The passage in Jacob's prophecy I translate thus, "Thou Judah, thy brethren shall praise thee; thy hand (shall be) upon the neck of thine enemies; before thee, the sons of thy father shall prostate themselves." Judah, a lion's whelp, from the prey, my son, thou hast arisen; he kneeled; he laid down like a strong lion, and like a fierce lioness; who shall arouse him?""The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a legislator from between his feet, for that Shiloh shall come; and to Him (shall be) the obedience of peoples.""Binding his ass to a wild vine, and his ass's colt to a choice vine, he washed his raiment in wine, and his clothing in the blood of clusters of grapes; more flashing (his) eyes than wine, and whiter (his) fangs than milk," Gen. 49:8-12.
The above is a prophecy concerning the Lion Tribe of Judah, which has given the commentators a world of trouble. A work before me says, "The interpretations of this most difficult verse 10 are so numerous, and the arguments by which they are supported so voluminous, that even in this supplementary note we can only give the sense in which we ourselves (Messrs. De Sola, Lindenthal, and Raphall) understand the text, and which is strictly in accordance with the oldest version of the Pentateuch, and one of the oldest commentaries on the Scriptures; Oukelos and the tonic accents."In their translation of Genesis, De Sola & Co. render the verse thus, "The staff shall not depart from Yehudah, nor the lawgiver from between his feet, until he cometh to Shiloh, and his be the obedience of nations." In this they make Shiloh a place; and affirm that the staff should not depart until Judah came to it, and then of course, the inference is that it should depart.
Well, in the days of Joshua, "the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there. And the land was subdued before them," Josh. 18:1. But instead of the sceptre departing from Judah when the tribe arrived there, Judah had never hitherto possessed it; for Moses, who was "king in Jeshurun," was of the tribe of Levi; and Joshua, who succeeded him, was of the tribe of Ephraim: and while the tabernacle was still at Shiloh, though the ark was not, Samuel anointed Saul of the tribe of Benjamin, to be king over all Israel. The ark never returned to Shiloh, and the tabernacle there was destroyed. "So God forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh;" and did not choose Judah for the staff-bearing ruler over Israel until the departure from Shiloh; and David became king over all Israel, two years after the death of Saul.But, "until he cometh to Shiloh" is not the translation of ad ki yahvo Shiloh. There is no word in the text answering to the particle "to;" and furthermore, the verb yahvo is not the present tense, "he cometh," but is the future "shall come;" nor is Yehudah the nominative to the verb; it is Shiloh, which they put in the dative, or in the accusative governed by a preposition, which is not in the text.
These are liberties which grammatical honesty will not tolerate.But in relation to "until" as the rendering of ad, or ad ki, they are not satisfied; for in their supplementary note they say, "Much confusion has been introduced into the translation of this important verse, by considering as a particle, and rendering it combined with until." Yet this they have done themselves. "It cannot," they say, "be joined to without violating the Mazora and punctuation." But this is of no consequence. They are no part of the original text. Jacob and Moses knew nothing about the Masorites and their inventions; and we need not trouble ourselves with them in interpreting their prophecies.
Their authority Onkelos, disconnects ad from ki, and renders ad by the Chaldee ad-almah, which they call for-ever; "a rendering, of which," say they, "we approve, as it appears to us much to simplify the meaning of the text. We would therefore propose to render it, after Rabbi Manasseh Ben Israel; "The staff shalt not depart from Judah, forever."This, however, is not translation, but substitution. We prefer to take the text as it is, and without regard to the Masora, translate it word for word as we have presented it; namely ad ki "for that," which is equivalent to because. The passage is easy enough, and teaches, that the reason why the staff or sceptre shall not depart from Judah is because Shiloh shall come." It is a text similar to Jeremiah 33:17, "David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel." This is thought to be very difficult of interpretation. Jeremiah is speaking of what shall be in the latter days and forward; and so was Jacob. When Judah shall act the lion, Shiloh will be with them; and thenceforth the sceptre shall not depart and thenceforth David never want a man to sit on Israel's throne.
