Isaiah 22:25

Verse 25. The nail that is fastened] This must be understood of Shebna, as a repetition and confirmation of the sentence above denounced against him.

WHAT is said of Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, Isa 22:20-24, is very remarkable; and the literal meaning is not easy to be understood. From Isa 9:6, and from Re 3:7, it seems to belong to our Lord alone. The removal of Shebna from being over the treasure of the Lord's house, Isa 22:19, and the investiture of Eliakim with his robe, girdle, office, and government, Isa 22:20, c., probably point out the change of the Jewish priesthood, and the proclaiming of the unchangeable priesthood of Christ. See Ps 110:4. Eliakim signifies The resurrection of the Lord or, My God, he shall arise. Hilkiah signifies The Lord my portion or lot. The key of David, shutting and opening, c., may intend the way of salvation through Christ alone. For the hope of salvation and eternal life comes only through Eliakim, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

It is said, Isa 22:24, "They shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house" - for, in Jesus Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily and the offspring and the issue, הצאצאים hatstseetsaim from יצא yatsa, to go out, - the suckers from the root; the sideshoots, the apostles and primitive ministers of his word. The issue, הצפיעות hatstsephioth, probably means the issue's issue; so the Targum. The grandchildren, all those who believe on the Lord Jesus through their word.

"The nail that is fastened in the sure place shall be removed," Isa 22:25, Kimchi refers not to Eliakim, but to Shebna, Isa 22:17-19. By, "They shall hang upon him all vessels of small quantity and large quantity," has been understood the dependence of all souls, of all capacities, from the lowest in intellect to the most exalted, on the Lord Jesus, as the only Saviour of all lost human spirits.

As the literal interpretation of this prophecy has not been found out, we are justified from parallel texts to consider the whole as referring to Jesus Christ, and the government of the Church, and the redemption of the world by him. Nor are there many prophecies which relate to him more clearly than this, taken in the above sense.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Isa 22:25 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].

Ver. 25. Shall the nail that is fastened.] So Shebna once seemed to be, but now it shall appear to be otherwise; for he shall fall, and with him all his dependants shall be ruined.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Isa_22:25

In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed

Elevation is only held on good character

Even God who drove in the nail can take it out again.

No nail once driven in can do without God, saying, I am driven in now, so I care not what may happen. The highest lives in obedience; the strongest man becomes weaker than the weakest when he ceases to pray. Genius cannot keep a man in a high moral elevation. His genius will soon be discovered to be but cleverness, not the blooming out of a life that is hidden in the very mystery of God. Leader of the people! even thou mayest be dispossessed of thy leadership. Great statesmen are in the hands of God. Journalists, thinkers, the advance guard of every name, all these hold their position on their good conduct. Let them be good and faithful servants; let there be no selfishness in their ambition, no vain conceit because of the influence with which God hath clothed them; even the nail that is fastened in the sure place may be removed, the very beam in which it finds a place may be cut in two and burned in unquenchable fire. So, then, we are nothing but in God. (J. Parker, D. D.)

Nepotism

Eliakim comes to ruin in the exorcise of the plenary power attaching to his office by giving way to nepotism. His family makes a wrong use of him, and with an unwarrantable amount of good nature he makes a wrong use of his official position for their benefit. He therefore comes down headlong, and with him all the heavy burden which the peg sustains, i.e., all his relations, who, by being far too eager to make the most of their good fortune, have brought him to ruin. (F. Delitzsch.)

Eliakim and Shebna: a couple of tragedies

We have not one, but a couple of tragedies. Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, follows Shebna, the son of Nobody. The fate of the overburdened nail is as grievous as that of the rolling stone. It is easy to pass this prophecy over as a trivial incident; but when we have carefully analysed each verse, restored to the words their exact shade of signification, and set them in their proper contrasts, we perceive the outlines of two social dramas, which it requires very little imagination to invest with engrossing moral interest. (Prof. G. A. Smith, D. D.)

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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

We will refer to this again. But in the meantime the impression is an irresistible one; and the Targum, Jerome, Hitzig, and others, are therefore right in assuming that Eliakim is the peg which, however glorious its beginning may have been, comes at last to the shameful end described in Isa 22:25 : "In that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, will the peg that is fastened in a sure place be removed, and be cast down, and fall; and the burden that it bore falls to the ground: for Jehovah hath spoken." The prophet could not express in clearer terms the identity of the peg threatened here with Eliakim himself; for how is it conceivable that the prophet could turn all that he has predicated of Eliakim in Isa 22:23, Isa 22:24, into predicates of Shebna? What Umbreit says - namely, that common sense must refer Isa 22:25 to Shebna - is the very reverse of correct. Eliakim himself is also brought down at last by the greatness of his power, on account of the nepotism to which he has given way. His family makes a wrong use of him; and he is more yielding than he ought to be, and makes a wrong use of his office to favour them! He therefore falls, and brings down with him all that hung upon the peg, i.e., all his relations, who have brought him to ruin through the rapacity with which they have grasped at prosperity.

