by
Damien F. Mackey
If, as I believe,
Hezekiah and Josiah were one and the same king, of the same era, with whom in
Josiah’s realm are we to match Shebna the scribe of Hezekiah?
A colleague of mine, a smoker, used to make the comment,
whenever I (a non-smoker) would ask him for a match:
‘If I had a match
for you, I could start a circus!’
So far I have managed to strike a match for a sequence of
famous names from the Hezekiah-Josiah narratives.
My task has been greatly facilitated by the excellent Chart
37 from the Domain of Man site: Chart 37: Comparison of Hezekiah and Josiah Narratives
See e.g. my article:
Necessary fusion of Hezekiah and Josiah
(8)
Necessary fusion of Hezekiah and Josiah
Chart 37, however, does list several connections with
which I may not agree, and it also lacks a few that I would consider to be essential
ones.
For example, it has failed to strike a match for Josiah’s
prophetess Huldah.
She was the great Simeonite heroine, Judith.
But the one official upon whom I intend to focus in this
article is Hezekiah’s scribe, Shebna (Sobna), whose matching partner in Chart
37 is Josiah’s Shaphan.
This is a superficially attractive pairing that I, too,
had accepted. For one, the names Shebna and Shaphan appear to be tolerably
interchangeable, and, secondly, the official status appears to be exact:
“Shebna … over the Temple” (Isaiah 22:15, Douay); but also “the scribe” (2
Kings 18:18), and “Shaphan the scribe [or secretary]” (2 Kings 22:8).
However, chronological and other considerations lately have caused me to consider
rejecting this matching. In preparation for this, I had concluded my
above-mentioned article by writing: “Finally, as promising as it may look, I can no longer
juxtapose Shebna and Shaphan”.
For what are we looking?
To find (hopefully) the right
match for Shebna in the Book of Jeremiah and related texts, we would expect to encounter
a Levite of high status in the kingdom who was pro-Egyptian, and who had no
toleration whatsoever for the teachings and politics of the prophet Jeremiah.
For here is Isaiah’s snapshot of the “mighty man” (22:15-16):
Go, say to this steward,
to Shebna the palace administrator:
‘What are you doing here and who gave you permission
to cut out a grave for yourself here,
hewing your grave on the height
and chiseling your resting place in the rock?’
And this will be his
fate (vv. 17-19):
‘Beware, the Lord is about to
take firm hold of you
and hurl you away, you mighty man.
He will roll you up tightly like a ball
and throw you into a large country.
There you will die
and there the chariots you were so proud of
will become a disgrace to your master’s house.
I will depose you from your office,
and you will be ousted from your position’.
What is more, Isaiah foretells that Jeremiah son of
Hilkiah - here named alternatively as “Eliakim son of Hilkiah” - will replace
Shebna (vv. 20-24):
‘In that
day I will summon my servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah.
I will
clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him and hand
your
authority over to him. He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem
and to
the people of Judah. I will place on his shoulder the key to the
House of
David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one
can
open. I will drive him like a peg into a firm place; he will
become a seat
of
honor for the House of his father. All the glory of his family will
hang on him:
its
offspring and offshoots—all its lesser vessels, from the bowls to all the jars’.
Jeremiah, in other words, will replace Shebna as high
priest in the House of his father, Hilkiah.
V. 25: “In that day,” declares
the Lord Almighty, “the peg driven into the firm place will give
way; it will be sheared off and will fall, and the load hanging on it will be
cut down.” The Lord has spoken”.
Will be
deposed and go into exile
The crucial information that Shebna will be deposed and
will be hurled, like a ball, into exile in a foreign land, had encouraged me in
my university thesis (2007) to attempt to forge a connection between Shebna and
the foreign-sounding rebel against Assyria’s Sargon II, namely, Iatna-Iamani.
This Iatna-Iamani famously appears in the Tang-i Var
inscription in which he is handed over to Sargon II by pharaoh Shebitku of
Egypt-Ethiopia.
Now, as if Shebitku as an opponent of Sargon II does not
already throw right out of whack the conventional chronology, I have added
further to the controversy by identifying this Shebitku Khaemwaset with Khaemwaset
the co-regent son of Ramses II:
Khaemwaset, son of Ramses ‘the
Great’
(5)
Khaemwaset, son of Ramses 'the Great'
And, just as Isaiah had predicted about Shebna, so,
too, was Iatna-Iamani sent into exile. In the following account of him, Iatna-Iamani
is wrongly, I think, called “a Philistine king of Ashdod” : Iamani Explained
Iamani Explained
Iamani (akk| ia-ma-ni, "Ionian") or Iadna (akk| ia-ad-na,
"Cypriot") was a Philistine king of Ashdod during the reign of Neo-Assyrian emperor Sargon II. His
names, meaning "Ionian" and "Cypriot" … seemingly
indicate he was of Greek extraction, and therefore a foreigner amongst the
Philistines, although the names themselves are Semitic.
