Shiloh

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

SHILOH . 1 . Here the Israelites assembled at the completion of the conquest, and erected the Tent of Meeting; portions were assigned to the still landless tribes, and cities to the Levites (  Joshua 18:1 etc.   Joshua 21:1 etc.). At Shiloh the congregation deliberated regarding the altar built by the men of the eastern tribes in the Jordan Valley (  Joshua 22:12 ff.). During the period of the Judges, it was the central sanctuary (  Judges 18:31 ), the scene of great religious festivals and pilgrimages (  Judges 21:19 ,   1 Samuel 1:2 ). On one of these occasions the Benjamites captured as wives the women who danced among the vineyards (  Judges 21:18 ff.). Here the youth of Samuel was spent, and from this narrative we gather that the ‘tent’ had given place to a permanent structure, a ‘ temple ’ ( hçkâl ), under the care of the high priest Eli and his family. The loss of the ark and the disaster to his sons proved fatal to Eli (  1 Samuel 4:12 ff.), and Shiloh apparently ceased to rank as a sanctuary. The destruction of its temple, possibly by the Philistines, is alluded to in   Jeremiah 7:12;   Jeremiah 7:14;   Jeremiah 26:6;   Jeremiah 26:9 (cf.   Psalms 78:60 ). Eli’s descendants are afterwards found at Nob (  1 Samuel 14:3;   1 Samuel 22:11 ). The prophet Ahijah was a native of Shiloh (  1 Kings 11:29;   1 Kings 14:2;   1 Kings 14:4 ).

The original name, as shown by the gentilic Shilonite , was Shiôn . This form survives in the mod. Seilûn , a ruined site on a hill E. of the road to Shechem, about 9 miles N. of Bethel, and 3 miles S.W. of Khân el-Lubbân (Lebonah,   Judges 21:19 ). A terrace on the N. of the hill, with a rock-hewn quadrangle, c. 400 ft. × 80 ft., may have been the site of the ancient temple. There is an excellent spring in the valley to the east. There are also numerous rock-hewn tombs. The terraced slopes tell of vineyards, long since disappeared.

2 . The real meaning of the clause ‘ until Shiloh come’ (  Genesis 49:10 EV [Note: English Version.] ) is doubtful. If ‘Shiloh’ were a name applied to the Messiah, it would have a special significance; but this cannot be discovered. No ancient version so reads it. The Targg. (Onk., Jerus., and pseud.-Jon.) all interpret it of the Messiah. The Peshitta, on the other hand, reads ‘until he shall come whose it [ i.e. the kingdom] is.’ Three possible readings are given in RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] . (1) ‘Till he come to Shiloh’; grammatically correct, and supported by many scholars. Elsewhere in Scripture, Shiloh means the Ephraimite town. This is taken to refer to Judah’s laying down the leadership he had exercised, when, the conquest finished, Israel assembled at Shiloh. Apart from other objections, however, shçbet , ‘sceptre,’ seems to denote something more than a mere tribal supremacy, and it is not certain that Judah possessed even that pre-eminence. (2) ‘Until that which is his shall come’; so LXX [Note: Septuagint.] ‘till the things reserved for him come.’ (3) ‘Until he shall come whose it is’ (Pesh., Targg. as above). While no certain decision as to the exact meaning is possible, the Messianic character of the verse is clear. It contemplates the ultimate passing of the power of Judah into the bands of an ideal ruler.

Shilonite = ‘native of Shiloh’ is used of 1 . Ahijah (  1 Kings 11:29 etc.). 2 . A family dwelling in Jerusalem (  1 Chronicles 9:5 etc.). In the latter passage the true reading is prob. ‘the Shelanite ’ (cf.   Numbers 26:20 ).

W. Ewing.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Shi'loh.

1. In the Authorized Version of the Bible, Shiloh is once used as the name of a person, in a very difficult passage, in  Genesis 49:10, "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be." Supposing that the translation is correct, the meaning of the word is Peaceable or Pacific , and the allusion is either to Solomon, whose name has a similar signification, or to the expected Messiah , who in  Isaiah 9:6, is expressly called, the Prince of Peace. See Messiah .