Hitzig maintains that Isa 22:24, Isa 22:25 form a later addition. But it is much better to assume that the prophet wrote down Isa 22:15-25 at one sitting, after the predicted fate of the two great ministers of state, which had been revealed to him at two different times, had been actually fulfilled. We know nothing more about them than this, that in the fourteenth year of Hezekiah it was not Shebna, but Eliakim, "who was over the house" (Isa 36:3, Isa 36:22; Isa 37:2). But Shebna also filled another office of importance, namely that of sōpher. Was he really taken prisoner and carried away (a thing which is perfectly conceivable even without an Assyrian captivity of the nation generally)? Or did he anticipate the threatened judgment, and avert it by a penitential self-abasement? To this and other questions we can give no reply. One thing alone is certain - namely, that the threefold prediction of Shebna's fall, of Eliakim's elevation, and of Eliakim's fall, would not stand where it does, if there were any reason whatever to be ashamed of comparing the prophecy with its fulfilment.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

22:25 I will pull out the nail: Even godly Eliakim would not be able to save Judah or David’s dynasty from God’s judgment. The people of Judah would go into exile more than a century later (39:6-7).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

He meaneth Shebna, who in man’s judgment should never have fallen.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

nail . . . fastened--Shebna, who was supposed to be firmly fixed in his post.

burden . . . upon it--All that were dependent on Shebna, all his emoluments and rank will fail, as when a peg is suddenly "cut down," the ornaments on it fall with it. Sin reaches in its effects even to the family of the guilty (Exo 20:5).

MENANDER, the historian, notices a siege of Tyre by Shalmaneser, about the time of the siege of Samaria. Sidon, Acco, and Old Tyre, on the mainland, were soon reduced; but New Tyre, on an island half a mile from the shore, held out for five years. Sargon probably finished the siege. Sennacherib does not, however, mention it among the cities which the Assyrian kings conquered (thirty-sixth and thirty-seventh chapters). The expression, "Chaldeans" (Isa 23:13), may imply reference to its siege under Nebuchadnezzar, which lasted thirteen years. Alexander the Great destroyed New Tyre after a seven months' siege.

Next: Isaiah Chapter 23

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(25) Shall the nail that is fastened in a sure place be removed . . .—There is, the prophet says, a judgment for the misuse of power portrayed in the previous verse. The “nail” that seems so firmly fixed should be removed, i.e., Eliakim should cease to hold his high office, and with his fall should come that of all his kindred and dependents. Here, as in the case of Shebna, we have no record of the fulfilment of the prediction, but it is a natural inference, from its remaining in the collected prophecies of Isaiah, either that it was fulfilled, or that it did its work as a warning, and that the penalty was averted by a timely reformation.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

25. The fall of Eliakim’s house, described under the same metaphor. It is not necessarily implied that the minister himself lived to see this reverse of fortune; living or dead, his name was the “peg” of the family’s nobility, and when the crash came, it might truly be said that the “peg fastened in a sure place” had been removed.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In that day, saith the Lord of hosts,.... That Shebna is deposed, and Eliakim put in his place:

shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; meaning, not Eliakim before spoken of, who really was a nail fastened in a sure place, and not to be removed; but Shebna, who thought himself to be as a nail in a sure place, being put into it by the king, and supported by his authority, and courted by his friends and flatterers; for to him the whole preceding prophecy is directed, which is carried down to this verse; for all that is said of the glory and usefulness of his successor Eliakim was to be told to him, which would make it still the more grievous to him, to be degraded and disgraced as he would be, signified by his being removed, cast down, and falling:

and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off; those that were dependent upon him, his family, his flatterers, and friends, such whom he had raised by his influence and authority to considerable places, and whom he supported in them; these would fall with him, as is usual when a royal favourite, or prime minister of state, falls into disgrace, and is removed; an instance of this may be seen in Haman, whose family and friends were involved in the same ruin with him, Est 9:12 and it may be observed, that many dependents, which a minister of state always has, are a burden to him. The Targum interprets this of the burden of prophecy; and Jarchi says, that some explain it thus,

"the prophecy, which thou prophesiest, concerning it, shall be confirmed;''

as follows:

for the Lord hath spoken it; and therefore it shall come to pass;

as the Targum,

"for, so it is decreed by the word of the Lord.''

Next: Isaiah Chapter 23

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

In that day shall the nail - Not Eliakim, but Shebna. Eliakim was to be fastened, that is, confirmed in office. But Shebna was to be removed.

