Isaiah 22:16

A sepulchre. Isaiah was roused to indignation by the arrogance of Shebna. He seems to have newly risen to power and affluence, and to have had no family tomb where his fathers would have been interred. Accordingly, he determined to construct a new and stately tomb to honor him in his position of importance and to ensure him a place in the memory of future generations. Instead of devoting his efforts to the saving of the nation in this time of peril, his chief aim was to promote his personal interests. Rock-hewn sepulchres of the type Shebna was constructing for himself are common in the environs of Jerusalem. Prof. N. Avigad has identified this tomb of Shebna with one on the slopes of the Mount of Olives discovered many years ago, and from which an inscription was taken to the British Museum. This inscription, which defied decipherment for many years, reads: “This is [the sepulcher of Shebanjyahu, who is over the house. There is no silver or gold here, but [his bones] and the bones of his slave-wife with him. Cursed be the man who will open this!” (Brackets indicate a conjectural restoration of broken and illegible portions of the inscription in its present state.)