Other interpretations, however, of the passage are given, one of which makes it refer to the city of this name. See Shiloh, 2 . It might be translated, "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, till he shall go to Shiloh." In this case, the allusion would be to the primacy of Judah in war,  Judges 1:1-2;  Judges 20:18;  Numbers 2:3;  Numbers 10:14, which was to continue until the Promised Land was conquered, and the Ark of the Covenant was solemnly deposited at Shiloh.

(Place Of Rest).

2. A city of Ephraim. In  Judges 21:19 , it is said that Shiloh is "on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem and on the south of Lebonah." In agreement with this, the traveller of our own city, going north from Jerusalem, lodges the first night at Beitin , the ancient Bethel; the next day, at the distance of a few hours, turns aside to the right, in order to visit Seilun , the Arabic for Shiloh; and then passing through the narrow wady which brings him to the main road, leaves El-Lebban , the Lebonah of Scripture, on the left, as he pursues "the highway" to Nublus , the ancient Shechem. See Shechem .

Shiloh was one of the earliest and most sacred of the Hebrew sanctuaries. The Ark of the Covenant, which had been kept at Gilgal during the progress of the conquest,  Joshua 17:1, seq., was removed, thence, on the subjugation of the country, and kept at Shiloh, from the last days of Joshua to the time of Samuel.  Joshua 18:10;  Judges 18:31;  1 Samuel 4:3 . It was here, the Hebrew conqueror divided, among the tribes, the portion of the west Jordan region, which had not been already allotted.  Joshua 18:10;  Joshua 19:51. In this distribution, or an earlier one, Shiloh fell within the limits of Ephraim.  Joshua 16:5. The ungodly conduct of the sons of Eli occasioned the loss of the Ark of the Covenant, which had been carried into battle against the Philistines, and Shiloh, from that time, sank into insignificance. It stands forth in the Jewish history as a striking example of the divine indignation.  Jeremiah 7:12.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Joshua 18:1Tabernacle

 Judges 21:19 described Shiloh's location as “on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.” Twelve miles south of Shechem, Shiloh was in a fertile plain at 2,000 feet elevation. This is apparently modern Seilun, where archaeologists have unearthed evidence of Canaanite settlement by 1700 B.C. Perhaps when Israel chose a spot for the tabernacle, Shiloh was available for Joshua to use as the place to allot land to the tribes (  Joshua 18:1 ).

Tribal annual pilgrimages to the tabernacle set the scene for another incident in Shiloh. The tribe of Benjamin had a dilemma in that no other tribe would give them their daughters for wives ( Judges 21:1 ). Because of this, the men of Benjamin waited in the vineyards ( Judges 21:20 ) until the dancing women went out of Shiloh where they were then captured and taken as wives.

Samuel's early years provided another connection with Shiloh ( 1 Samuel 1-4 ). At the tabernacle, Hannah vowed to the Lord that if He would give her a son she would give him back to God ( 1 Samuel 1:1 ). After the birth of Samuel, Hannah brought him to Shiloh in gratitude to God ( 1 Samuel 1:24-28 ). Thus, Shiloh became home for Samuel as he lived under the care of Eli, the high priest, and his two wicked sons, Hophni and Phinehas. Later, Samuel received the Lord's message that the priesthood would be taken from Eli's family ( 1 Samuel 3:1 ). Years later, following a defeat at Aphek, the Israelite army sent for the ark of the covenant from Shiloh. Mistakenly thinking that the ark would bring victory, the Israelites lost the second battle of Aphek to the Philistines. Results included losing the ark; the deaths of Hophni, Phinehas, and Eli; and the apparent conquering of Shiloh ( 1 Samuel 4:1 ).

No explicit biblical reference was made to Shiloh's final fate. According to archaeological evidence, Shiloh apparently was destroyed about 1050 B.C. by the Philistines. Supporting this was the fact that when the Philistines finally returned the ark of the covenant, it was housed at Kiriath-jearim rather than Shiloh ( 1 Samuel 7:1 ). Also, Jeremiah warned Jerusalem that it might suffer the same destructive fate as Shiloh ( 1 Samuel 7:12 ).

