Shebna (the scribe)
셉나 (서기관)
Named at 2 Kings 18:18 as the scribe. At 18:17–18 Tartan, Rabsaris, and Rabshakeh, sent by the king of Assyria, come to Jerusalem, and when they had called to the king, “Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder came out to them.” At 18:26 Eliakim, Shebnah, and Joah ask Rabshakeh to speak in the Syrian language; at 18:37 Eliakim comes with Shebna the scribe and Joah to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and tells him Rabshakeh’s words; and at 19:1–2 King Hezekiah sends Eliakim, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. WEB spells the name Shebnah at 18:18 and 18:26 and Shebna at 18:37 and 19:2; the Korean Revised Version writes 셉나 each time.
Direct relationships 8
Open in the full graphCollected relationship evidence
Source-backed narrative relations; not independent historical verification. Legacy dates and coordinates are outside this review.
Collection & rightsSource evidence (8)
AI-assisted comparison with the cited narrative; not independent historical verification.
- 2KI 18:17–18, engwebp
17The king of Assyria sent Tartan, Rabsaris, and Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a great army to Jerusalem. They went up and came to Jerusalem. When they had come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller’s field.
18When they had called to the king, Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder came out to them.
- 2KI 18:26–27, engwebp
26Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, Shebnah, and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in the Syrian language, for we understand it. Don’t speak with us in the Jews’ language, in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”
27But Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me to your master and to you, to speak these words? Hasn’t he sent me to the men who sit on the wall, to eat their own dung, and to drink their own urine with you?”
- 2KI 18:36–37, engwebp
36But the people stayed quiet, and answered him not a word; for the king’s commandment was, “Don’t answer him.”
37Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, came with Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him Rabshakeh’s words.
- 2KI 19:1–5, engwebp
1When King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the LORD’s house.
2He sent Eliakim, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
3They said to him, “Hezekiah says, ‘Today is a day of trouble, of rebuke, and of rejection; for the children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to deliver them.
4It may be the LORD your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to defy the living God, and will rebuke the words which the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’”
5So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
- ISA 36:1–3, engwebp
1Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all of the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.
2The king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah with a large army. He stood by the aqueduct from the upper pool in the fuller’s field highway.
3Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph the recorder came out to him.
- ISA 36:11–12, engwebp
11Then Eliakim, Shebna and Joah said to Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. Don’t speak to us in the Jews’ language in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”
12But Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me only to your master and to you, to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, who will eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”
- ISA 36:21–22, engwebp
21But they remained silent, and said nothing in reply, for the king’s commandment was, “Don’t answer him.”
22Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.
- ISA 37:1–7, engwebp
1When King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the LORD’s house.
2He sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz.
3They said to him, “Hezekiah says, ‘Today is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of rejection; for the children have come to the birth, and there is no strength to give birth.
4It may be the LORD your God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to defy the living God, and will rebuke the words which the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’”
5So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
6Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘The LORD says, “Don’t be afraid of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
7Behold, I will put a spirit in him and he will hear news, and will return to his own land. I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.”’”
AI-assisted, human review pending, 2026-09-26
Machine comparison on 2026-10-07: the wording raised none of the 3 rules against the passages this entry cites. No person has read it.
Unresolved interpretation: Shebna who is over the house of Isaiah 22:15 and Shebna the scribe of 36:3
- 2 Kings 18:18 says, “When they had called to the king, Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder came out to them.”
Source evidence (1)
AI-assisted comparison with the cited narrative; not independent historical verification.
- 2KI 18:17–18, engwebp
17The king of Assyria sent Tartan, Rabsaris, and Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a great army to Jerusalem. They went up and came to Jerusalem. When they had come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller’s field.
18When they had called to the king, Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder came out to them.
- 2KI 18:17–18, engwebp
- In Isaiah 22:15 the Lord, GOD of Armies says, “Go, get yourself to this treasurer, even to Shebna, who is over the house”, and among the words that follow, 22:19 reads, “I will thrust you from your office. You will be pulled down from your station.”
Source evidence (1)
AI-assisted comparison with the cited narrative; not independent historical verification.
- ISA 22:15–19, engwebp
15The Lord, GOD of Armies says, “Go, get yourself to this treasurer, even to Shebna, who is over the house, and say,
16‘What are you doing here? Who has you here, that you have dug out a tomb here?’ Cutting himself out a tomb on high, chiseling a habitation for himself in the rock!”
17Behold, the LORD will overcome you and hurl you away violently. Yes, he will grasp you firmly.
18He 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 disgrace of your lord’s house.
19I will thrust you from your office. You will be pulled down from your station.
