Shiloh (I)

I. SHILOH. This Term is famous among Interpreters and Commentators upon Scripture. It is found Gen. xlix. 10. to denote the Messiah. The Patriarch Jacob foretells his Coming, in these Words; The Sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a Law-giver from between his Feet, until Shiloh come, and unto him shall the Gathering of Gen. xlix. 10. עד כי יבא שלהthe People be. The Hebrew Text reads, Donec veniat Shilo. All Christian Commentators agree, that this Word ought to be understood of the Messiah, of Jesus Christ: But all are not agreed about its literal and grammatical Signification. Saint Jerom, who translates it by Qui mittendus est, manifestly read Shiloach, Sent, instead of Shilo. The Septuagint translate,¹ Until the coming of him to whom it is reserved; or, Till we see arrive that which is reserved for him.

It must be own’d, that the Signification of the Hebrew Word Shiloh is not well known. Some translate, The Sceptre shall not depart from Judah, ‘till he comes to whom it belongs². Others, ‘Till the Coming of the Peace-maker³, or, the Pacifick, or, of Prosperity. Shalah signifies, to be in Peace, to be in Prosperity. Others, ‘Till the Birth of him who shall be born of a Woman, who shall conceive without the Knowledge of a Man⁴. Otherwise, The Sceptre shall not depart from Judah, ‘till its End, its Ruin; ‘till the Downfall of the Kingdom of the Jews. Some Rabbins have taken the Name Silo, or Shilo, as if it signify’d the City of this Name in Palestine. The Sceptre shall not be taken away from Judah, ‘till it comes to Shiloh⁵; ‘till it shall be taken from him, to be given to Saul at Shiloh. But in what Part of Scripture is it said, that Saul was acknowledg’d as King, or consecrated, at Shiloh? If we would understand it of Jeroboam the Son of Nebat, the Matter is still as uncertain. The Scripture mentions no Assembly at Shiloh, that admitted him as King. A more modern Author⁶ derives Shiloh from Shalah, which sometimes signifies to be weary, to suffer; ‘till his Labours, his Sufferings, his Passion shall happen.

But not to amuse our selves about seeking out the grammatical Signification of Shiloh, it is sufficient for us to shew, that the ancient Jews are in this Matter agreed with the Christians: They acknowledge, that this Word stands for the Messiah the King. ‘Tis thus that the Paraphrasts Onkelos and Jonathan, that the ancient Hebrew Commentaries upon Genesis, and that the Talmudists themselves explain it. If Jesus Christ and his Apostles did not make use of this Passage, to prove the Coming of the Messiah, ‘twas because then the Completion of this Prophecy was not sufficiently manifest. The Sceptre still continu’d among the Jews; they had still Kings of their own Nation, in the Persons of the Herods; but soon after the Sceptre was intirely taken away from them, and has never been restored to them since.

The conceited Jews seek in vain to put forced Meanings upon this Prophecy of Jacob; saying, for example, that the Sceptre intimates the Dominion of Strangers, to which they have been in Subjection, or the Hope of seeing, one Day, the Sceptre, or supreme Power, settled again among themselves. It is easy to perceive, that all this is contrived, to deliver themselves out of Perplexity. In vain likewise they take Refuge in certain Princes of the Captivity, whom they pretend to have subsisted beyond the Euphrates, exercising an Authority over their Nation little differing from Absolute, and being of the Race of David. This pretended Succession of Princes is perfectly chimerical; and tho’ at certain Times they could shew a Succession, it continu’d but a short Time, and their Authority was too obscure, and too much limited, to be the Object of a Prophecy so remarkable as this was. This Affair is treated on in its due length in the Commentaries upon Genesis, and in such Authors as have expresly discoursed upon it. See our BIBLIOTHECA SACRA annex’d to this DICTIONARY.

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