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Shebnah's Arrow and the Night Jerusalem Held

Shebnah had more students than the king. He tied a letter to an arrow and shot it toward the Assyrian fires at night.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. The Letter Left by Arrow
  2. Hezekiah Counted the Wrong Crowd
  3. Isaiah Would Not Let Him Yield
  4. Gabriel Shut the Gate
  5. The Arrow Came Back Empty

Shebnah did not open the gate. He opened a window.

Shebnah's Arrow and the Night Jerusalem Held Click for full size

Outside Jerusalem, Sennacherib had gathered an army so vast that fear entered the city before a single soldier did. Inside the walls, Hezekiah still had a throne, and Isaiah still had a voice. Shebnah had something more dangerous than either one for that hour. He had a crowd.

The Letter Left by Arrow

Shebnah stood at the top of the sacred order, a high priest with more followers in Jerusalem than the king. Joah stood with him. Their people wanted peace with Assyria. They did not want Hezekiah's courage. They did not want Isaiah's certainty. They wanted the empire outside the walls to know the city was split.

So Shebnah wrote.

He took the surrender he could not yet speak in the open and made it small enough to tie to an arrow. The message was smooth. All Israel wants peace with you. Hezekiah and Isaiah will not allow it. Do not blame the people for the stubbornness of two men.

Then the arrow left the window and cut through the dark toward the Assyrian camp. "For, behold, the wicked bend the bow, they have prepared their arrow upon the string" (Psalm 11:2).

Hezekiah Counted the Wrong Crowd

Shebnah taught twelve myriads, a hundred and twenty thousand. Hezekiah taught eleven myriads. When the siege closed, the king felt the arithmetic in his chest. If the majority surrendered, would God follow the majority too?

Hezekiah began to bend. Not because he had become wicked. Fear showed him hungry households and asked whether one more refusal was courage or vanity. It pointed to the enemy's campfires. It counted the allies slipping away.

A prophet came and would not let the word conspiracy stand. "Do not say conspiracy regarding all that this people call a conspiracy" (Isaiah 8:12). A conspiracy of the wicked is not counted. The larger school did not become the covenant's judge.

The arrow had named the two men who still held Jerusalem upright. It had also told Sennacherib exactly where the fracture ran.

Isaiah Would Not Let Him Yield

Without Isaiah, Hezekiah would have signed. The prophet stood where the king was weakening and refused to move. Peace bought by handing Jerusalem to Sennacherib was not peace. It was a city agreeing that God had no word left in it.

Hezekiah stayed. The throne remained heavier than fear. The crowd inside the walls did not pour through the gates. The calculation inside the arrow had to wait for morning to fail.

Gabriel Shut the Gate

Shebnah did not wait for morning. He gathered his band and walked toward the gate to throw his lot in with Assyria. As he passed through, the angel Gabriel slammed the doors shut. Shebnah stood on one side. His followers stood on the other.

He arrived at the Assyrian camp eager to impress. Sennacherib asked about the sympathizers the letter had promised. Shebnah opened his mouth and had no retinue to show. They changed their minds, he stammered.

Sennacherib heard a promise with no men behind it. He asked where the retinue was. Shebnah said, "Return to me." They answered that if he called them back, his sister would laugh at the son. Then they bored holes through his heels, tied him to a horse's tail, and dragged him over thorns and thistles.

He had gone out to dig himself a grave in the tombs of the house of David. A prophet had asked what he was doing there. He had sought to raise himself and disgrace his master's house. His honor turned to disgrace, and the horse finished the sentence.

The Arrow Came Back Empty

By morning the camp outside the walls did not own Jerusalem. The letter had reached the enemy. It had not become the city's future. Isaiah's voice held against the noise of numbers. Those two men were not blocking Jerusalem from life. They were keeping its life from being sold.

Shebnah had fired his message into the dark. The dark answered him with a locked gate and a horse.

HezekiahSennacheribBetrayalProphecyJerusalem
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From the tradition

Sources

4 sources

The texts behind this telling. Some cards carry a translation of the source; others are our own retelling of it, and each card says which. Every card links out to the original.

Legends of the Jews 9:29Legends of the Jews

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg (1909) · Public Domain

External pressures, internal conflicts... Sometimes it feels like they all come crashing down at once.

That's exactly what happened to King Hezekiah. Remember him? The righteous king of Judah who faced down the mighty Assyrian army led by Sennacherib? readers often focus on that epic showdown, the miraculous defeat of the Assyrians. But the story doesn't end there.

Because even as Hezekiah was battling this external threat, he was also wrestling with opposition within Jerusalem itself.

In Ginzberg's retelling in, Legends of the Jews, Hezekiah had opponents in his own city. And one of the most prominent was Shebnah, the high priest. The High Priest, supposed to be a spiritual leader, actively undermining the king!

Apparently, Shebnah commanded a larger following in Jerusalem than Hezekiah himself. These people, along with Shebnah, favored peace with Sennacherib. Now, wanting peace isn't inherently bad, is it? But the way they went about it… Well, that’s where the story gets interesting.

Shebnah, supported by Joah, another influential figure, actually sent a secret message to the Assyrian camp. They fastened a letter to a dart – talk about covert ops! – and shot it right into the enemy lines. The message? "We and the whole people of Israel wish to conclude peace with thee, but Hezekiah and Isaiah will not permit it."

Wow. Just… wow.

Think about the implications. They were willing to betray their own king and their own people to get what they wanted. It's a stark reminder that internal division can be just as dangerous as any external enemy.

Shebnah's influence was so great, Legends of the Jews tells us, that Hezekiah actually started to waver. He began to show signs of giving in to Sennacherib's demands. The weight of that decision?

It was a pivotal moment. Everything hung in the balance.