- ISA 22:15–19, engwebp
- Isaiah 22:20–21 gives among the words, “It will happen in that day that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and I will clothe him with your robe, and strengthen him with your belt. I will commit your government into his hand”.
Source evidence (1)
AI-assisted comparison with the cited narrative; not independent historical verification.
- ISA 22:20–25, engwebp
20It will happen in that day that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah,
21and I will clothe him with your robe, and strengthen him with your belt. I will commit your government into his hand; and he will be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.
22I will lay the key of David’s house on his shoulder. He will open, and no one will shut. He will shut, and no one will open.
23I will fasten him like a nail in a sure place. He will be for a throne of glory to his father’s house.
24They will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the issue, every small vessel, from the cups even to all the pitchers.
25“In that day,” says the LORD of Armies, “the nail that was fastened in a sure place will give way. It will be cut down and fall. The burden that was on it will be cut off, for the LORD has spoken it.”
- ISA 22:20–25, engwebp
- Isaiah 36:3 says, “Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph the recorder came out to him.”
Source evidence (1)
AI-assisted comparison with the cited narrative; not independent historical verification.
- ISA 36:1–3, engwebp
1Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all of the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.
2The king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah with a large army. He stood by the aqueduct from the upper pool in the fuller’s field highway.
3Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph the recorder came out to him.
- ISA 36:1–3, engwebp
2 Kings 18:18 and Isaiah 36:3 name Shebna (2 Kings 18:18 in WEB: Shebnah) the scribe, and Isaiah 22:15 names Shebna, who is over the house. Both editions give the two places another office (the Korean Revised Version: 서기관; 국고를 맡고 궁을 차지한). Among the words, 22:20–21 says, “I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah” and “I will commit your government into his hand”, and 36:3 names “Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household”. The text does not say whether Shebna who is over the house and Shebna the scribe are the same man. This collection records the two apart, and does not decide whether they are the same man.
All 8 relationships: AI-assisted, human review pending
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Took part in (8) — Tartan, Rabsaris, and Rabshakeh come up to Jerusalem with a great army, Eliakim, Shebnah, and Joah ask for the Syrian language, and Rabshakeh answers, Eliakim comes with Shebna and Joah to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and tells him Rabshakeh’s words, King Hezekiah covers himself with sackcloth and sends Eliakim, Shebna, and the elders of the priests to Isaiah the prophet, Sennacherib captures the fortified cities of Judah, and the king of Assyria sends Rabshakeh to Jerusalem, Eliakim, Shebna and Joah ask Rabshakeh to speak in Aramaic, and he answers, Eliakim, Shebna and Joah come to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and tell him Rabshakeh’s words, King Hezekiah sends to Isaiah the prophet, and Isaiah answers with the LORD’s word
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Verses tagged with this entry
Names in the World English Bible text that carry this entry’s tag. They are carried over from the tags on the Korean Revised Version, which are matched by name inside chapters that already have collected evidence, and a verse where the English says “he” carries none. All await human review. They are a separate list from the source passages above. An empty list does not mean the entry is absent from the text.
When they had called to the king, Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder came out to them.
Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, Shebnah, and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in the Syrian language, for we understand it. Don’t speak with us in the Jews’ language, in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”
Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, came with Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him Rabshakeh’s words.
He sent Eliakim, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph the recorder came out to him.
Then Eliakim, Shebna and Joah said to Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. Don’t speak to us in the Jews’ language in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”
Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.
He sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz.
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[Bibliadatum entry report]
Entry: Shebna (the scribe) (person-shebna)
Address: https://bibliadatum.org/en/wiki/person/shebna
Current wording: Named at 2 Kings 18:18 as the scribe. At 18:17–18 Tartan, Rabsaris, and Rabshakeh, sent by the king of Assyria, come to Jerusalem, and when they had called to the king, “Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder came out to them.” At 18:26 Eliakim, Shebnah, and Joah ask Rabshakeh to speak in the Syrian language; at 18:37 Eliakim comes with Shebna the scribe and Joah to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and tells him Rabshakeh’s words; and at 19:1–2 King Hezekiah sends Eliakim, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. WEB spells the name Shebnah at 18:18 and 18:26 and Shebna at 18:37 and 19:2; the Korean Revised Version writes 셉나 each time.
Cited evidence: 2KI 18:17–18, engwebp / 2KI 18:26–27, engwebp / 2KI 18:36–37, engwebp / 2KI 19:1–5, engwebp / ISA 36:1–3, engwebp / ISA 36:11–12, engwebp / ISA 36:21–22, engwebp / ISA 37:1–7, engwebp
Review state: ai-assisted / human-review-pending
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This collection records what the text says and does not settle interpretation. A report about a reading that divides opinion may be registered as an unresolved issue rather than corrected.