C. W. Wilson.
8HEBANIAH {.t»i? ; in 1 Ch 15"'' ?.i;;av)— 1- The name of a Levite or a Levitical family that took part in the religious services which followed the reading of the Law, Neh 9^ (B Zapa^id, A Zaxavid, K 2o/)o5id)'(LXX om.). The name appears in Neh 10'" amongst those who sealed the covenant (B Zafiani, XA 2f^and, Luc. [in both verses] Sexfylas). 2. A priest or Levite who sealed the covenant, Neh 10»(B'E,3oi'W, A 2«;3aW, Luc. Bo^ofos) 12"(Bs*A om., N°- • ilfxf XtoiS, Luc Sexf'aj). See SheCANIAH, No. 8. 3. Another Levite who sealed the cove- nant, Neh 10'^ (BA Xepavid, Luc. Sa/JaWas). 4. A priest ia David's time, 1 Ch IS'* (]i Zofwid, K Zoftyftd, A Zapertd, Luc. Za/Soyid).
SHEBARIM (in??>n, with art. ; /to! [Lnc. ttn] fwirpi^av aiToi/t ; Sabarim). — A place mentioned (Job 7°) in the description of the pursuit of the Israelites by the men of Ai. RVm (so also Keil, Jotua) tr. hash-shibarim by 'the quarries,' a ren- dering which .Steuernagel (in Nowack's Hdkomm.) is also inclined to accept. The place was on the descent from Ai to the Jordan Vallev, but the name has not been recovered. The LXX (cf. Pesh. and Targ. Di.^yrnv) does not recognize a proper name, but takes the meaning to be ' [they pursued them] till they were broken," i.e. completely routed and mistly destroyed. See, further, Dillm. ad loc.
C. W. Wilson.
SHEBAT.— Zee 1'. See Sebat and Time.
SHEBER {T^?i ; B Zi^tp, A 2/^fp, Lnc. 2d^o/>).— A son ( f Caleb by his concubine Maacah, 1 Ch 2".
SHEBNA (m^, in 2 K IS"-" njjj' BHEBNAH ;
LXX ZiM^as [in Is .*?G' B 26;9»at, and so Q"»« in 36"]). — A major-domo or palace-governor of king Hezekiah, against whom is directed one of the recorded utterances of Isaiah (Is 22"""). The prophet's language implies tliat Shebna possessed wealth and high position. His chariots and their splendour drew remark (v.'*). He had begun the construction of a tomb such as princes made for themselves (v."*). The office he held was domestic in origin, but had become one of the highest in the State. Control of the royal household and man- agement of the affairs of the palace brought the holder of the office into intimate relations with the king, and placed in his hands the dispensing of much favour and patronage. The palace guards were probably under his control, so that the im- portant element of a certain military power was added to his position. Isaiah refers to the suprem- acy of his authority in the palace (v.^). He also implies that tlie office (3K as in Gn 45') had duties beyond the palace precincts, in Jerusalem and even in Judah (v.*'). ^^'hen Jerusalem was threatened by the Assyrian king, the holder of this otiice was one of three chosen by Hezekiah to negotiate for him (2 K 18 f . ). The palace-governor, in short, was one of the principal ministers of State.
The fuU significance of Isaiah's prediction re- garding Shebna is ajjparent only if it he remem- bered, firstly, that he was a foreigner, and, secondly, that he was just then constructing for himself a tomb which should be his monument and resting- place. It was probably on a day when he was viewing complacently the progress of this work that the prophet came to him with his disturbing, disconcerting message. He will not rest in the sepulchre he is making, He has not even found, as he had thought, an adopted country. He will be cast out from the land of Judah, and die and be buried far away from the tomb he is preparing.
The simplest way of regarding Isaiah's message is to take it as a special case of the warning, ' He putteth down the mighty from their seat, he exalteth them of low degree.* Shebna's pride, his arrogant splendour, and his confidence in the future are marked features in his character as it is presented to us. His fate is not represented as retribution for what he has done. Rather, it is the contrast between his present haughty inde- pendence and his future humiliation which exposes him to rebuke and brings upon him the prophet's warning. It might be argued that the application of the words 'my Ber%'ant' to his successor (v.20), and the evidence of vM, imply that he had transgressed J'"s law. It is certainly probable that a man of Shebna's spirit would in his position be guilty of conduct which Isaiah elsewhere resents. But the prophecy does not denounce judgment on him for this reason. It has been suggested that Hhenna's policy was not in accordance with Isaiah's, that he was one of those who instigated the king to a breach with Assyria. Tliis also is possible, but is merely conjecture. Even the interpretation of the * large country ' of v.^ as Assyria ia no support.
The date of the prophecy may be inferred from 2K 18f. ( = I8 36f.), where Eliakim appears as holder of the office of major-donw. That was in the year B.C. 701. Some time before this, accord- ingly, Shebna had been removed from his office. The prophecy was delivered still earlier. The argument implies, in accordance with Is 22^""^, that Eliakim a tenure of office followed Shebna's (see Eliakim). But this same narrative mentions also a certain 'Shebna the scribe' (2 K is'*- '•'*•" 19' = l8 36»- "• " 37'). It is unlikely that there was more than one Shebna among Hezekiali's officers of State. The subject of Isaiah's prophecy appears, accordingly, to have held, later on, the otlice of royal secretary. One of two conclusions may be drawn : either the prophecy was unfulfilled in 701, or there is a mistake in describing it as directed against Shebna.