Isaiah 22:23

And I will fasten him [as] a nail in a sure place,.... In a strong part of the wall or timber, where it shall not fail, or be removed, or cut down, and so let drop what is hung upon it: it denotes

And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house. Nail in a sure place. Large nails or pegs stood in ancient houses, on which were suspended the ornaments of the family.

I will fasten him; I will establish the power in his hands. In a sure place; in the strong walls, or solid timber, in the house; which is opposed to Shebna’ s instability, signified by a ball, . He shall be for a glorious throne to his father’ s house; by his prudent and righteous government he shall procure great glory, not only to himself, but to all that have any relation to him. This also is opposed to what is said of Shebna in the end of .

Isaiah 22:23 And I will fasten him [as] a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father’ s house.Ver. 23. And I will fasten him as a nail.] Paxilli simile et concinnum et amabile est. On a nail are hung utensils of the house - any such thing as cannot stand by its own strength. Eliakim was to be a common support to the people, but especially to his father’ s house. And he shall be for a glorious throne.] He shall ennoble his whole stock and kindred. Sit princeps miscris paxillum, cui appendeant urceolos suos. - Scalt.

(23) I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place . . .—The word for “nail” is used both for the peg that fastens a tent to the ground, as in the “stakes” of Isaiah 33:20; Isaiah 54:2; Judges 4:21, or, as in Ezekiel 15:3, for a nail driven into the wall. Here the context shows that the latter meaning is preferable. It was, as the sequel shows, a symbol of the support upon which others can depend. (Comp. the “nail in his holy place” of Ezra 9:8.) He shall be for a glorious throne . . .—Another symbol of sovereignty follows. The form, throne of glory, is found in its highest application in 1 Samuel 2:8, and Jeremiah 14:21; Jeremiah 17:12. Such a throne, kingly in its state, is to be the pride of the hitherto obscure house of Eliakim.

Verse 23. A nail] In ancient times, and in the eastern countries, as the way of life, so the houses, were much more simple than ours at present. They had not that quantity and variety of furniture, nor those accommodations of all sorts, with which we abound. It was convenient and even necessary for them, and it made an essential part in the building of a house, to furnish the inside of the several apartments with sets of spikes, nails, or large pegs, upon which to dispose of and hang up the several movables and utensils in common use, and proper to the apartment. These spikes they worked into the walls at the first erection of them, the walls being of such materials that they could not bear their being driven in afterwards; and they were contrived so as to strengthen the walls by binding the parts together, as well as to serve for convenience. Sir John Chardin's account of this matter is this: - "They do not drive with a hammer the nails that are put into the eastern walls. The walls are too hard, being of brick; or, if they are of clay, too mouldering: but they fix them in the brick-work as they are building. They are large nails, with square heads like dice, well made, the ends being bent so as to make them cramp-irons. They commonly place them at the windows and doors, in order to hang upon them, when they like, veils and curtains." Harmer's Observ. i. p. 191. And we may add, that they were put in other places too, in order to hang up other things of various kinds; as appears from this place of Isaiah, and from Ezekiel 15:3, who speaks of a pin or nail, "to hang any vessel thereon." The word used here for a nail of this sort is the same by which they express that instrument, the stake, or large pin of iron, with which they fastened down to the ground the cords of their tents. We see, therefore, that these nails were of necessary and common use, and of no small importance in all their apartments; conspicuous, and much exposed to observation: and if they seem to us mean and insignificant, it is because we are not acquainted with the thing itself, and have no name to express it but by what conveys to us a low and contemptible idea. "Grace hath been showed from the Lord our God," saith Ezra, Ezra 9:8, "to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place:" that is, as the margin of our Bible explains it, "a constant and sure abode." "He that doth lodge near her (Wisdom's) house, Shall also fasten a pin in her walls." Ecclus. 14:24. The dignity and propriety of the metaphor appears from the Prophet Zechariah's use of it: - "From him shall be the corner-stone, from him the nail, From him the battle-bow, From him every ruler together." Zechariah 10:4.

23. a nail] usually a “tent-peg” (and so probably in a figurative sense, Zechariah 10:4); but also (Ezekiel 15:3) a peg on which household utensils are suspended. The latter idea (according to Isaiah 22:25) must be intended here. a glorious throne] Better: a seat of honour. to his father’s house]—all his nearest kindred, who are through him advanced from obscurity to great dignity.

And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place - The word ‘nail’ here (יתד yâtēd) means properly a peg, pin, or spike; and is applied often to the pins or large spikes which were used to drive

20-23. I will call my servant — A very different character enters Shebna’s place in the person of Eliakim, a native Jew, because his father’s name is given, which was not done in the other case.