GENESIS XXXII. 24 243
I have no other help, no food, no light.
No hand to guide; The night is dark, my Home is not in sight,
The path untried; I dare not venture in the dark alone, — I cannot find my way, if Thou be gone.
I cannot yet discern Thee as Thou art;
More let me see; I cannot bear the thought that I must part
Away from Thee: I will not let Thee go, except Thou bleps; Ohl help me, Lord, in all my helplessness M > J. Bhup,
Shiloh.
Literature.
Blackwood (A.), Conference Memories^ 61.
Harrison (B.), Patiently Waiting, 79.
Plumptre (E. H.), Biblical Studies, 36.
Randolph (B. W.), Christ in the Old Testament, 29.
Robertson (F. W.), Notes on Genesis, 176.
Spurgeon (C. H.), Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpii, ix. Na 1167.
Stanford (C), Symbols of Christ, 35.
Tait (A. J.). Christ and the Nations, 30.
Thome (H.), Bible Readings on the Book of Genesis, ii. 269.
Great Sermons of the Greai Preachers, 385 (Erskine).
Journal of Philology, xiv. No. 27 (Driver).
Shiloh.
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah,
Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,
Until Shiloh come (R.V.m. till he come whose it is);
And unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be. — Gen. xlix. xo.
The passage is obscure and its meaning is still uncertain. But Jews and Christians alike have from very early times regarded it as Messianic. In order to bring out the special Messianic thought which it contains, let us (after glancing at the context) consider the position held in the line of prophecy by the tribe of Judah, let us next examine the meaning and application of the word Shiloh, and then let us see how the thought finds its fulfilment in Christ.
The text occurs in that important and difficult section of Genesis (xlix. 1-27) which is called the Blessing of Jacob. It is one of the oldest pieces of Hebrew poetry that we possess, and consists of a series of oracles describing the characters and fortunes of the twelve tribes of Israel, as unfolded during the ages of the Judges and under the early monarchy. That it was composed from the first in the name of Jacob appears clearly from internal indications ; but that it was actually uttered by the patriarch on his death-bed to his assembled sons is a hypothesis which several considerations combine to render incredible. In the first place, the outlook of the poem is bounded by a particular historical situation, removed by many centuries from the supposed time of utterance. No reason can be imagined why the vista of the future disclosed to Jacob should open during the settlement of the tribes in Canaan, and suddenly close at the reign of David or Solomon ; why trivial incidents like the maritime location of Zebulun, or the " royal dainties " produced by Asher, or even the loss of tribal independence by Issachar, etc., should be dwelt upon to the exclusion of events of far greater national and religious
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248 SHILOH
importance, such as the Exodus, the mission of Moses, the leadership of Joshua, or the spiritual prerogatives of the tribe of Levi
^ It is obvious that the document as a whole has historic significance only when regarded as a production of the age to which it refers. (1) The analogy of O.T. prophecy, which has been appealed to, furnishes no instance of detailed prevision of a remote future, unrelated to the moral issues of the speaker's present. (2) In the next place, the poem is animated by a strong national sentiment such as could not have existed in the lifetime of Jacob, while there is a complete absence of the family feeling which would naturally find expression in the circumstances to which it is assigned, and which, in fact, is very conspicuous in the prose accounts of Jacob's last days. (3) The subjects of the oracles are not Jacob's sons as individuals, but the tribes called by their names. (4) Nor is there any allusion to incidents in the personal history of Jacob and his sons except in the sections on Eeuben and on Simeon and Levi, and even there a tribal interpretation is more natural. (5) Finally, the speaker is not Jacob the individual patriarch, but Jacob as representing the idea.1 unity of Israel*
I.
JUDAH.
1. The place allotted to Judah by promise. — Let us consider the prophecy on Judah as a whole, and first, irrespectively of the disputed clause (in which the word " ShUoh " occurs). It forms one of a series of promises which are based upon an evident plan ; and if it is to be properly estimated due regard must be given to its place in the series. The promise of an august future is first given to Abraham (xii. 2, 3): then it is limited to Isaac alone among his sons (xxii. 17, xxvi 4) : then it is further limited to Jacob (xxvii. 29). In chap, xlix., while abundant blessings for both land and people are showered upon Ephraim, Judah is plainly singled out among the tribes as the heir of the supremacy and power promised before to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (compare especially xlix. 8 and xxvii. 29) ; his father's sons bow down to him, and the symbols of authority are retained by him till the period of contest is over, and peace (as described in verse 11) is secured. More than this, he is the leader of the tribes : but if