Shebna in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE

sheb'-na (shebhna'; Somnas; but shebhnah, in 2 Ki 18:18,26; meaning uncertain (2 Ki 18:18,26,37 and 19:2 = Isa 36:3,11,22 and 37:2; lsa 22:15)): 1. Position in Isaiah 22: In Isa 22:15 Shebna is referred to as he "who is over the house," or household, apparently that of the king. The phrase is translated "steward of the house" in the Revised Version (British and American) of Gen 43:16,19; 44:1, and occurs also in 39:4, "overseer"; 44:4. It is used of an officer of the Northern Kingdom in 1 Ki 16:9; 18:3; 2 Ki 10:5. This officer is distinguished from him "that was over the city" in 2 Ki 10:5, and it is said in 2 Ki 15:5 that after his father Azariah was stricken with leprosy, "Jotham, the king's son, was over the household, judging all the people of the land." Again Isa 22:15 speaks of "this cokhen," a phrase that must apply to Shebna if the prophecy refers to him. This word is the participle of a verb meaning "to be of use or service," so "to benefit" in Job 15:3; 22:2; 34:9. The feminine participle is employed of Abishag in 1 Ki 1:2,4, where King James Version, margin translates "cherisher"; BDB renders it "servitor" or "steward" in Isa 22:15. It occurs also as a Canaanite gloss in the Tell el- Amarna Letters (Winckler, number 237,9). The cokhen was evidently a high officer: Shebna had splendid chariots (22:18), but what the office exactly was is not certain. The other reference to Shebna in the title of the prophecy would lead one to conclude that it denoted him "who was over the household," i.e. governor of the palace, probably, or major- domo. The word cokhen is thus a general title; others deny this, maintaining that it would then occur more frequently...