(Continued-Chapter III-Early Rays of Messianic Glory)

"See now that I, even I, am he,
And there is no god with me:
I kill, and I make alive;
I wound, and I heal;
And there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
For I lift up my hand to heaven,
And say, As I live for ever,
If I whet my glittering sword,
And my hand take hold on judgment;
I will render vengeance to mine adversaries,
And will recompense them that hate me.
I will make mine arrows drunk with blood,
And my sword shall devour flesh;
With the blood of the slain and the captives,
From the head of the leaders of the enemy.
Rejoice, 0 ye nations, with his people:
For he will avenge the blood of his servants,
And will render vengeance to his adversaries,
And will make expiation for his land, for his people."
(Deut. 32:39-43.)

The testimony of Isaiah is to the same effect.

"And the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice. And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessory therefore his own arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it upheld him. And he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a mantle. According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, wrath to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompense. So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun; for he will come as a rushing stream, which the breath of the Lord driveth. And a Redeemer will come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. And as for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord: my Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever. Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And nations shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising" (Isa. 59:15b-60:3).

On this same point again the prophet makes a like declaration.

"Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winevat? I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the peoples there was no man with me: yea, I trod them in mine anger, and trampled them in my wrath; and their lifeblood is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all my raiment. For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my wrath, it upheld me. And I trod down the peoples in mine anger, and made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth" (Isa. 63:1-6).

Habakkuk portrays very graphically the conquest of the Lord when He comes as a mighty warrior. (See Hab. 3:1-15.) The inspired psalmist likewise gave a vivid picture of the conquests of the King concerning whom he sang in Psalm 45. In fact, most of the prophets delivered messages of the final triumphs of this same one.

In the light of all the facts one logically concludes that the seed of Abraham in these passages does not primarily refer to the nation of Israel, though she doubtless is included in the prediction, but to an individual of the race who can properly be called the seed of Abraham.

The primeval prediction simply foretold the coming of one who should be in a special and peculiar sense the seed of the woman. The oracle affirms that this future world deliverer, though more than man according to the necessary inferences of the forecast, is nevertheless a man--the man par excellence. In the prophecy of Noah the statement relative to the deliverer becomes more specific in that it is narrowed to the Semitic world. The Abrahamic covenant limits it still more by restricting the promise to the seed of Abraham. Therefore the descendants of Abraham have correctly contended that the Prince of Peace will come to the world through the Hebrew race.

In the line of promise, after Abraham comes Isaac whose birth was the result of a miracle. The Lord passed by Ishmael and chose Isaac. It doubtless was because of the miracle connected with his birth that Isaac was chosen. By this manifestation of divine power new life and vitality were injected into the bloodstream of his descendants. This biological fact accounts fully for many superior qualities seen in his posterity. Contrary to custom, God chose Jacob, the younger child, in preference to his older brother Esau. Herein is another example of God's exercising His sovereignty. Just before his death Isaac by the prophetic Spirit conferred upon Jacob a blessing greatly superior to that given to Esau.

Upon his death bed the aged Jacob caught a glimpse into the future and by the same prophetic Spirit gave in a general way the condition of the tribes which would spring from his twelve sons in the latter days. In this forecast God acted upon the same principle of His electing, sovereign grace as in the cases given above. Hence He caused Jacob to pass by the three older sons and to select Judah, the fourth, as the tribe through which the promised Messiah would come.

יְהוּדָה אַתָּה יוֹדוּךָ אַחֶיךָ יָדְךָ בְּעֹרֶף אֹיְבֶיךָ יִשְׁתַּחֲווּ לְךָ בְּנֵי אָבִיךָ׃ גּוּר אַרְיֵה יְהוּדָה מִטֶּרֶף בְּנִי עָלִיתָ כָּרַע רָבַץ כְּאַרְיֵה וּכְלָבִיא מִי יְקִימֶנּוּ׃ לֹא־יָסוּר שֵׁבֶט מִיהוּדָה וּמְחֹקֵק מִבֵּין רַגְלָיו עַד כִּי־יָבֹא שִׁילֹה וְלוֹ יִקְּהַת עַמִּים׃ אֹסְרִי לַגֶּפֶן עִירֹה וְלַשּׂרֵקָה בְּנִי אֲתֹנוֹ כִּבֵּס בַּיַּיִן לְבֻשׁוֹ וּבְדַם־עֲנָבִים סוּתֹה׃ חַכְלִילִי עֵינַיִם מִיָּיִן וּלְבֶן־שִׁנַּיִם מֵחָלָב׃

"Judah, thee shall thy brethren praise:
Thy hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies;
Thy father's sons shall bow down before thee.
Judah is a lion's whelp;
From the prey, my son, thou art gone up:
He stooped down, he couched as a lion,
And as a lioness; who shall rouse him up?
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah,
Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,
Until Shiloh come;
And unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be.
Binding his foal unto the vine,
And his ass's colt unto the choice vine;
He hath washed his garments in wine,
And his vesture in the blood of grapes:
His eves shall be red with wine,
And his teeth white with milk" (Gen. 49:8-12).