According
to Sargon II's annals, the emperor had deposed Azuri, the previous king of
Ashdod, for plotting to skirt the paying of tribute to Assyria, and replaced
him with his brother, Ahi-Miti. However, shortly afterwards, the Hittites apparently
invaded Ashdod and placed Iamani, a member of the lower class, on the throne.
Much like Azuri, Iamani did not respect Neo-Assyrian suzerainty, and so in c.
712 BCE … Sargon marched with his personal retinue to the Levant. When
Iamani became aware of the emperor's advance, he fled to Egypt, leaving behind his family.
Upon his arrival, Sargon captured Ashdod and Ashdod-Yam, as
well as Gath; which Ashdod apparently
controlled during Iamani's reign. Incidentally, this is the last time Gath
appears in historical records, which may indicate Sargon II's forces destroyed
the city rather than simply capturing it.
In any
event, Sargon's successful invasion marked the end of an independent Philistia,
which would now persist under direct Assyrian rule until the empire's collapse.
After
Ashdod's capture, Shebitku,
the king of Egypt, apparently found Iamani in the midst of a people whom the
Assyrians had never heard of, or rather, "[who]se ancestors [from the]
distant [past] until now had nev[er s]ent their mounted messenger(s) to the
kings, (Sargon II's) ancestors, in order to inquire about their
well-being", and captured Iamani and sent him to Assyria for fear that the
empire would inflict a similar fate upon Egypt. …. At this point, Iamani
disappears from the annals, and his fate is never mentioned. ….
[End of quote]
As for Shebna’s match in the realm of King Josiah, I
would have to go for the wicked priest, Pashhur (Pashur) son of Immer, who was totally
inimical to Jeremiah, and about whom the prophet predicted that he, likewise,
would end up as a captive in exile. “And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine
house shall go into captivity: and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou
shalt die, and shalt be buried there, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou
hast prophesied lies” (Jeremiah 20:6).
Pashhur, like Iatna-Iamani,
(like Shebna?) had a foreign type of name.
Pashhur is considered to
be an Egyptian name, Pš-Ḥr – befitting Shebna’s pro-Egyptian stance. It is not
unlike the famous Egyptian name Pasenhor (Horpasen).
I had, in fact, in my (2007)
thesis, surmised that Iamani might have been an Egyptian name, “… Iamani
(or Imn, Amen).” (Volume One, p. 383)
The names Sheb-Na
and Iat-NA do have in common, at least, an -NA ending.
None of this appears to fit with Shaphan, anyway, who comes
across as having been a respectable secretary still performing his duties for
King Josiah in the latter’s Year 18, which would be somewhat too late to match
with the insurrection of Iatna-Iamani during the Assyrian-Judean war –
Jeremiah’s “northern” enemy (Jeremiah 1:13-19).
An apparent loyal Yahwist, with a family that largely supported
the prophet Jeremiah, Shaphan did have one son, Jaazaniah, though, who would
turn to idolatrous worship.
Are You Acquainted With Shaphan and His Family? — Watchtower
ONLINE LIBRARY
Are You Acquainted With Shaphan
and His Family?
WHEN reading your Bible, have you ever
noticed references to Shaphan and some members of his influential family? Who
were they? What did they do? What lessons can we learn from them?
The Bible introduces “Shaphan the son of
Azaliah the son of Meshullam” to us in connection with Josiah’s restoration of
true worship in about 642 B.C.E. (2 Kings 22:3) During the following 36 years, until
Jerusalem’s destruction in 607 B.C.E., we are introduced to his four sons,
Ahikam, Elasah, Gemariah, and Jaazaniah, and to his two grandsons, Micaiah and
Gedaliah. …. “The family of Shaphan dominated the bureaucracy [in the kingdom
of Judah] and held the position of king’s scribe from the time of Josiah until
the Exile,” explains the Encyclopaedia Judaica. A review of
what the Bible says about Shaphan and his family will help us appreciate how
they supported the prophet Jeremiah and the true worship of Jehovah.
