View source for Shebna

{{Short description|Biblical figure}}
[[File:Silwan-inscr.jpg|right|400px|thumb|The [[Royal Steward inscription]], a lintel of a tomb found in the village of [[Silwan]], now in the [[British Museum]]]]

'''Shebna''' ({{Hebrew name|שֶׁבְנָא|Ševna|Šeḇnā|"tender youth"}}) was the royal steward  (''`asher `al ha-bayith'', "he who is over the house"; the chief or prime minister of state)<ref name="katzenstein1960">{{cite journal | first = H. J. | last = Katzenstein | title = The Royal Steward (Asher 'al ha-Bayith) | journal =  Israel Exploration Journal | year = 1960 | volume = 10 | number = 3 | pages = 149–154 | publisher = Israel Exploration Society | jstor = 27924823 | url = https://www.jstor.org/stable/27924823 }}</ref> in the reign of king [[Hezekiah]] of [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]], according to the [[Hebrew Bible]].<ref name=Easton>[https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/eastons-bible-dictionary/Shebna Easton's Bible Dictionary: Shebna]</ref>

Because of his [[pride]] he was ejected from his office, and replaced by [[Eliakim (Bible)|Eliakim]] the son of Hilkiah as recorded in [[Book of Isaiah]] ({{bibleref2|Isaiah|22:15–25|NKJV}}). Shebna also appears to have been the leader of the party who favored an alliance with [[Egypt]] against Assyria.<ref name=Easton />

==Biblical accounts==
Shebna may have been the same "Shebna the scribe" who was sent by Hezekiah to confer with the [[Assyria]]n ambassador recorded in the [[Books of Kings]] ({{bibleref2|2 Kings|18:18, 26, 37|NKJV}}; {{bibleverse|2 Kings|19:2|KJV}}; parallel accounts in {{bibleverse|Isaiah|36:3|KJV}}, {{bibleverse|Isaiah|36:11|KJV|11}}, [[Isaiah 36:22|22]]; [[Isaiah 37:2|37:2]]), although [[Easton's Bible Dictionary]] refers to them as being different people.<ref name=Easton />

==Tomb and inscription==
{{main|Royal Steward inscription}}
A royal steward's [[Rock-cut tombs in ancient Israel|rock-cut tomb]] discovered in [[Silwan]] is conjectured to be Shebna's,<ref>[http://www.jewishmag.com/47mag/jerusalemtombs/jerusalemtombs.htm 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]].<ref name="Brit">[https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=369626&partId=1&place=7573&plaA=7573-3-1&page=1  British Museum Collection]</ref> The partially preserved inscription was deciphered to read "...yahu who is over the house".<ref name="Brit"/> The assumption is that Shebna's name may have been pronounced 'Shebna-yahu', the missing name fitting onto the damaged portion of the inscription.<ref name=Rahmani2>"Ancient Jerusalem's Funerary Customs and Tombs: Part Two," L. Y. Rahmani, ''The Biblical Archaeologist'', Vol. 44, No. 4 (Autumn, 1981), pp. 229–235.</ref>

==See also==
*[[Hezekiah]]
*[[Siloam Inscription]]
*[[List of artifacts significant to the Bible]]
*Related [[Bible]] parts: [[2 Kings 18]], [[2 Kings 19]], [[Isaiah 22]], [[Isaiah 36]], [[Isaiah 37]], [[Nehemiah 9]]

==References==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Reflist}}

{{EBD|Shebna}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:8th-century BCE Hebrew people]]
[[Category:7th-century BCE Jews]]