Shiloh

By Venessa Holtzhausen

Gen 49:10 The sceptre shall not be taken from Judah, nor the lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh comes; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

Shiloh is translated as ‘place of rest’. This is a very good description of the Messiah. According to Israel’s sages, ‘until he comes’ (or, until Shiloh arrives) is to be understood as ‘until the Messiah arrives’. According to a midrash, Shiloh’s arrival signifies the coming of King Messiah.

Genesis 49:10 stands as one of the most widely accepted Messianic prophesies in Judaism. Whereas certain passages are considered by traditional Jewish scholarship as nonmessianic, Jacob’s prediction of Messiah’s kingship is not. The prayer book (siddur) shows this: ‘The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a scholar from among his descendants until Shiloh arrives and his will be an assemblage of the nations.’ Rashi notes that the phrase ‘until Shiloh arrives’ is in reference to the coming Messiah to whom the kingdom of Adonai belongs. In his commentary on Torah, Rashi states that all will bring gifts to the Messiah, who is to be revered.

In the Messiah in the Old Testament, Walter C. Kaiser writes, ‘Two things are foretold in this verse: the tribe of Judah will not cease to exist as a people, and Judah willhave a government of its own until the Messiah appears.’ The word until takes on an inclusive nature to suggest Judah’s rule will be worldwide and ‘will reach up to the coming of Shiloh and beyond.’ He continues: Thus Judah will continue to govern until Messiah comes. Shiloh is best understood, therefore, as a cryptic but shorthand form of a personal name for the Messiah.

Amen!