Shebna () was the royal steward (''`asher `al ha-bayith'', "he who is over the house"; the chief or prime minister of state) in the reign of king

Hezekiah Hezekiah (; hbo, , Ḥīzqīyyahū), or Ezekias); grc, Ἐζεκίας 'Ezekías; la, Ezechias; also transliterated as or ; meaning "Yahweh, Yah shall strengthen" (born , sole ruler ), was the son of Ahaz and the 13th king of Kingdom of Jud ...

of Judah, according to the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Easton's Bible Dictionary: Shebna
/ref> Because of his

pride Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself". A healthy amount of pride is good, however, pride sometimes is used interchangeably with "conceit" or "arrogance" (among other words) w ...

he was ejected from his office, and replaced by

Eliakim Eliakim ( he, אֶלְיָקִים) is a moshav in northern Israel. Located in the Menashe Heights, it falls under the jurisdiction of Megiddo Regional Council. In it had a population of . History The village was established in 1949 as a mosha ...

the son of

Hilkiah Hilkiah ( ''Ḥīlqīyyā'', "my portion is Yah") was a Hebrew priest ("Kohen") at the time of King Josiah (reigned c. 641-609 BCE). His name is mentioned in II Kings. He was the High Priest and is known for finding a lost copy of the Book of t ...

as recorded in Book of Isaiah (). Shebna also appears to have been the leader of the party who favored an alliance with

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

against Assyria.

Biblical accounts

Shebna may have been the same "Shebna the scribe" who was sent by Hezekiah to confer with the

Assyria Assyria ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the ...

n ambassador recorded in the Books of Kings (; ; parallel accounts in , , 22; 37:2).

Tomb and inscription

A royal steward's

rock-cut tomb A rock-cut tomb is a burial chamber that is cut into an existing, naturally occurring rock formation, so a type of rock-cut architecture. They are usually cut into a cliff or sloping rock face, but may go downward in fairly flat ground. It was a ...

discovered in

Silwan Silwan or Siloam ( ar, سلوان, translit=Silwan; gr, Σιλωὰμ, translit=Siloam; he, כְּפַר הַשִּׁילוֹחַ, translit=''Kfar ha-Shiloaḥ'') is a predominantly Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem, on the outskir ...

is conjectured to be Shebna's,Jewish Magazine - Jerusalem Tombs
/ref> although only the term "-yahu" remains legible on the lintel from the tomb that is now kept in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. British Museum Collection
/ref> The partially preserved inscription was deciphered to read "...yahu who is over the house". The assumption is that Shebna's name may have been pronounced 'Shebna-yahu', the missing name fitting onto the damaged portion of the inscription."Ancient Jerusalem's Funerary Customs and Tombs: Part Two," L. Y. Rahmani, ''The Biblical Archaeologist'', Vol. 44, No. 4 (Autumn, 1981), pp. 229–235.

References

{{eastons, Shebna 8th-century BCE Hebrew people 7th-century BCE Jews

Biblical accounts

Tomb and inscription

See also

References