That this passage was interpreted messianically by the ancient rabbis is clear from the following quotations:

"He who exerciseth dominion shall not pass away from the house of Jehuda, nor the Saphra from his children's children until the MESSIAH Come."--Targum Onkelos.

"Kings shall not cease, nor rulers from the house of Judah, nor sapherim teaching the Law from his seed, till the time that the King THE MESSIAH shall come, who will arise from Judah. How beauteous is the KING, THE MESSIAH, who will arise from Jehuda."--Targum Palestine.

But we must now examine the text carefully to arrive at the heart of the prediction. The words עַד כִּי־יָבֹא שִׁילֹה have been translated in various ways. In view of this great diversity of opinion it behooves us to investigate each suggestion thoughtfully and thoroughly. Having discarded the various opinions and speculations, we then shall weigh the facts and interpret them in the light of both the immediate context and the larger sweep of Scripture.

The chief difficulty lies in the correct meaning of שִׁילֹה. In the first place, the י is wanting in the Samaritan Torah, the oldest copy of the Law extant today. According to Rabbi Joseph Hertz, the yod is also lacking in the older Jewish versions and commentaries. Other ancient translations likewise presuppose the omission of this letter and take שׁלה in the sense of שֶׁלּ. In the second place, the origin of this word is very uncertain. Is it derived from some lost root or is it a composition of two pronouns? A third difficulty is encountered in ascertaining the significance of עַד כִּי in this context. In spite of these difficult problems, we will face the issues with an open mind and a heart receptive to the truth of God.

The translation, "till tranquillity comes," as a noted writer declares, "assumes the existence of a very possible שֶׁלָה or שֵׁלָה peace." But since this rendering assumes that which cannot be proved, it is impossible to accept it. We cannot afford to base the translation of a fundamental passage upon mere supposition. A further objection is that it does not harmonize with the statement following it, together with which it forms a "parallelism." Therefore it must be rejected.

The rendering, "till he comes to peacefulness or a place of rest," likewise is based upon an assumption, the existence of שֵׁלָה as an abstract noun, for which position there is no proof. Inasmuch as the argument from silence is a very treacherous one, we will pass this rendering as indecisive.

Some scholars, for instance Orelli, render this difficult clause, "till he comes to that which is his own." If the pronoun he refers to Judah, "that which is his own" evidently indicates the position of preeminence among the tribes or the nations of the world, as is clear from the following parallel line. According to this interpretation, governmental powers and preeminence were to continue with Judah until such a time as she enjoyed the supremacy among the nations. History shows the opposite. Hence it must be rejected. If, on the other hand, we consider he as a reference to the Messiah, the interpretation is an entirely different proposition. This phase of the question will be discussed below.

A few scholars, as Lagarde and Matthew Hiller, think that this clause should be rendered "till his desired one comes." This suggestion is based upon the assumption that שִילֹה is derived from the verb שָׁאַל and should be rendered his desired one. This conclusion is reached by comparing Genesis 49:10 with Malachi 3:1--"and the Lord, whom ye seek." This version is untenable because there is nothing in the original text or any of the ancient translations indicating the possibility that שְׁאָלָה was in the original statement. There must be positive proof that the text has been corrupted before one can consider a reading other than that of the Masoretic text. In view of the present well-preserved text, one must reject this suggestion.

Wellhausen threw out the suggestion that וְלוֹ was "a gloss explanatory of השֶׁ." Hence he rendered the clause "till he comes to whom is the obedience." In order to make this reading possible, the text must be altered. Since there is no positive evidence of corruption in the original, there is no justification for such unwarranted emendation of this verse. In addition to this objection, a further consideration against such treatment is that by expunging this one word the evident parallelism is destroyed and the symmetry of the verse is marred. Hence this rendering is inadmissible.

Other exegetes propose different emendations of the text and then render the verse according to their alterations. For instance, Cheyne suggests that the text originally was fuller than the present reading and offers certain emendations. Neubauer likewise would change שִׁילֹה to שׁלם and would render the line, "until he come to Salem." It is needless to say that these suggestions are unworthy of serious consideration, since even some critics of the advanced type reject them as groundless.¹

M. Friedlander translates the words under consideration, "till peace cometh." This rendering is based upon the supposition that שִׁילֹה means peace. Nothing historical is sufficiently clear and positive on this point to warrant such translation. Hence we pass by this version as untenable.

Herman Hertz, Chief Rabbi of the British Empire, states and satisfactorily refutes the translation appearing as the heading of this section. Hear him.

"'Till he of Shiloh cometh,' and the obedience of the peoples be turned to him. Mendelssohn and Zunz see in the verse a prediction of the event described in I Kings, XI, 29f. Ahijah, the Prophet of Shiloh, foretold to Jeroboam that a part of the Kingdom would be taken from Solomon and transferred to him; that ten tribes of Israel (here called 'peoples,' see Gen. XLVIII, 4) would break away from the House of David, and submit to his rule. This ingenious explanation fails to satisfy for various reasons. 'He of Shiloh' would be in Heb. not שׁילה but השׁילוני. The tribes were not turned to the Prophet of Shiloh but to Jeroboam; and the utterance would have been quite unintelligible to Judah."--Pentateuch and Haftorahs, Genesis, p. 416, II (b).