That is fastened in the sure place - Or, that was once fastened, or was supposed to be fastened - a phrase appropriate to an office which the incumbent supposed to be firm or secure. It here refers to Shebna. He was regarded as haying a permanent hold on the office, and was making provisions for ending his days in it.

Be removed - To a distant land Isa 22:17-18, or simply taken down.

And be cut down, and fall - As a spike, pin, or peg would be taken away from the wall of a house.

And the burden that was upon it - All that it sustained - as the spikes in the wall of a house sustained the cups of gold, the raiment, or the armor that belonged to the family. Here it means, all that was dependent on Shebna - the honor of his family, his emoluments, his hope of future fame, or of an honored burial. All these would fail as a matter of course, when he was removed from his office. This is one instance of the usual mode of the divine administration. The errors of a man entrusted with office entail poverty, disgrace, and misery on all who are connected with him. Not only is his own name disgraced, but his sin “diffuses itself,” as it were, on all connected wit him. It involves them in want, and shame, and tears; and the design is to deter those in office from sin, by the fact that their crimes and errors “will” thus involve the innocent in calamiry, and shed disgrace and woe on those whom they love.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Fall. Sobna shall lose all his employments, and ruin others. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The nail that is fastened in the sure place; Shebna, who seemed to be so, both in his own eyes, and in the eyes of others. The burden that was upon it; all those wicked officers that were advanced and supported by his power.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

25. Shall the nail… fall — Delitzsch, of course, supposes the reference here is to Eliakim, and grammatical considerations are on his side. But the altogether better logical view is, that of an abrupt return (not without like examples with Isaiah) to the treasurer, who was a failure in the government, a heathen, without doubt, smuggled into office probably by the heathenish Ahaz, and unfortunately retained in office by pious Hezekiah, till, in the order of divine providence, he was ignominiously thrust out.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

SEQUEL OF THE PROPHECY CONCERNING ELIAKIM. This verse has been truly called "an enigma" (Kay). It is impossible to understand it of Shebna. "The nail that was fastened in a sure place" can only refer to the nail said to have been so fastened in ver. 23. Are we, then, to understand that Eliakim too will experience a reverse of fortune? But then all the force of the contrast between him and Shebna would be gone. Is it not possible that the prophet, seeing in Eliakim a type of the Messiah, and becoming more and more Messianic in his utterances, has ended by forgetting the type altogether, and being absorbed in the thought of the antitype? He, the nail, so surely fixed in his eternal place, would nevertheless be "removed" for a time, and then "he cut down and fall". (Isa_52:14 Isa_53:8) At the same time would be "cut off" the burden which Messiah bore. (Isa_53:12, "He bare the sin of many

In that day. Not the day of Shebna"s fall, certainly (ver. 20), but some ether. Is not the day that of Christ"s earthly mission, when it seemed as if his people were about to acknowledge him, (Mat_21:1-11 Mar_11:1-10 Luk_19:29-40) and his throne to be established, but suddenly Messiah was "cut off" (Dan_9:26) stricken for the transgression of his people? (Isa_53:8) The burden that was upon it shall be cut off. The great burden upon the Messiah was the load of human sin which he had to bear. "He himself bare our sins in his own body on the tree". (1Pe_2:24) By his death this burden was "cut off". (1Jn_2:2 2Co_5:19 Eph_2:16 Col_2:14) For the Lord hath spoken it. The double attestation, at the beginning and at the end of the verse, is a mark of the vast importance of the announcement contained in it, which is, in fact, the germ of the great doctrine of the atonement.

Messiah"s burden and Messiah"s death.

How Christ"s death atones for sin we know not, and need not too curiously inquire. But, if plain words have a plain meaning, it is impossible to doubt that this is the teaching of Scripture. "By his stripes we are healed"; (Isa_53:5) "He is the Propitiation for our sins"; (1Jn_2:2) "One died for all". (2Co_5:14) It is quite possible that there is something in the nature of things, which we cannot fathom, that made it impossible for man"s sins to be forgiven unless God died for them. Our wisdom is to avoid curious speculation, and to view the matter on its practical side. Thus viewed, it manifestly calls on us for three things.

I INTENSE HATRED OF SIN, ON ACCOUNT OF ITS HAVING CAUSED MESSIAH"S DEATH. If an animate, or even an inanimate, thing has caused the death of one we loved, how bitterly we detest it! Often we cannot bear to look upon it, nay, even to see a thing of the same kind. How, then, should we hate sin hateful in itself, hateful in its effects, hateful in its origin, most hateful in that it caused the death of the one Man who alone of all that have ever lived did not deserve to die! And he, moreover, One who dearly loved us, who came down from heaven for us, lived a life of privation and suffering for us, at last died for our sakes.