Shaphan Supports True Worship
In 642 B.C.E., when King Josiah was
about 25, we find Shaphan serving as the king’s secretary and copyist. (Jeremiah 36:10) What did that involve? The above-mentioned
reference work states that a royal scribe and secretary was a close adviser to
the king, in charge of financial matters, competent in diplomacy, and
knowledgeable in foreign affairs, international law, and trade agreements.
Thus, as a royal secretary, Shaphan was one of the most influential men in the
kingdom.
Ten years earlier, young Josiah had “started
to search for the God of David his forefather.” Shaphan was evidently much
older than Josiah and could therefore be a good spiritual adviser to him and a
supporter of Josiah’s first campaign of restoring true worship. a—2 Chronicles 34:1-8.
During temple repair work, “the very book of
the law” was found, and Shaphan “began to read it before the king.” Josiah was
shocked to hear its content and sent a delegation of trusted men to Huldah the
prophetess in order to inquire of Jehovah concerning the book. The king showed
confidence in Shaphan and his son Ahikam by including them in the delegation.—2 Kings 22:8-14; 2 Chronicles 34:14-22.
This is the only reference in the Scriptures
to what Shaphan himself did. In other Bible verses, he is just referred to as a
father or a grandfather. Shaphan’s offspring came into close contact with the
prophet Jeremiah.
Ahikam and Gedaliah
As we have already noted, Shaphan’s son
Ahikam is first mentioned in connection with the delegation sent to the
prophetess Huldah. A reference work notes: “Although Ahikam’s title is not
given in the Hebrew Bible, it is evident that he was high-ranking.”
Some 15 years after that incident, Jeremiah’s
life was in danger. When he warned the people about Jehovah’s intention to
destroy Jerusalem, “the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold
of him, saying: ‘You will positively die.’” What then developed? The account
continues: “It was the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan that proved to be with
Jeremiah, in order not to give him into the hand of the people to have him put
to death.” (Jeremiah 26:1-24) What
does this show? The Anchor Bible Dictionary states: “This
incident not only attests the influence wielded by Ahikam, but also indicates
that he, like other members of the family of Shaphan, was kindly disposed
toward Jeremiah.”
About 20 years later, after the Babylonians
had destroyed Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E. and taken most of the people into
exile, Shaphan’s grandson Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, was appointed governor over
the remaining Jews. Did he, like Shaphan’s other family members, care for
Jeremiah? The Bible record reads: “Accordingly Jeremiah came to Gedaliah the
son of Ahikam at Mizpah and took up dwelling with him.” Within a few months,
Gedaliah was killed, and the remaining Jews took Jeremiah with them when they
moved to Egypt.—Jeremiah 40:5-7; 41:1, 2; 43:4-7.
Gemariah and Micaiah
Shaphan’s son Gemariah and grandson Micaiah
played a prominent part in the events described in Jeremiah chapter 36. The time was about
624 B.C.E., in the fifth year of King Jehoiakim. Baruch, Jeremiah’s
secretary, read aloud from the book the words of Jeremiah at the house of
Jehovah, “in the dining room of Gemariah the son of Shaphan.” Accordingly,
“Micaiah the son of Gemariah the son of Shaphan got to hear all the words of
Jehovah from out of the book.”—Jeremiah 36:9-11.
Micaiah notified his father and all the other
princes about the scroll, and they all wanted to hear what it said. How did
they react? “Now it came about that as soon as they heard all the words, they
looked at one another in dread; and they proceeded to say to Baruch: ‘We shall
without fail tell the king all these words.’” Before speaking to the king,
however, they advised Baruch: “Go, conceal yourself, you and Jeremiah, so that
no one at all will know where you men are.”—Jeremiah 36:12-19.
As anticipated, the king rejected the message
in the scroll and burned it piece by piece. Some princes, including Shaphan’s
son Gemariah, “pleaded with the king not to burn the roll, but he did not
listen to them.” (Jeremiah 36:21-25) The book Jeremiah—An
Archaeological Companion concludes: “Gemariah was a strong
supporter of Jeremiah at the court of King Jehoiakim.”
Elasah and Jaazaniah
In 617 B.C.E., Babylon took control of
the kingdom of Judah. Thousands of Jews, “all the princes and all the valiant,
mighty men . . . and also every craftsman and builder of bulwarks,”
were taken into exile, including the prophet Ezekiel. Mattaniah, whose name the
Babylonians changed to Zedekiah, became the new vassal king. (2 Kings 24:12-17).
