and die and be buried far away from the tomb he is preparing. The simplest way of regarding Isaiah's message is to take it as a special case of the warning, ' He putteth down the mighty from their seat, he exalteth them of low degree.

* Shebna's pride, his arrogant splendour, and his confidence in the future are marked features in his character as it is presented to us. His fate is not represented as retribution for what he has done. Rather, it is the contrast between his present haughty inde- pendence and his future humiliation which exposes him to rebuke and brings upon him the prophet's warning. It might be argued that the application of the words 'my Ber%'ant' to his successor (v.

20), and the evidence of vM, imply that he had transgressed J'"s law. It is certainly probable that a man of Shebna's spirit would in his position be guilty of conduct which Isaiah elsewhere resents. But the prophecy does not denounce judgment on him for this reason. It has been suggested that Hhenna's policy was not in accordance with Isaiah's, that he was one of those who instigated the king to a breach with Assyria. Tliis also is possible, but is merely conjecture.

Even the interpretation of the * large country ' of v.^ as Assyria ia no support. The date of the prophecy may be inferred from 2K 18f. ( = I8 36f.), where Eliakim appears as holder of the office of major-donw. That was in the year B.C. 701. Some time before this, accord- ingly, Shebna had been removed from his office. The prophecy was delivered still earlier. The argument implies, in accordance with Is 22^""^, that Eliakim a tenure of office followed Shebna's (see Eliakim).

But this same narrative mentions also a certain 'Shebna the scribe' (2 K is'- '•'•" 19' = l8 36»- "• " 37'). It is unlikely that there was more than one Shebna among Hezekiali's officers of State. The subject of Isaiah's prophecy appears, accordingly, to have held, later on, the otlice of royal secretary. One of two conclusions may be drawn : either the prophecy was unfulfilled in 701, or there is a mistake in describing it as directed against Shebna.

A third view has been maintained, to the effect that change of offlce from maiOT-d<nno to secretarj' ts degradation equivalenc to futtllmentot the prediction. There is not, however, sutllcient proof that the oiBce of State secretary was lower than that of govemorof the palace. But, besides, Isaiah foretells as Shebna'e ht« muob more than low of offlce. That, indeed, k merely part 484 SHEBUEL SHECnEM et the implication of a sentence of exile and banisliment.

I/n-is of office, or rather transference to another office, is by no mians tlie same a3 exile. Isaiah mentions it as a part of Shebiia'a misfortune. It is less easy to decide between the alternatives which remain. If the spirit and essence of Isaiah's prophecy be considered, Shebna'a change of office was not in the slifrhtest dei^ree its fulfilment. This conclusion may be declared im- possible on theological grounds. But Shebna's history did not end with the year 701.

His exile may have come after that date. Delay in the fulfilment of the prediction or premature anticipation of its fulfilment is all that need be assumed. The alternative conclusion is that the governor of the palace in Is 22 is wrongly named Shebna. In support of this it may be argued (Dulim, (tdloc, and others) that tlie last clause of v. 15 is ir its wroni^ place, was orifjinally an editorial heading to the section, and may be in error.

The words • against (7j;) Shebna the palace-governor' certainly read like a heading and leave an improved text when removed from their present position. But the suirgestion that an editor took the name from 2 K 18 is improbable, since, (1) Shebna is secretary there, and (2) the identitl'-ation creates evidence against the fulfilment of the prediction. The difficulty, therefore, that Shebna was royal secretary in 701 remains the only reason for ehminatiug the name from Is 22".

The designation pb in Is 2210 has not been referred to. The title occurs only here in the OT. In 1 K 1. 4 the fenjnine is used (AVm * cherisher '). In a Phceniciao inscription about 80 years older than Isaiah's prophecy (?) (CIS i. p. 25) it is used possibly in the sense of city-governor.t This may be its raean- mg here. It harmonizes sufficiently with the designation of Shebna as palace-governor. The domestic office may have in- cluded the other (cf. v.2i). The cognate in Assyr.

denotes •governor '(Del HH'B s. \3V). W. B. STEVENSON.