Isaiah 22:19
in Isaiah 22I will remove you from office, and you will be ousted from your position.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And I will thrust thee from thine office; and from thy station shalt thou be pulled down.
KJV
And I will drive thee from thy station, and from thy state shall he pull thee down.
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This verse in Isaiah 22
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThird, the punishment of deposition, and I will drive you out from your station: so Solomon cast out Abiathar from being the priest of the Lord (1 Kgs 2:27).
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
I will remove you from office
Shebna is ousted from his position by the LORD, and Barnes takes both lines of the sentence as the act of God. Aquinas compares Solomon removing Abiathar from office at 1 Kings 2:27. Henry observes that high places are slippery places.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
(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.
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 Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): I will drive thee from thy station. High places are slippery places; and those are justly deprived of their honour that are proud of it and puffed up with it, and deprived of their power that do hurt with it.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And I will drive thee from thy station,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
I will drive thee - אהרסך ehersecha, in the first person, Syr. Vulg.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And from thy state - From thy office; thy place of trust and responsibility. Shall he pull thee down - That is, “God” shall do it. The prophet here uses the third person instead of the first. Such a change of person is very common in the writings of the prophets (see Stuart’s “Heb. Gram.” 563-565, sixth Ed.)
The words behind it
4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַהֲדַפְתִּ֖יךָ | vahadaftikha | and I will push you | H1920 → | |
| מִמַּצָּבֶ֑ךָ | mimatzavekha | from office your | H4673 → | |
| וּמִמַּעֲמָֽדְךָ֖ | umimaamadekha | and from post your | H4612 → | |
| יֶהֶרְסֶֽךָ׃ | yehersekha | he will tear down you | H2040 → | 43 times |
וַהֲדַפְתִּ֖יךָand I will push you
vahadaftikhaH1920 →
מִמַּצָּבֶ֑ךָfrom office your
mimatzavekhaH4673 →
וּמִמַּעֲמָֽדְךָ֖and from post your
umimaamadekhaH4612 →
יֶהֶרְסֶֽךָ׃he will tear down you
yehersekhaH2040 →43 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
Luke 1:52He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has exalted the humble.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 17:24
Then all the trees of the field will know that I am the LORD. I bring the tall tree down and make the low tree tall. I dry up the green tree and make…
- James 4:10
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.
- Psalms 107:40–41
He pours out contempt on the nobles and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.
- 1 Samuel 2:6–8
The LORD brings death and gives life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up.
- Luke 18:14
I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
- Ezekiel 17:24
Through
Ezekiel 17:24Then all the trees of the field will know that I am the LORD. I bring the tall tree down and make the low tree tall. I dry up the green tree and make…
it leads to
- Amos 9:11
“In that day I will restore the fallen tent of David. I will repair its gaps, restore its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old,
- 1 Corinthians 1:27–28
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
- Ezekiel 24:14
I, the LORD, have spoken; the time is coming, and I will act. I will not refrain or show pity, nor will I relent. I will judge you according to your ways and deeds,’…
- Amos 9:11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Isaiah
This page draws on 9 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; 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.