Centuries later, Jeremiah used Shiloh and the tabernacle as illustrations to warn Jerusalem that it was not safe merely because it housed the Temple ( Jeremiah 7:12-14 ). Hearing the same message again, the people sought to kill Jeremiah ( Jeremiah 26:6-9 ). Jeremiah mentioned some men from Shiloh as late as 585 B.C. ( Jeremiah 41:5 ), indicating some occupation at that time. See Joshua; Eli; Samuel .

Larry McGraw

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

One of the names of the Messiah, given by the dying patriarch Jacob under the spirit of prophecy, and to which both Jew and Gentile agree; though in the application of the name to the person of Christ they differ. ( Genesis 49:10) It is worthy remark, however, that unless it be applied to the Lord Jesus Christ, it can be applied to no other. The dying patriarch said that the sceptre should not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until the Shiloh come. Now the lawgiver is departed, and the sceptre also; for they have no law, nor king, nor governor. But both they boasted of unto the coming of Christ. We have a law, said they to Pilate, when they demanded the death of Christ. ( John 19:7) But now Christ was come, however unconscious of it, they said, "We have no king but Cæsar." ( John 19:15)

I cannot dismiss this article without first observing that Shiloh is rendered the more remarkable, because as the name of the Messiah, nor indeed as any other name of a person, we no where meet with it but in this place. ( Genesis 49:10) And I beg yet farther to observe that it merits our attention the more, because it is the third blessed promise Jehovah gave, in his holy word, in the covenant of grace concerning redemption. The first was all gospel, and all of Christ: ( Genesis 3:15) "The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head."The second was all gospel, and all of Christ: and this was given to Abraham, ( Genesis 22:18) "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." And God the Holy Ghost, by his servant Paul, directly applies this to Christ,  Galatians 3:16. And the third was this blessed promise of Shiloh, which comprehends in its bosom the former two, and confirms and explains them. They both promised Christ. This saith when and how to be known. Do you enquire then, Is Shiloh come? I answer; Is the sceptre departed from Judah, and the lawgiver from between his feet? Then is Shiloh come. Precious Lord Jesus, I would say, Art thou come indeed, to my heart, to my house, to my family? Lord, when shall the full gathering of thy people be? Haste, haste, my Beloved, and arise out of Zion, "to turn away ungodliness from Jacob; Be thou as a roe, or a young hart, upon the mountains of spices!" (See Sceptre.)

Shiloh. A city of Ephraim, ( Joshua 18:10) This place was rendered memorable in the history of Israel, ( Joshua 19:51;  1 Samuel 4:4;  1 Kings 14:2;  Jeremiah 7:12, etc.)

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Shiloh ( Shî'Loh ). 1. The word "Shiloh," as used in  Genesis 49:10, has given rise to much discussion. Some consider it as referring to the town; others apply it to the Messiah. 2. A city of Ephraim, north of Bethel, and where the tabernacle was set up.  Joshua 18:1. It was thus the sacred capital where solemn assemblies were held,  Joshua 18:8-10;  Joshua 19:51;  Joshua 21:2;  Joshua 22:12; not, however, to the entire exclusion of other places.  Joshua 24:1;  Joshua 24:25-26. Through the period of the judges' administration the tabernacle seems to have remained at Shiloh.  Judges 18:31;  Judges 21:12;  Judges 21:19;  Judges 21:21. It was there in the priesthood of Eli. Samuel was there called to be a prophet.  1 Samuel 1:3;  1 Samuel 1:9;  1 Samuel 1:24;  1 Samuel 2:14;  1 Samuel 3:21;  1 Samuel 4:3-4;  1 Samuel 4:12;  1 Kings 2:27. After the ark of God had been taken by the Philistines we do not find that it was ever restored to the tabernacle at Shiloh. It was sometimes with the army,  1 Samuel 14:18; but its resting-place was with Abinadab at Kirjath-jearim.  1 Samuel 7:1-2. And then we hear little more of Shiloh; the tabernacle itself was removed,  2 Chronicles 1:3; and Jerusalem became ultimately the city which the Lord chose, to place his name there.