On the word Shiloh, De Sola & Co. say, "This word is understood by no one, though there is not any expression throughout the Scriptures, respecting which so much has been written, and which has served as the foundation for theological systems, like this much disputed word. The three opinions that enjoy the most favor are: the oldest, advanced by the Medrash, adopted by Onkelos, Jonathan, and the Jersusalem Targum, and adduced by Rashi, that Shiloh is the Anointed King, Messiah. The second, advanced by Rashbam, and adopted by Mendelssohn, and most modern Jewish authorities, considers Shiloh as the name of a city near Shechem, in the tribe of Ephraim, where the division of the monarchy took place under Rehoboam and Jeroboam. They therefore render it, until he (Judah) cometh to Shiloh. The third consider Shiloh as signifying quietness, peace. They therefore render it, until peace, or the bringer of peace cometh, and apply it to Solomon. We ourselves are strongly biassed in favor of the first opinion, supported as it is by the authority of Ezekiel 21:32 or 27, in probable allusion to the present text: since it is only by coupling this prediction of Jacob with those pronounced by subsequent prophets of the Lord, that we can understand the assurance the patriarch gives Judah, that though his supremacy may for a time be suspended, yet it shall not depart for ever, but at some future period be restored to him."The clerical interpretation of the text is, that the sceptre of royalty and the legislative power was to continue with the Jews until Shiloh was born; and that at his birth they were to depart. They point the Jews to Jesus as a fulfillment of the prediction as the Shiloh; and affirm that the circumstances of his appearing answered the demands of the prophecy.
But this cannot be admitted for the following reasons:
1. Jacob's prophecy belongs to the "uttermost part of the days," termed in Daniel "the Time of the End" or "the Latter Days;" not to "the last days, or end of the Mosaic Aion.
2. The sceptre had departed from Judah in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, who wrested it out of the hand of David's house, when he dethroned Zedekiah about 590 years before the birth of Jesus; and it has not been restored to Judah since.
3. There was no lawgiver descended from Judah, son of Jacob, in power at the birth of Jesus. The givers and makers of law were not Jews, but Gentiles; Herod, Archelaus, an the Romans, being rulers of the nation.
4. The symbols of royalty were not to be restored to Judah "until he shall come whose right it is" to reign over all Israel: the right belongs to Jesus, who is the Shiloh; but, when he appeared, he did not reign, positively refusing to accept authority, because his kingdom did not belong to that world; but to another, when Judah, "the fierce lioness" shall go through the nations as through a flock of sheep, Micah 5:8; as Jacob's prophecy intimates.
5. Jacob's prophecy contemplates Judah in power and victory over enemies; whereas, when Jesus was born, Judah was subject and powerless under the Little Horn of the Goat; and will so continue till Shiloh shall return.
For these reasons, we reject the clerical theory; and look to the glorious appearing of the First Born to verify Jacob's prediction; for if Shiloh does not come hereafter, the sceptre has finally departed, and the lawgiver is no more for Judah. The interval from Nebuchadnezzar to God, is not a final departure of sovereignty, but only an INTERREGNUM to be succeeded by a renewal of the authority of David's house over Judah and all the other tribes. We are in "the third day" of the interregnum (Hosea 6:2,) or 2,453 years since the fall of David's throne; for "a day with Yahweh is as a thousand years; and a thousand years as one day."
"Shiloh is understood by no one," says De Sola! Very strange indeed! Whatever its etymology, any one, not judicially blinded by unbelief, may see from the text itself, that it relates to a person, a conqueror, and a ruler, not to a place. "Shiloh shall come; and to Him the obedience of peoples;" to him is the key to Shiloh. Shiloh is a man; and as people are to obey him, he must be a ruler; and as peoples only obey those who compel them, he must be a conqueror before he can rule them. All which is plain enough for the comprehension of a little child, though perfectly unintelligible to "wise and prudent." Let us rejoice that we are what they call "fools."
(By Dr. John Thomas)