Isaiah 22:18

WEB

He will surely wind you around and around, and throw you like a ball into a large country. There you will die, and there the chariots of your glory will be, you shame of your lord's house.

KJV

He will surely violently turn and toss thee like a ball into a large country: there shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall be the shame of thy lord’s house.

Commentary

He will surely violently turn and toss thee,.... Or, "wrapping he will wrap thee with a wrapping"; as anything is wrapped up close and round, either to be more commodiously carried, or more easily tossed: or, "rolling he will roll thee with a rolling" (d); that is, roll thee over and over again, till brought to a place appointed: like a ball into a large country; where there is nothing to stop it; and being cast with a strong hand, runs a great way, and with prodigious swiftness; and signifies, that Shebna's captivity was inevitable, which he could not escape; that he was no more in the hands of the Lord than a ba ll in the hands of a strong man; and could as easily, and would be, hurled out of his place, into a distant country, as a ball, well wrapped, could be thrown at a great distance by a strong arm; and that this his captivity would be swift and sudden; and that he should be carried into a large country, and at a distance. Jarchi says Casiphia (e), a place mentioned in Ezr 8:17 . Aben Ezra interprets it of Babylon, which seems likely. There shalt thou die: in that large and distant country; and not at Jerusalem, where he had built a magnificent sepulchre for himself and family: and there the chariots of thy glory; shall cease and be no more; he should not have them along with him to ride in pomp and state, and to show his glory and grandeur, as he had done in Jerusalem. We connect this with the following clause, and supply it thus, shall be the shame of thy lord's house; as if the chariots and coaches of state he had rode in were to the reproach of the king his master; who had made such an ill choice of a steward of his house, or prime minister of state, and had advanced such a worthless creature to such a dignity; but it may be better supplied thus, without being so strictly connected with the other clause, and which is more agreeable to the accents, "O thou, the shame of thy lord's house" (f); a disgrace and dishonour to Ahaz, who perhaps put him in his office; and to Hezekiah, that continued him in it. The Jews say he was brought to a very shameful end; they say (g), that when he went out of the city of Jerusalem, in order to deliver Hezekiah's forces into the hands of the enemy, Gabriel shut the gate before his army; to whom the enemy said, where's thy army? he replied, they are turned back; say they, thou hast mocked us: upon which they bored his heels, and fastened him to the tails of horses, and drew him upon thorns and briers. So says Kimchi, instead of chariots of glory, he thought they would give him, they put him to shame, binding him to the tails of horses. (d) "cidarizando cidarizabit te cidari", Forerius; as the priest's linen mitre, Lev. xvi. 4. which was wrapped about his head, so Ben Melech; or any turban, such as were used in the eastern countries; signifying, that he should be rolled up like this, or any such like round thing, and carried away. (e) So in Vajikra, sect. 5. fol. 150. 3. (f) "tu, O dedecus domus domini tui", Tigurine version; "O ignominia", &c. Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. (g) T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol 26. 1, 2.