Bridgeway Bible Dictionary

One of the main routes from Egypt to northern Palestine was the road that passed along the top of the central hill country through the towns of Beersheba, Hebron, Jerusalem, Bethel, Shiloh and Shechem ( Judges 21:19). (For map see Palestine .) Shiloh’s convenient location on this road may have been one reason why it was Israel’s central place of worship for most of the period of the judges. There that the nation’s leaders set up the tabernacle and the people held religious festivals ( Joshua 18:1;  Joshua 18:8-10;  Joshua 19:51;  Joshua 22:9;  Joshua 22:12;  Judges 18:31;  Judges 21:19-21;  1 Samuel 1:3;  1 Samuel 1:9;  1 Samuel 3:21;  1 Samuel 4:3).

Some time later, because of the sins of the people, God allowed invaders to destroy Shiloh ( Psalms 78:60;  Jeremiah 7:12-14). This may have occurred during the period of Philistine oppression that led to the establishment of Israel’s monarchy ( 1 Samuel 4:2;  1 Samuel 8:20). In the early days of the monarchy the tabernacle was set up at Nob, a town close to Jerusalem ( 1 Samuel 21:1-6;  1 Samuel 22:18-19). Later, Shiloh was partly rebuilt, but never again was the tabernacle set up there ( 1 Kings 14:4).

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

 Genesis 49:10 . The Hebrew text is, "until Shiloh come." All Christian commentators agree, that this word ought to be understood of the Messiah, that is, of Jesus Christ. The LXX read it, "Until the coming of him to whom it is reserved." It must be owned that the signification of the Hebrew word Shiloh is not well known. Some translate the clause, "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, till he comes to whom it belongs;" others, "till the coming of the peacemaker, or the pacific, or prosperity;" and some, "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah till its end, its ruin," till the downfall of the kingdom of the Jews. However, this much is clear, that the ancient Jews are in this matter agreed with the Christians, in acknowledging that the word stands for Messiah, the King. It is thus that the paraphrasts, Onkelos and Jonathan, and the ancient Hebrew commentaries upon Genesis, and the Talmudists explain it. If Jesus Christ and his Apostles did not make use of this passage to prove the coming of the Messiah, it was because then the completion of this prophecy was not sufficiently manifest. The sceptre still continued among the Jews; they had still kings of their own nation, in the persons of the Herods; but soon after the sceptre was entirely taken away from them, and a people began to be gathered to Christ, out of the Gentile nations.

2. SHILOH, a celebrated city of the tribe of Ephraim, twelve miles from Shechem, Joshua 18, 19, 21. It was in this place that the tabernacle of the Lord was set up, when the people were settled in the country. The ark and the tabernacle of the Lord continued at Shiloh from A.M. 2560 till 2888, when it was taken by the Philistines, under the administration of the high priest Eli. 1 Samuel 4. Here the Prophet Ahijah dwelt,   1 Kings 14:2 .

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

1. This term is used,  Genesis 49:10 , to denote the Messiah, the coming of whom Jacob foretells in these words: "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be;" that is, until the time of Christ, Judah's self-governments as a tribe should not ceases. It must be admitted, however, that the literal signification of the word is not well ascertained. Some translate, "The scepter shall not depart from Judah till he comes to whom it belongs." Others, with more probability, till the coming of the Peacemaker, or of the One desired.

2. A famous city of Ephraim, about ten miles south of Shechem, and twenty-four north of Jerusalem. Here Joshua assembled the people to make the second distribution of the Land of Promise; and her the tabernacle of the Lord was set up, when they were settled in the country,  Joshua 18:1;  19:51 . The ark and the tabernacle continued at Shiloh, from B. C. 1444 to B. C. 1116, when it was taken by the Philistines, under the administration of the high priest Eli. In honor of the presence of the ark, there was "a feast of the Lord in Shiloh yearly;" and at one of these festivals the daughters of Shiloh were seized by a remnant of the Benjamites,  Judges 21:19-23 . At Shiloh Samuel began to prophesy,  1 Samuel 4:1 , and here the prophet Ahijah dwelt,  1 Kings 14:2 .

