What hast thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here, [as] he that heweth him out a sepulchre on high, [and] that graveth an habitation for himself in a rock?
Ver. 16. What hast thou here?] What inheritance, possession?
And whom hast thou here?] sc., Of thy stock and kindred? a Art not thou a foreigner, a new man, an upstart mushroom? Why, then, dost thou cut thee out such a costly and stately sepulchre in Jerusalem, as if you were of the royal family, or as if you were sure to die here in thy nest? Will it not prove a true κενοταφιον, as the Greeks call it? Some conceive that for the safeguard of his tomb, and other trinkets, Shebna was one of those princes 2Ki 19:2 that gave the king counsel to fortify so strongly. The Hebrews say that he likewise secretly kept correspondence with the enemy, that he might have a stake in store which way soever the dice chanced to turn; yea, that he treacherously agreed with the enemy to deliver the city into his hands; and therefore it was but time to take him a link lower, as Hezekiah did upon this prophecy of Isaiah. Some add, that for betraying the city he hoped to be made king there till his death, and therefore hewed him out a mausoleum or royal sepulchre there, and that among those of the house of David, say the Rabbis.
a Terrae filius. Son of the earth.