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Shebna had been treasurer "over the house". He was to be deprived of his office, and
Eliakim the son of Hilkiah was to be installed in his place. What this office of oikonomia
involved can be seen by the language used in verses 21 and 22:
"And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will
commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. And the key of the house of David will I lay upon
his shoulder, so he shall open and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none open."
Matsab means station or garrison (I Sam. 13: 23). In other forms it means to stand as
a watchman (Isa. 21: 8); a prefect or deputy (I Kings 4: 19). Memshalah means rule,
dominion (Gen. 1: 16), mashal (Gen. 3: 16). This word oikonomia is the one translated
"dispensation" in I Cor. 9: 17; Eph. 1: 10; 3: 2; Col. 1: 25, and the associations of
oikonomia and their Hebrew equivalents must be kept in mind when we come to the N.T.
occurrences of this term. Oikonomos, i.e. the person who exercises this rule, and
translated "steward" in Luke 16: 1 and in I Cor. 4: 1, 2, is found eight times in the
LXX version; two being found in the book of Esther, three in I Kings and three in
II Kings. In Esther 8: 9 oikonomos translates the word "lieutenant" which in its turn
is the Persian achashdarpenim "satrap", which is found in Ezra 8: 36; Esther 3: 12;
8: 9 and 9: 3. In the plural this Persian word is translated "princes" in Daniel where
it occurs nine times. This Persian word is translated in the LXX dioiketes Ezra 8: 36,
oikonomos Esther 8: 9,
strategos Esther 3: 12,
turanos Esther 9: 3,
toparches Dan. 3: 2, hupatos Dan. 3: 2, 3; 6: 7. Dioiketes means a treasurer, from
dioikes to keep house, to manage affairs, to administer; strategos refers to a military
leader, a "Captain"; turanos a tyrant, sovereign; toparches a governor, one who rules
over a place (topos); hupatos supreme, a consul. Here, therefore, is the background of
the term that emerges in the N.T. as a "dispensation". It will be seen that it is no
synonym for the ages, times or seasons. To speak of "ages and dispensations" however is
not correct, for the ages are not simply the duration or flight of time, they give the
characteristics of any one or more segregated periods during which the Lord deals with
men, nations or assemblies, in some manner peculiar to the times. Old Testament usage,
as we have seen, conjures up in the mind either a public official, or a house manager, a
combination of Treasurer, Ruler, Consul, General, Satrap, Prince, Governor, all of which
when extraneous characteristics are eliminated can be expressed in the one word
"Steward".
We now turn to the N.T. remembering that the language of the Greek N.T. is strongly
influenced by the Greek version of the O.T. What oikonomos or oikonomia mean to the
Greek-speaking Jew at the time of the advent of Christ, would be the meaning he would
be supposed to attach to them, when for the first time he came across them in the Gospels
and the Epistles, unless an inspired warning were given, telling of a change of meaning
that must now be accepted. Of the four gospels, Luke's is the only one in which the
Greek words oikonomeo, oikonomia or oikonomos are used. These three words occur
nineteen times. Of these, eight occur in Luke, ten are found in Paul's epistles, and one
only in Peter. The first reference is Luke 12: 42:
"Who then is that faithful and wise STEWARD (oikonomos), whom his Lord shall
make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?"