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 49:10 Isaiah 9:6

Shiloh, a place of rest, a city of Ephraim, "on the north side of Bethel," from which it is distant 10 miles ( Judges 21:19 ); the modern Seilun (the Arabic for Shiloh), a "mass of shapeless ruins." Here the tabernacle was set up after the Conquest ( Joshua 18:1-10 ), where it remained during all the period of the judges till the ark fell into the hands of the Philistines. "No spot in Central Palestine could be more secluded than this early sanctuary, nothing more featureless than the landscape around; so featureless, indeed, the landscape and so secluded the spot that from the time of St. Jerome till its re-discovery by Dr. Robinson in 1838 the very site was forgotten and unknown." It is referred to by ( Jeremiah 7:12,14;  26:4-9 ) five hundred years after its destruction.

Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types

 Genesis 49:10 (a) This name is given to the Lord Jesus Christ The word means "the peacemaker."

 Joshua 18:1 (c) The word means "sent." It may be used as a type of the plan and purposes of GOD for it was at Shiloh that many of GOD's plans were revealed to His people. (See  Judges 21:19,1Sa  1:24,1Ki  2:27,1Ki  14:2,  Jeremiah 7:12).

Morrish Bible Dictionary

Title of the Messiah as 'Prince of Peace.'  Genesis 49:10; cf.  Isaiah 9:6 . See Sceptre

Webster's Dictionary

(n.) A word used by Jacob on his deathbed, and interpreted variously, as "the Messiah," or as the city "Shiloh," or as "Rest."

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Shiloh, 1

Shi´loh, the epithet applied, in the prophetic benediction of Jacob on his death-bed , to the personage to whom 'the gathering of the nations should be,' and which has ever been regarded by Christians and by the ancient Jews as a denomination of the Messiah. The oracle occurs in the blessing of Judah, and is thus worded—'The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come: and unto him the gathering of the people shall be.' The term itself, as well as the whole passage to which it belongs, has ever been a fruitful theme of controversy between Jews and Christians, the former, although they admit for the most part the Messianic reference of the text, being still fertile in expedients to evade the Christian argument founded upon it. Neither our limits nor our object will permit us to enter largely into the theological bearings of this prediction; but it is perhaps scarcely possible to do justice to the discussion as a question of pure philology, without at the same time displaying the strength of the Christian interpretation, and trenching upon the province occupied by the proofs of Jesus of Nazareth being the Messiah of the Old Testament prophecies.

Various etymologies have been assigned to the term. Some very eminent commentators trace it to the root to rest, to be at peace, and make it equivalent to Pacificator, Tranquillizer, or Great Author of Peace. This is a sense accordant with the anticipated and realized character of the Messiah, one of whose crowning denominations is 'Prince of Peace.' Another opinion is, that it is derived from a word which signifies to ask, seek, require, and that its import is the asked, the desired, a designation which is, equally with the former, in accordance with the character of the predicted Messiah, and is free from some philological objections to which the other derivation is liable.

Shiloh, 2

Shiloh, a city in the tribe of Ephraim, situated among the hills to the north of Bethel, eastward of the great northern road, where the tabernacle and ark remained for a long time, from the days of Joshua, during the ministry of all the judges, down to the end of Eli's life . To this circumstance Shiloh owed all its importance; for after the loss of the ark—which never returned thither after it had been restored to Israel by the Philistines—it sunk into insignificance. It was, indeed, the residence of Ahijah the prophet (;; ), but it is more than once mentioned as accursed and forsaken . The last mention of it in Scripture is in , which only shows that it survived the exile. Dr. Robinson identifies it with a place named Seilun, a city surrounded by hills, with an opening by a narrow valley into a plain on the south. The ruins consist chiefly of an old tower with walls four feet thick, and of large stones and fragments of columns indicative of an ancient site (Robinson's Palestine, iii. 85-89).

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

Bibliography Information McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Shiloh'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/s/shiloh.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

A village 20 m. N. of Jerusalem, sacred as the site of the resting-place of the Tabernacle on the settlement of the Jews in the land of promise. Is a name also of the Messiah.