Albert Barnes Commentary Isaiah 22:17

"Behold, Jehovah, like a [strong] man, will hurl thee away violently; yea, he will wrap thee up closely." — Isaiah 22:17 (ASV)

Behold, the Lord will carry you away - Of the historical fact referred to here, we have no other information. To what place he was to be carried, we do not know. It is probable, however, that it was to Assyria.

With a mighty captivity - Hebrew, גבר geber - ‘Of a man,’ or perhaps, ‘O man.’ If it means ‘the captivity of a man,’ the sense is, a strong, irresistible, mighty captivity where the word “man” is emphatic, and means such as a mighty man would make. Compare (Job 38:3): ‘Gird up now thy loins like a man.’

The margin reads this: he ‘who covered thee with an excellent covering, and clothed thee gorgeously, shall surely turn and toss thee.’

But the text conveys more nearly the idea of the Hebrew word, which denotes the action of “casting away, or throwing” from one, as a man throws a stone. See the same use of the word טול ṭûl in (1 Samuel 18:2; 1 Samuel 20:33; Jeremiah 17:13; Jeremiah 22:26, 28; Jonah 1:5, 12, 16).

“And will surely cover thee.” ‘Your face,’ says Lowth, for this was the condition of mourners.

The Chaldee is, ‘Shall cover thee with confusion.’ So Vitringa, who supposes that it means that although Shebna was endeavoring to raise a monument that should perpetuate his name and that of his family, God would cover them with ignominy, and reduce them to their primitive, obscure, and humble condition.