' J. Skiuuer.
GENESIS xLix. lo 249
this supremacy be attached to him, then he is the tribe on which the maintenance and future history of the theocracy depend. Thus the prophecy falls into its place in the series : and when, at a later stage of the history, there is promised first (2 Sam. vii. 10-17) the permanence of a particular dynasty, and after- wards (Isa. vii., ix.) a particular ruler of the same dynasty, both belong to the same tribe of Judah here singled out from among the whole group. However we interpret verse 10, then, the prophecy holds its rightful place, and is Messianic in that it promises an ideal future to Judah}
^ Judea has been not merely a personal but a national force in the arena of the world's destinies. All nations have taken their part in the grand sum-total of history, but it is Judea that has led the way, both in the understanding and in the shaping of the destinies of the world. Disraeli hajs boasted that " the most popular poet in England is the sweet singer of Israel," and that " the Divine image of the most illustrious of the Hebrews " has been again raised amid the homage of kneeling millions in the most civilized of the kingdoms of Europe.*
2. Judah the BoyaX Tribe. — "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet." Is Judah here represented as possessing, not supremacy or hegemony only, but royalty ? In answering this question we must not, of course, read the history into the prophecy ; for to what it refers historically is just the matter in dispute. The question is, What image does the passage suggest f Is it the staff of a military leader or the sceptre of a king? It seems to be the latter. (1) It is true that shehet sopher, in Judg. v. 14, may signify a marshal's staff, but sJiebet without any qualification would surely suggest a sceptre. (2) The staff " between his feet " presents the posture of a king seated on his throne rather than of a commander engaged upon active service. (3) This interpretation is supported by the phrase in verse 8, where, when Joseph's brethren hear of the sheaves "bowing down" to him, they immediately ask, " Wilt thou be king over us," or " rule over us " ? It is difficult not to feel that the prophecy anticipates for Judah not hegemony only, but royalty.
3. Judah the Trihe of Jesus Christ. — " It is evident that oui ' S. B. Driver. ' J. Kelmao, Ephemera EtemitcUia, 237.
250 SHILOH
Lord hath sprung out of Judah" (Heb. vii. 14). The whole interest which gathers round this picture of royalty centres, for us, in Christ. Whatever interpretation we put on the word " Shiloh," its position and meaning in the text, and how far the original thought of the writer must be connected with the ultimate fulfilment of the prophecy, we shall not go wrong in connecting the " Sceptre " of Judah with the reign of the Messiah Jesus. We know that the historic Christ of the Gospels, fore- shadowed in the Old Testament, has sprung from the royal historic tribe of Judah. " The lion that is of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath overcome " (Rev. v. 5). " And he shall reign for ever and ever " (Eev. xL 15).
H
Shiloh.
What is the meaning of the words translated " until Shiloh come " ?
1. The main difficulty of the passage centres round this clause. If " Shiloh " be a personal name, it must be significant ; but it cannot mean "peaceful" or " peace-bringer," which have been sometimes suggested; nor is there any allusion to "Shiloh" as a title of the Messiah in any other part of the Bible ; nor is the word so taken here in any ancient version. The name as a title of the Messiah is first found in a fanciful passage of the Talmud (Sank. 98''), where the present passage is quoted.
^ The rendering UntU Shiloh come is found in no version earUer than those of the sixteenth century (Seb. Munster, 1534, and, following him, the " Great Bible," 1539-41, and other English versions).^
2. The first margin of the Revised Version " till he come to Shiloh " is grammatically unexceptionable. It was proposed first in modern times by W. G. Teller in 1766, was adopted by Herder and Ewald, and also by Delitzsch, Dillmann (provisionally ; for he thinks that a really satisfactory explanation is not to be found), and Strack, in their Commentaries. In favour of this view Delitzsch urgea the great philological difficulty alluded to above,
* S. B. DrivOT.
GENESIS xLix. lo 251
aa attaching to the popular explanation of the name " Shiloh," and observes that elsewhere in the Old Testament the word denotes regularly the place of that name in the tribe of Ephraim : then, looking at the history, he supposes the reference to be to the assembling of Israel at Shiloh described in Josh, rviii, when, the period of wandering and conflict being now over, Judah, it may be supposed, lost the pre-eminence, or tribe- leadership held by it before : the " obedience of the peoples " was realized primarily in the victories of David, while at the same time it would include that ideal relation of Israel to the heathen, of which the prophets speak more distinctly. Upon this view, as no royalty attached to Judah at this early time, shebet in verse 10 will, of course, denote not a " sceptre," but a " staff," the symbol of military power, and must be rendered accordingly.