Shi'ites (Arab, Shiah. Shiat, " a party or faction"), the name given to a Mcdiammedan sect by the Sunnites (q. v.). or orthodox IVloslems, The Shiites never assume that name, but call themselves A I- A deVud, " Sect of the Just Ones." The principal difference between the two consists in the belief of the Shiites that the imamat, or supreme rule, both spiritual and secular, over all ]\Io- hammedaiis was originallj- vested in Ali Ibn Abi Taleb, and has been inherited by his descendants, to whom it now legitimately belongs. They are subdivided into five sects, to one of which, that of Haidar, the Persians belong. They believe m metempsychosis and the de- scent of (Jod upon his creatures, inasmuch as he, omni- present, sometimes appears in some individual person, such as their imams. Their five subdivisions they liken unto five trees with seventy branches j for their minor divisions of opinions, on matters of comparatively unimportant points of dogma, are endless. In this, how- ever, they all agree — that they consider the caliphs Abn-Bekr, Omar, and Othnian — who are regarded with the highest reverence by the Sunnites — as nnrightcous pretenders and usurpers of the sovereign power, which properly should have gone to Ali direct from the proph- et. They also reject the Abasside caliphs, notwith- standing their descent from Mohammed, because they did not belong to All's line. — Chawberg's Kncyclop.s.v,
Shil'hi (Ileb. Shilrhi', TlbTT, probably armed, from nb'i", (I miisile , Sept. SoAi, v. r. S«Xai', SoXaX«, etc.), the father of Azid)ah. king Jehoshaphat's mother (2 Kings xxii, 42 , 2 Chron. xx, 31). B.C. ante 94(5.
Shirhim (Ilel). ShUchim', C^nVw, armed men [Ge- senius], or founfdin.t [ Filrst] ; Sept. StXf ti'jii v. r. i^aX i)), a city in the southern portion of the trilie of Judali, mentioned between Lebaoth and Ain, or Ain-IJinnnon (.losh. XV, 32). In the list of Simeon's cities in Josh, xix, Shariiheit (ver. 6) occupies the idace of Shilhim, and in 1 Chron. iv, 31 this is still further changed to Shaaraim. It is dillicnlt to say whether these are mere eorriiiilions or denote any actual variations of name. The juxtapo- sition of Shilhim aiul Ain has led to the conjecture that (hey are identical with the Salim and /Enon of John the Baptist; but their position in the south of Judah, so re-
SHILLEM
6-77
SHILOH
mote from the scene of John's labors and the other events of the Gospel history, seems to forbid this. — Smith.
Shil'lem (Heb. Shillem', tkyi, requital, as in Deut. xxxii, 35 ; Sept. 'SeXXi]/!, v. r. 2o\Xjj/i, 'SvWrifi, etc.), a son of Naphtali (Gen. xlvi, 24; Numb, xxvi, 49) ; else- where (1 Chron. vii, 13) called Shallu.^i (q. v.).
Shil'lemite (Heb. collectively with the article kash-Shillemi' , "'^S'i'ri; Sept. 6 SeWj/jui)) the patro- nymic title of the descendants of ShiUem (q. v.), the son of Naphtali (Numb, xxvi, 49).
Sliilo'ah (Isa. viii, 6). See Siloam.
Shi'loh appears in the A. V. as the rendering of two words in the Hebrew, the one apparently a person, and the other certainly a place. (In the following treatment of both we avail ourselves, in part, of the statements found in the dictionaries of Kitto, Smith, and Fairbairn.)
1. (Heb. Shiloh', n'3^^^; on the meaning and ren- derings, see below.) This is a peculiar epithet which was applied, in the prophetic benediction of Jacob on his death-bed (Gen. xlix, 10), to a future personage, and which has ever been regarded by Christians and by the ancient Jews as a denomination of the iNIessiah. The oracle occurs in the blessing of Jndah, and is tlius word- ed: "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver [P|rn?3, a scribe, recording the decree uttered by the sovereign] from between his feet [the position frequently depicted on the Egyptian monuments as oc- cupied by the secretary of important persons], until Shiloh come [n'b^d X2'i"'^3 n>] : and unto him the gathering [nn^l', obedience, as in Prov. xxx, 17] 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 Mes- sianic reference of the text, being still fertile in expe- dients to evade the Christian argument fomided upon it. Neither our limits nor our object will permit us to enter largely into the theological bearings of this pre- diction; but it is, perhaps, scarcely possible to do justice to the discussion as a question of pure philology with- out at the same time displaying the strength of the jChristian interpretation, and trenching upon the prov- ince occupied by the proofs of Jesus of Nazareth being the Messiah of the Old-Test, prophecies. See Messiah.
I. Elyinoloyical and Grammatical Considerations. — Before entering upon the more essential merits of the question, it may be well to recite the ancient versions of this passage, which are mostly to be referred to a date that must exempt them fmm the charge of an un- due bias towards any but the right construction. In- fluences of this nature have, of course, become operative with Jews of a later period.
1. The version of the Sept. is peculiar : " A prince shall not fail from Judah, nor a captain out of his loins, fwc civ iX^y rd c'nroKeifiiva aiTfp, until the things come that are laid up for him." In some copies another read- ing is found, rp cnroKtirat, for ichom it is laid up, mean- ing, doubtless, in the kingdom — for whom the kingdom is laid up in reserve. This rendering is probably to be referred to an erroneous lection, IP I'CS, ichose it is. Targ. Onk., '"One having the principality shall not be taken from the house of Judah, nor a scribe from his children's children, until the Messiah come, whose the kingdom is." Targ. Jerus., "Kings shall not fail from the house of Judah, nor skilful doctors of the law from their children's children, till the time when the king's Messiah shall come." Syriac, "The sceptre shall not fail from Judah, nor an expounder from between his feet, till he come whose it is;" i. e. the scejjtre, the right, the dominion. Arabic, "The sceptre shall not be taken away from Judah, nor a lawgiver from under his rule, until he shall come whose it is." Samaritan, "The scep- tre shall not be taken away from Judah, nor a leader