Isaiah 22:17
in Isaiah 22Look, O mighty man! The LORD is about to shake you violently. He will take hold of you,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Behold, Jehovah, like a strong man, will hurl thee away violently; yea, he will wrap thee up closely.
KJV
Behold, the Lord will carry thee away with a mighty captivity, and will surely cover thee.
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This verse in Isaiah 22
Commentary
11 notes on this verse(Verse 15, 16, etc.) Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts: Go, enter to him who dwells in the tabernacle, to Shebna, the overseer of the temple, and say to him: What are you doing here? or who are you here? for you have carved out a sepulchre here for yourself. You have carved out a lofty memorial for yourself diligently in the rock for your tent. Behold, the Lord will cast you down as one is cast down, like a cockerel; and he will lift you up like a cloak.
This site's exposition
Go, say to Shebna
on Isaiah 22:15-19
Shebna, "the steward in charge of the palace", is asked who authorized him "to carve out a tomb". The LORD will "roll you into a ball, and sling you into a wide land". Barnes and Gill note that 2 Kings 18 shows a Shebna as a scribe under Eliakim.
This site's exposition
The LORD is about to shake you violently
The word for mighty man means simply a man, and the shaking is a violent throw. Barnes finds no record of the wide land Shebna was to be slung into, though Assyria is likely. The man who chose his own tomb loses the choice.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
For all these things will work for your destruction [i.e., Shebna's], since you have been deposed and rejected from the high priesthood, of which you showed yourself unworthy, God being a just judge who gives to each according to his worth. On you, then, he will bring these things; but on the other, Eliakim, whom he has assessed as his good servant and slave, he will invest with your robe and will honor by placing on him the crown of the high priesthood, whose ministry you had hitherto been entrusted with. For he is a man worthy of it.
(Verse 15 onward) Thus says the Lord God of hosts: Go, go into him who dwells in the tabernacle, to Shebna, the overseer of the Temple, and say to him: What are you doing here? Or who are you here, because you have dug for yourself here a tomb? You have dug your memorial on high, diligently in the rock you have made a dwelling for yourself. Behold, the Lord will carry you away: like the lifting of a rooster or like a garment he will lift you up. He will surely overthrow you and throw you into a wide and spacious land: there you shall die, and there shall be the chariots of your glory; the disgrace of your Lord's house. And I will drive you out from your office, and I will remove you from your position. And on that day, I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah. And I will clothe him with your robe, and I will strengthen him with your sash, and I will give your authority into his hand. And he will be like a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. And I will place the key of the house of David on his shoulder, and he will open, and no one shall shut; and he will shut, and no one shall open. And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house. And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons. In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off: for the Lord hath spoken it. We have already mentioned that Shebna was a high priest who betrayed the city to the Assyrians. […]
The Medieval Church1 voice
Third, he threatens a threefold punishment: behold the Lord. First, of subjugation: as a cock, which raises chicks like a hen, being castrated, called a capon, is carried away, bound, and without struggle; and he will lift you up and as a garment, easily lifted …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Behold, the Lord will carry thee away with a mighty captivity,.... Or with the captivity of a man; so the Targum, of a mighty man, Sennacherib king of Assyria; who, as the Jews say (z), when he went from Jerusalem, upon the rumour of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia coming against him, carried away Shebna and his company, as with an inundation: or as a man is carried captive, whose captivity is harder, and more severe and cruel, than a woman's, as the Rabbins (a) observe; a woman finding more mercy in captivity usually than a man does.
Grotius thinks he was stricken with a leprosy, which was a disease commonly supposed to come from the immediate hand of God's displeasure, particularly for the punishment of the proud, as in the case of Miriam and Uzziah; and by reason of this disease he was tossed like a ball out of Jerusalem.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Behold, the Lord will carry thee away - Of the historical fact here referred to we have no other information. To what place he was to be carried, we know not. It is probable, however, that it was to Assyria. With a mighty captivity - Hebrew, גבר geber - ‘Of a man,’ or perhaps, ‘O man.’ If it means ‘the captivity of a man,’ the sense is, a strong, irresistible, mighty captivity where the word “man” is emphatic, and means such as a mighty man would make.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
carry . . . away with . . . captivity--rather, "will cast thee away with a mighty throw" [MAURER]. "Mighty," literally, "of a man" (so Job 38:3). surely cover--namely, with shame, where thou art rearing a monument to perpetuate thy fame [VITRINGA]. "Rolling will roll thee," that is, will continually roll thee on, as a ball to be tossed away [MAURER].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Cover thee - That is, thy face. This was the condition of mourners in general, and particularly of condemned persons. See Est 6:12; Est 7:8.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הִנֵּ֤ה | hineh | there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| מְטַלְטֶלְךָ֔ | metaltelkha | [is] about to hurl away you | H2904 → | |
| טַלְטֵלָ֖ה | taltelah | hurling | H2925 → | |
| גָּ֑בֶר | gaver | O man | H1397 → | |
| וְעֹטְךָ֖ | veotekha | and [is] about to grasp you | H5844 → | 17 times |
| עָטֹֽה׃ | ʾatoh | completely <to grasp> | H5844 → | 17 times |
הִנֵּ֤הthere!
hinehH2009 →843 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
מְטַלְטֶלְךָ֔[is] about to hurl away you
metaltelkhaH2904 →
טַלְטֵלָ֖הhurling
taltelahH2925 →
גָּ֑בֶרO man
gaverH1397 →
וְעֹטְךָ֖and [is] about to grasp you
veotekhaH5844 →17 times
עָטֹֽה׃completely <to grasp>
ʾatohH5844 →17 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Jeremiah 14:3The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns, but find no water; their jars return empty. They are ashamed and humiliated; they cover their heads.
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 15:30
But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went up. His head was covered, and he was walking barefoot. And all the people with him covered their heads and went up,…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 2:13
“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
- Psalms 40:14
May those who seek my life be ashamed and confounded; may those who wish me harm be repelled and humiliated.
- 2 Samuel 15:30
Through
Job 9:24The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He blindfolds its judges. If it is not He, then who is it?
it leads to
- Job 10:3
Does it please You to oppress me, to reject the work of Your hands and favor the schemes of the wicked?
- Psalms 73:3–7
For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
- Jeremiah 12:1–2
Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live…
- Job 10:3
Through
Esther 7:8Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining. The king exclaimed, “Would he actually assault the queen while I…
it leads to
- Esther 1:6
Hangings of white and blue linen were fastened with cords of fine white and purple material to silver rings on the marble pillars. Gold and silver couches were arranged on a mosaic pavement of…
- Esther 6:12
Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief.
- Esther 1:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Isaiah

This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Eusebius of Caesarea, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 148:6-20; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.