Later Zedekiah sent a delegation that
included Shaphan’s son Elasah to Babylon. Jeremiah entrusted to Elasah a letter
that had an important message from Jehovah to the exiled Jews.—Jeremiah 29:1-3.
The Bible record thus indicates that Shaphan,
three of his sons, and two of his grandsons used their influential positions to
support true worship and the faithful prophet Jeremiah. What about Shaphan’s
son Jaazaniah? Unlike the other members of Shaphan’s family, he evidently
engaged in idol worship. In the sixth year of Ezekiel’s exile in Babylon, or
about 612 B.C.E., the prophet had a vision in which 70 men offered incense
to idols at the temple in Jerusalem. Among them was Jaazaniah, the only one
mentioned by name. This may suggest that he was a prominent member of this
group. (Ezekiel 8:1, 9-12)
Jaazaniah’s example demonstrates that being raised in a godly family does not
ensure one’s becoming a faithful worshiper of Jehovah. Each individual is
responsible for his own course of action.—2 Corinthians 5:10.
Historicity of Shaphan and His
Family
By the time Shaphan and his family played a
part in the events that took place in Jerusalem, the use of seals had become
common in Judah. Seals were used to witness or sign documents and were made of
precious stones, metal, ivory, or glass. Usually the name of the seal’s owner,
his father’s name and, occasionally, the owner’s title were engraved on them.
Hundreds of Hebrew seal impressions on clay
have been found. Professor Nahman Avigad, scholar on Hebrew epigraphy, the
study of ancient inscriptions, noted: “The seal inscriptions are the only
Hebrew epigraphic source that mentions persons known from the Bible.” Have any
seal inscriptions of Shaphan or his family members been found? Yes, the names
Shaphan and his son Gemariah appear on the seal ….
Scholars also say that possibly four other
members of the family are referred to on seal impressions—Azaliah,
the father of Shaphan; Ahikam the son of Shaphan; Gemariah the son of Shaphan;
and Gedaliah, who was apparently referred to on a seal impression as being “over the House.” The
fourth of these seals is considered to have belonged to Gedaliah, grandson of
Shaphan, although his father, Ahikam, is not mentioned. His title on the seal
impression indicates that he was one of the highest officials in the state.
[Footnote]
Shaphan must have been much older than
Josiah, considering that Shaphan’s son Ahikam was a grown man when Josiah was
about 25 years old.—2 Kings 22:1-3, 11-14.
Huldah—An
Influential Prophetess
Upon hearing the reading of “the very book of
the law” found in the temple, King Josiah ordered Shaphan and four other
high-ranking officials to “inquire of Jehovah” about the book. (2 Kings 22:8-20) Where
could the delegation find the answer? Jeremiah and possibly Nahum and
Zephaniah, all prophets and Bible writers, lived in Judah at the time. The
delegation, however, approached Huldah the prophetess.
The book Jerusalem—An
Archaeological Biography comments: “The remarkable thing about
this episode is that the male-female aspect of the story was completely
unremarked. No one considered it the least bit inappropriate that an all-male
committee took the Scroll of the Law to a woman to determine its status. When
she declared it the word of the Lord, no one questioned her authority to
determine the issue. This episode is often overlooked by scholars assessing the
role of women in ancient Israel.” Of course, the message received was from
Jehovah. ….
[End of
quote]
Pashhur the son of Immer
Notice that Pashhur, exactly like Shebna, “over the House
[Temple], was “governor in the House
of the Lord [Temple]”.
He tormented the prophet Jeremiah, placing him in the
stocks.
Jeremiah
20:1-6
Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest,
who was also chief governor in the house of the Lord, heard that Jeremiah
prophesied these things.
Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet,
and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by
the house of the Lord.
And it came to pass on the morrow, that
Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him,
The Lord hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magormissabib.
For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I
will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends: and they shall fall
by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it: and I will give
all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive
into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword.
Moreover I will deliver all the strength
of this city, and all the labours thereof, and all the precious things thereof,
and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their
enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon.
And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in
thine house shall go into captivity: and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there
thou shalt die, and shalt be buried there, thou, and all thy friends, to whom
thou hast prophesied lies.
Pashhur, son of Immer, my match for Shebna, fits Shebna
chronologically (revised); as a priest over the Temple; as pro-Egyptian; as
inimical to true Yahwism.
Sargon II is here referred to as “the king of Babylon”,
which he also was.
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