Isaiah 22:24

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

¹⁵Thus says the Lord GOD of Hosts: "Go, say to Shebna, the steward in charge of the palace: ¹⁶What are you doing here, and who authorized you to carve out a tomb for yourself here, to chisel your tomb in the height and cut your resting place in the rock? ¹⁷Look, O mighty man! The LORD is about to shake you violently. He will take hold of you, ¹⁸roll you into a ball, and sling you into a wide land. There you will die, and there your glorious chariots will remain-a disgrace to the house of your master. ¹⁹I will depose you from office, and you will be ousted from your position. ²⁰On that day I will summon My servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah. ²¹I will clothe him with your robe and tie your sash around him. I will put your authority in his hand, and he will be a father to the dwellers of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. ²²I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. What he opens, no one can shut; what he shuts, no one can open. ²³I will drive him like a peg into a firm place, and he will be a throne of glory for the house of his father. ²⁴So they will hang on him the whole burden of his father's house: the descendants and the offshoots-all the lesser vessels, from bowls to every kind of jar.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

hang: Genesis 41:44, Genesis 41:45, Genesis 47:11-25, Daniel 6:1-3, Matthew 28:18, John 5:22-27, John 20:21-23

vessels of small: Ezekiel 15:3, Romans 9:22, Romans 9:23, 2 Timothy 2:20, 2 Timothy 2:21

vessels of flagons: or, instruments of viols

Reciprocal: 2 Kings 7:15 - vessels Zechariah 6:13 - bear

Cross-References

Genesis 16:3
So after he had lived in Canaan for ten years, his wife Sarai took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to Abram to be his wife.

Genesis 25:6
But while he was still alive, Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east.

Proverbs 15:25
The LORD tears down the house of the proud, but He protects the boundaries of the widow.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house,.... Which shows the reason of his being compared to a nail; not to one that fastens pieces of timber together, or to a nail or stake drove in the ground, to which the cords of tents are fastened, but to a nail in a wall, on which things are hung: and the meaning is, that all of his father's family would be dependent upon him, be supported by him, and receive honour and glory from him: and which also is true of Christ the antitype; the glory of building his Father's house, the church, and of saving it, and of making of it glorious, belongs to him, and is given to him; it is put upon him, and it is visible on him, and it is weighty, and will continue:

the offspring and the issue; all the descendants of his father's family, sons and daughters, children and grandchildren; so the Targum,

"and all the glorious or noble ones of his father's house shall lean upon him, children, and children's children:''

so all the children of God, and who are also Christ's spiritual seed and offspring, these depend upon him for grace, and all the supplies of it; they boast in him for righteousness and strength, and rely upon him for life and salvation:

all vessels of small quantity; from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons; meaning those of his family, that were some of lesser, others of greater capacities, for whom he provided places and posts under him, suitable thereunto; none were forgotten or neglected by him: this simile, of vessels of various sorts and sizes, is made use of, in perfect agreement with Eliakim's being compared to a nail, on which vessels in a house are hung by their handles. The Targum is,

"from young men to little ones; from the priests clothed with the ephod, to the Levites that held the psalteries.''

In the typical sense, it is to be understood of the vessels of mercy; some of which are larger, and others lesser; some capable of receiving more grace and larger gifts, and others less; to whom Christ communicates, and whom he fills, according to their capacities; all whose wants he supplies, and whose persons he supports; he fills them with his grace, and he fits them for glory; see Romans 9:23.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And they shall hang upon him - This figure is a continuation of that commenced in the previous verse; and is derived from the custom of “hanging” clothes or ornaments on the spikes that were fixed in the walls; and, perhaps, more particularly from the custom of suspending shields, swords, suits of armor, etc., taken in battle, around the walls of a temple. A great portion of the wealth of the ancients consisted in gold and silver vessels, and in changes of raiment. These would be hung around a house in no inconsiderable degree for ostentation and parade. ‘Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold; and all the vessels of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were of silver’ 1 Kings 10:21. ‘The vessels in the house of the forest of Lebanon were two hundred targets and three hundred shields of beaten gold’ 1 Kings 10:16-17. That these were hung on spikes or pins around the house is apparent from Song of Solomon 4:4 : ‘Thy neck is like the tower of David, builded for an armory, whereon there bans a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men.’ Eliakim is considered as a principal support like this, whereon would be suspended all the glory of his father’s family, and all the honor of his house; that is, he would be the principal support of the whole civil and ecclesiastical polity.

The offspring and the issue - All that proceeded from the family; all that were connected with it. Kimchi and Aben Ezra render it, ‘Sons and daughters.’ The Septuagint: ‘From the least to the greatest.’ The Chaldee, ‘Sons and grandsons, youth and children.’ The idea is, that all the prosperity, near and remote, would depend on him; and that his character would sustain and give dignity to them all. The word which is rendered ‘issue’ (הצפעות hats^epi‛ôt), according to Vitringa and Rosenmuller, denotes those that were of humble condition; and the passage means that honor would be conferred even on these by the virtues of Eliakim.

From the vessels of cups - literally, goblets, or bowls (אגנות 'āgânôt). The idea probably is, simply that of vessels of “small capacity,” whatever was the material of which they were composed; and hence, the reference here is to those of the family of Eliakim who were of humble rank, or who were poor.

To all the vessels of flagons - Margin, ‘Instruments of viols.’ Hebrew, נבלים n^ebâliym. This word is often applied to instruments of musica the נבל nebel, viol (see it described in the notes at Isaiah 5:12; Isaiah 14:11); but it properly denotes a bottle made of skin for holding wine, and which, being made of the whole skin of a goat or sheep, indicated the vessels of large dimensions. Here it refers to the members of the family of Eliakim who were more wealthy and influential than those denoted by the small vessels. The glory of the whole family would depend on him. His virtues, wisdom, integrity, and valor in defending and saving the Hebrew commonwealth, would diffuse honor over the whole family connection, and render the name illustrious.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 22:24. All the glory — One considerable part of the magnificence of the eastern princes consisted in the great quantity of gold and silver vessels which they had for various uses. "Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were of silver; it was nothing accounted of in Solomon's days;" 1 Kings 10:21. "The vessels in the house of the forest of Lebanon," the armoury of Jerusalem so called, "were two hundred targets, and three hundred shields of beaten gold." Ibid. 1 Kings 10:16-17. These were ranged in order upon the walls of the armoury, (see Isaiah 4:4,) upon pins worked into the walls on purpose, as above mentioned. Eliakim is considered as a principal stake of this sort, immovably fastened in the wall for the support of all vessels destined for common or sacred uses; that is, as the principal support of the whole civil and ecclesiastical polity. And the consequence of his continued power will be the promotion and flourishing condition of his family and dependents, from the highest to the lowest.

Vessels of flagons - "Meaner vessels"] נבלים nebalim seems to mean earthen vessels of common use, brittle, and of little value, (see Lamentations 4:2; Jeremiah 48:12,) in opposition to אגנות aganoth, goblets of gold and silver used in the sacrifices. Exodus 24:6.