But thankfully, Isaiah the prophet stood firm. According to the story, if it hadn't been for Isaiah, Hezekiah would have surrendered.

What would have happened if Isaiah hadn't been there to offer guidance and strength? How different would the course of history have been? It highlights the importance of having strong, moral voices in times of crisis – voices that can cut through the noise and remind us of what's truly important.

So, next time you're facing your own battles – external or internal – remember Hezekiah's story. Remember the importance of unity, of standing firm in your convictions, and of listening to those wise voices who can help guide you through the storm.

Full source
Midrash Tehillim 11:3Midrash Tehillim

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology · CC-BY

That betrayal playing out on a national, even cosmic, scale. That's the drama we find ourselves plunged into in Midrash Tehillim 11, a fascinating exploration of Psalm 11.

Our story centers on Hezekiah, the righteous king of Judah, and the prophet Isaiah. They are beacons of hope in a world threatened by the looming shadow of Sennacherib, the Assyrian king. But within their own court, treachery is brewing.

Enter Shavna and Yoash. Who were these guys? Well, they were officials in Hezekiah's court, but their loyalty was… complicated. According to the Midrash, these two schemers concocted a plot. They penned secret letters, stuffed them into an arrow, and shot it through Sennacherib’s window!

What did these letters say? They claimed that all of Israel yearned for peace with Sennacherib, but Hezekiah and Isaiah were preventing it. They were undermining their own leaders, secretly negotiating with the enemy, and all under the cover of darkness.

This act of betrayal is a powerful example of the themes explored in Psalm 11, "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" The Midrash uses this verse as a springboard to explore what happens when the very pillars of society, the righteous individuals who sustain the world, are attacked and undermined.

The text continues with a series of poignant questions. What if the righteous ones, the very people upholding the world, are disturbed by the wicked? What if a crucial foundation stone is disrupted by evil forces? What can the ultimate Righteous One, God, do in such a situation? What can you do for those who perform commandments?

It’s a chain reaction of disruption. When wickedness targets the righteous, the very foundations of the world are shaken. It creates a ripple effect, impacting everyone, even those trying to do good.

The Midrash doesn't offer easy answers, but it forces us to confront uncomfortable truths. What happens when good people are sabotaged? When truth is twisted? When the very people you rely on turn against you? The implications, both then and now, are profound.

And perhaps, that’s the most important lesson of all.

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Ein Yaakov, Sanhedrin 3:7Ein Yaakov, Sanhedrin

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.En Jacob, Agada of the Babylonian Talmud, S. H. Glick (1916-1921) · Public Domain

What is meant by 'a wicked bond'? Shebna taught to twelve myriads, while Hezekiah taught to eleven myriads. When Sennacherib came and besieged Jerusalem, Shebna wrote on an arrowhead: 'Shebna and his group have made peace; Hezekiah and his group have not.' As it is written: 'For, behold, the wicked bend the bow, they have prepared their arrow upon the string.' Hezekiah was in doubt, saying, 'Perhaps, God forbid, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will follow the majority? If the majority surrender, they too will surrender.' A prophet came and said to him: 'Do not say "conspiracy" regarding all that this people call a conspiracy.' Meaning, it is a conspiracy of the wicked, and a conspiracy of the wicked is not counted. He went to dig a grave for himself in the tombs of the house of David. A prophet came and said to him: 'What are you doing here? And who are you here? For you have dug a grave here...' Rav said: 'The upheaval of a man is harder than that of a woman.' 'And they shall wrap you in a wrap,' Rabbi Yosei son of Rabbi Hanina said: 'This teaches that leprosy broke out on him. As it is written here: "And they shall wrap you in a wrap", and it is written there: "And his upper lip shall be covered." 'He will surely violently turn and toss you like a ball into a large country,' A tanna taught: He sought to elevate himself and disgrace his master's house; therefore, his honor was turned to disgrace. When he went out, the angel Gabriel stuck him to the ground by his hair. They said to him: 'Where is your retinue?' He said: 'Return to me.' They said to him: 'If so, your sister is laughing at the son!' They stabbed him in the heels and hung him on the tails of their horses, and they dragged him over thorns and thistles. Rabbi Elazar said: 'Shebna was a hedonist, as it is written here: "Go, come to the steward," and it is written there: "And the king had a stewardess.

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Legends of the Jews 9:30Legends of the Jews

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg (1909) · Public Domain

Shebnah wasn't just anyone; he was a high-ranking official in Jerusalem. But his loyalty wasn't to his people, it was to himself. He was power-hungry, treacherous, and, as we'll see, paid a heavy price for it.

His treachery, his many sins... they didn't go unnoticed, or unpunished. The story goes that Shebnah and his little band of followers decided to abandon Jerusalem and throw their lot in with the Assyrians.

As Shebnah passed through the city gates, the angel Gabriel himself slammed them shut. Just like that! Shebnah was on one side, his followers on the other.

Shebnah arrives at the Assyrian camp, eager to impress Sennacherib, the Assyrian king. Sennacherib asks about all the sympathizers Shebnah had promised – the ones he'd written about, assuring the king of widespread support within Jerusalem.

But Shebnah? He's speechless. He can't explain why his followers aren't there. All he can stammer is that they... changed their minds.

Sennacherib, needless to say, wasn't amused. He felt mocked, played for a fool. And when a king feels that way, things tend to get ugly.

The punishment Sennacherib devised for Shebnah was brutal. He ordered his attendants to bore holes through Shebnah's heels. Then, they tied him to the tail of a horse, and spurred the poor animal on.

A gruesome end, no doubt. A reminder that treachery and betrayal, especially against one's own people, often come with severe consequences. It's a story of power, loyalty, and the ultimate price one pays for choosing the wrong path.

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