The rendering, "until he come to Shiloh," is adopted by a number of outstanding scholars. This position has much in its favor. For instance, in Joshua 18:9 appears וַיָּבֹאוּ אֶל־יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אֶל־הַמַּחֲנֶה שִׁלֹה׃ "And they came to Joshua unto the camp at Shiloh." In I Samuel 4:12 the statement וַיָּבֹא שִׁלֹה, "and came to Shiloh," is to the point. שִׁלֹה is the usual way of spelling this name, but it is spelled eight times שִׁלוֹ and three times שִׁילוֹ. In Genesis 49:10 only is the spelling שִׁילֹה found. The difference in spelling may indicate the fact that Genesis 49:10 does not refer to the city of Shiloh which is variously spelled as indicated above. This fact, however, is not conclusive but must be supported by other and unquestioned evidence.

Shiloh as a place name appears for the first time in the Biblical record in Joshua 18:1. At this place the children of Israel assembled after the conquest of the land and set up the tent of meeting. Some scholars have inferred that this place was never known by the name Shiloh until the time of this meeting. This inference, according to the theory, is supported by Psalm 132:8: "Arise, O Lord, into thy resting-place: Thou, and the ark of thy strength." The idea of resting, in this passage, is connected with that of depositing the ark in a permanent place. Since such was the case recorded in Joshua 18:1, the conclusion is drawn that the name Shiloh was given to the place at this time.

It is a well-known fact that places are frequently given new names, especially in the Scripture narrative, to commemorate some epochal event or historical fact. Without doubt the selection of this central place as the location for the national worship was such an event. In view of the fact that there is not the slightest evidence that any place in Palestine was known as Shiloh prior to this date, it is exceedingly doubtful that such is its significance in Genesis 49:10. Those who insist that Shiloh is a place name in Genesis 49:10 are logically bound to prove that there was such a city when Jacob pronounced his blessing upon his sons. But the proof is lacking. Therefore this translation is inadmissible.

The translation, "as long as men come to Shiloh," appears in the American Jewish Version. As stated above, evidence is lacking that any such city existed in the days of Jacob. Hence this position is to be rejected. Another objection is brought against it by Rabbi Hertz: "As the outstanding superiority of the tribe of Judah only began after the Temple was built at Jerusalem, this interpretation is unsatisfactory." A third objection is that עַד כִּי does not have the significance of as long as. Only by forced exegesis can it be made to yield such a meaning.

A tenth rendering of this most difficult clause is "until that which is his shall come." It appears as the marginal reading of the English Revised Version. "This follows the reading שֶׁלֹּה a poetical equivalent of אֲשֶׁר לוֹ. It was presumably the reading of the LXX (and Theod.), who render ewV an elqh ta apokeimena, 'till the things reserved for him come.'" In view of the probable correctness of the etymology of this Hebrew word suggested in the quotation, of the Septuagint translation, and of the drift of thought, this interpretation is possible, though the evidence is not positive.

The text reading of the American Revised Version is, "until Shiloh come." Shiloh is a Hebrew word transliterated into the English. By anglicizing this word it becomes a proper name. It was always translated until Sebastian Munster brought out his German version of the Scriptures in 1534. Since then others have followed his method of considering this word as a messianic title and of transliterating it. Inasmuch as it occurs in no other passage as a messianic title, it is quite improbable that such is its use here.²

Footnotes:

¹ Notwithstanding the almost superhuman patience and diligence of the ancient copyists in their efforts to preserve the Word of God in its original purity, some inadvertent scribal errors have naturally crept into the sacred text, both in the original and in the translations. But a careful application of the laws of textual criticism has enabled modern scholarship, in a very marked degree, to detect most of the errors and to restore the original text. But rationalism under the guise of the honorable science of Literary Criticism has endeavored to destroy faith in the sacred Word by casting doubt upon its accuracy. A pure literary criticism confining its labors to its own field and using its legitimate tools has done and can do a great work which is much needed to throw light upon obscure and difficult points. But the thinking man and the scholar cannot and will not countenance a lawless, reckless rationalism which arbitrarily, in the interest of a favorite theory, takes unjustifiable liberties with the text of Holy Writ in the name of "scientific criticism."

² "The difficulty in the way of this rendering is to find a meaning for Shiloh as a designation of the Messiah. The only indication of a desire to make it a proper name appears in the Talm. passage alluded to above, Sanh. 98b; 'Rab said, The world was created only for the sake of David; Samuel said, It was for the sake of Moses; R. Yochanan said, It was only for the sake of the Messiah. What is his name? Those of the school of R. Shila say, Shiloh is his name, as it is said 'Until Shiloh come.' Those of the school of R. Yannai say, Yinnon is his name, as it is said (Ps. 72), Before the sun let his name be propagated (yinnōn). Those of the school of R. Chaninah say, Chaninah is his name, as it is said (Jer. 16), For I will give you no favour (hanina).' This attempt to connect the Messiah's name with that of some favorite teacher of course renders the passage worthless as an authority."--Hastings' "Dictionary of the Bible, Vol. IV, p. 500.

(Continued on next page)