SOBNA (Heb. Sēbhā, Septuagint Ōwōwā), — Major-domo of the royal household of Judah and prime minister (cf. 2 Chron. 26:21 etc.) in the time of HEZEKIAH (721–693 B.C.).
As the war with the Assyrians raged, he was having a sumptuous rock-hewn tomb cut in a conspicuous place and was displaying his pride in magnificent chariots; his conduct was a reproach to Hezekiah. For this Isaiah, about 701 B.C., confronted him and foretold his removal from office and that “he would roll down like a ball into a broad plain (Egypt, Assyria?), where he would die dishonored.” His successor was ELIAKIM (Isa. 22:12–25).
In Isa. 36:3, 11, 22; 37:2 and 2 Kings 18:18, 26, 37; 19:2, among the envoys sent by Hezekiah to the rab-shakeh of Sennacherib, after Eliakim (major-domo) is named S. as secretary (ha-sāphēr). Many identify the two Sobnas. The demotion to secretary would then fulfill Isa. 22:15–25. Yet it seems more probable to distinguish them by their different offices and because Hezekiah would hardly have retained in so high a position one who had been a reproach to his household. His name in 2 Kings differs from that in Isaiah (Sēbhāh); in Isa. 36:3 ff. it may have been harmonized with Isa. 22:15 ff. A seal found at Tell ed-Duwejr (Lachish) bears the inscription: “Belonging to S. (son) of Achab.”