II INTENSE LOVE OF CHRIST, ON ACCOUNT OF HIS HAVING DIED FOR US. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." But Christ died for his enemies. Sin is an insuperable barrier between God and man, sets them at variance, makes them adversaries. And till Christ died man could not be forgiven. So he died for those with whom he was at enmity! And died by what a death!

1. More painful probably than any other.

2. Considered at the time more disgraceful.

3. Aggravated by the insults of lookers-on.

4. Regarded as bringing a man under a curse.

III INTENSE LOVE OF GOD THE FATHER, ON ACCOUNT OF HIS GIVING HIS SON TO DIE FOR US. We cannot realize the love of the Father for the Son; but we cannot doubt that it transcends any love known on earth. Yet he gave him to suffer all that he suffered and why? For us. Because he loved us. As our Lord himself says, "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life". (Joh_3:16) If the knowledge of this fact fail to stir up love towards the Father in our souls, we must be "past feeling", (Eph_4:19) utterly dead to any high motive, scarcely better than "brute beasts". (Jud_1:10)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The nail - Shebna, who seemed to be so. The burden - All those wicked officers that were advanced and supported by his power.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

“In that day, saith Jehovah of Hosts, shall the nail fastened in a sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall, and the burden which was on it shall be cut off, for Jehovah speaks.” The most natural and obvious application of these words is to Eliakim, who had just been represented as a nail in a sure place. But as this would predict his fall, without the slightest intimation of the reason, and in seeming contradiction to the previous context, most interpreters reject this exposition as untenable. Most writers seem to be agreed, that the twenty-fifth verse relates to Shebna, and that the Prophet, after likening Eliakim to a nail fastened in a sure place, tacitly applies the same comparison to Shebna, and declares that the nail which now seems to be securely fastened shall soon yield to make way for the other. Those who refer the verse to Eliakim suppose his fall to have been occasioned by his nepotism or excessive patronage of his relations, a conjectural inference from v. 24. The partial fulfillment of this prophecy is commonly supposed to be recorded in Isa 36:3, where Eliakim actually fills the place here promised to him, and Shebna appears in the inferior character of a scribe or secretary. Some indeed suppose two persons of the name of Shebna, which is not only arbitrary in itself, but rendered more improbable by this consideration, that Shebna is probably a foreign name, and certainly occurs only in these and the parallel places, whereas Hilkiah is of frequent occurrence, and yet is admitted upon all hands to denote the same person. It seems improbable no doubt that Shebna, after such a threatening, should be transferred to another office. But the threatening may not have been public, and the transfer may have been merely the beginning of his degradation. But even supposing that the Shebna of Isa 36:3 is a different person, and that the execution of this judgment is nowhere explicitly recorded, there is no need of concluding that it was revoked or that it was meant to be conditional, much less that it was falsified by the event. It is a common usage of the Scriptures, and of this book in particular, to record a divine command and not its execution, leaving the latter to be inferred from the former as a matter of course. Of this we have had repeated examples, such as Isa 7:4 and Isa 8:1. Nay in this very case, we are merely told what Isaiah was commanded to say to Shebna, without being told that he obeyed the order. If the execution of this order may be taken for granted, so may the fulfillment of the prophecy. If it had failed, it would not have been recorded or preserved among the prophecies.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

This continues the imagery from the previous verses. (See: Isaiah 22:23-24)

On that day

"At that time"

this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts

Yahweh speaks of himself by name to express the certainty of what he is declaring. Translate as in Isaiah 14:22. AT: "this is what Yahweh of hosts has declared" or "this is what I, Yahweh of hosts, have declared" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)

the peg driven in a firm place ... will be cut off

Yahweh causing Shebna to lose his authority in the king's palace is spoken of as if Shebna were a peg in the wall that breaks off and falls to the ground. This emphasizes that Shebna thought his authority was secure but God will remove him. (See: Metaphor)

the weight that was on it will be cut off

Here "weight" represents Shebna's power and authority. It is spoken of as if it were an object hanging on the peg that represents Shebna. Yahweh causing Shebna to lose his power and authority is spoken of as if someone were to cut off the object that was hanging on the peg. (See: Metonymy and Metaphor)

translationWords

Yahweh of hosts

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

shall the peg...move (This alludes to) the greatness of Shebna.

and the burden which is upon it shall be cut off His family members and his company who depend on him and who hang upon him the vessels of their glory. And since he likened him to a peg, he likened those who boast about him and rely on him, to a burden loaded on the peg. Some interpret it: And the prophecy prophesied about him shall be fulfilled.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

The nail, etc. Shebna, who thought himself a nail fixed in a strong place.

The burden that is upon it. The supporters of his government.

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.