Genesis 49:8-10

Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee.

Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise - literally, 'Judah, thou!' The name was significant of blessings (Gen. 9:35); and there is a paranomasia in the clause that follows: "thy brethren shall praise thee." A high pre-eminence was destined to this tribe (Numbers 10:14; Judges 1:2). Besides the honour of giving its designation to the promised land, its history was one progressive course of victory, marked by putting enemies to flight (cf. Psalms 18:42). Chief among the tribes, it grew up from "a lion's whelp" х guwr (H1481) 'aryeeh (H738), a cub, etymologically is used to indicate the age when it is dependent on the mother for its food, and has not yet become kªpiyr (H3715), a young lion, seeking prey for itself - i:e., a little power, whose energy was undeveloped (cf. Ezekiel 19:3)] until it became "an old lion" х laabiy' (H3833), used chiefly in poetry-a lioness, Numbers 24:9; Isaiah 30:6; Nahum 2:12].

Who shall rouse him up? The full force of this will not be perceived, unless we bear in mind that a lion or a lioness, when lying down after satisfying its hunger, will not attack any person. The image was meant to represent Judah, calm and quiet, yet still formidable, as it was in the reigns of David and Solomon, when, in a temporal point of view, the other tribes ("thy father's children") 'bowed down before Judah.' and this destined preeminence culminated, when spiritually, the Lion of the tribe of Judah appeared, 'conquering and to conquer' (cf. John 16:33; Revelation 5:5). х shibeT (H7626) sometimes denotes a tribe (Genesis 49:28; 1 Samuel 10:19; 1 Kings 11:13). But that signification being obviously unsuitable here, recourse must be had to its other acceptation-namely, the official staff of a chief or ruler (1 Samuel 24:17; 1 Samuel 24:19; Zechariah 10:4; Amos 1:5; Amos 1:8). Mªchqeeq also signifies a staff or badge of authority (Numbers 21:18; Psalms 60:9); and thus the second line in the parallelism will be an exact echo of the first, with the addition of the words, "between his feet," subjoined, as describing the characteristic attitude in which Oriental monarchs are represented on ancient monuments as sitting with their sceptre between their feet (cf. Homer's 'Iliad,' b. 2:, 50: 100; Niebuhr's 'Trav. Tab.,' 29).] The primary and proper import of the word, however, is 'a lawgiver,' as our translators, following the Septuagint х heegoumenos (G2233)], render it (cf. Deuteronomy 33:21; Isaiah 30:22; Judges 5:14).

In this sense it introduces not a synonymous, but a synthetic parallelism, in which the idea expressed in the preceding line is expanded; and from the emblem of power a transition is naturally made to the judge or ruler who holds it. The supporters of this view regard the words х mibeeyn (H996) raglaayw (H7272)] as a euphemism = from his loins; and in considering them as pointing to Judah's posterity, they appeal to Deuteronomy 28:57, to the authority of the Septuagint [which has: ek toon meeroon autou], to that of the Vulgate [ex femore ejus], and that of the Jewish Targumists. But the phrase in Deuteronomy being applied only to a female, and never to man, this interpretation is rejected by most modern critics, with the exception of Gesenius, Maurer, etc. Hengstenberg has further shown ('Christology,' 1:, p. 59) that the adoption of it is destructive of the parallelism, by necessitating a violent ellipsis, 'he who should proceed' from between his feet. These words he considers as meaning simply 'the territory on which he should dwell:' 'The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from the land in which he shall be settled.'

Until Shiloh come. There is great diversity both in the reading and in the interpretation of this clause. х Shiyloh (H7886), as it stands in the Hebrew Bible, is the form used in most ancient MSS., and is the Masoretic reading. Thirty-eight MSS., and all the Samaritan codices have the defective form, shiloh (H7887); and the text from which the Septuagint translated their version seems to have read sheloh for shelow = 'ªsher (H834) low (H3807a)] Lee ('Hebrew Lexicon,' quoting from Jahn, 'Enleit,') says that the text followed by the Septuagint was the stereotyped reading until the tenth century. But that circumstance does not decide what the original text was, since the Septuagint possessed so great influence in the early Christian Church; and evidence will immediately appear that their's was not the only reading in existence. These variations in the form of the word have led to corresponding differences of signification being attached to it. [The Septuagint translators, who read sheeloh, or shelow, render the clause before us, heoos an elthee ta apokeimena autoo-`until the things appointed to him be accomplished.' But Aquila (as in Justin's 'Apol.,' sec. 32, and Eusebius, 'Ecclesiastical History,' b. 6:) and Symmachus, who had the same text as the Septuagint, render it as hoo (G3739) apokeitai (G606), to whom it (namely, the sceptre) belongs, or is reserved.]

This interpretation is supported by an appeal to Ezekiel 21:7, "until he come, whose right it is; and to Galatians 3:19 х hoo (G3739) epeengeltai (G1861)], "to whom the promises were made." [But the objection to this reading, and the interpretation founded upon it, is, that 'ªsher (H834), in the abbreviated form, does not occur in the Pentateuch, and is found only in the later books.] Jerome, whose Latin version, embodied in the Vulgate, was made toward the close of the fourth century, and who followed closely the rabbinical interpretations current in Palestine in his day, seems to have had a different Hebrew text from the Septuagint; because [as if a form of shaalaah (H7951)] he renders the clause under review [qui mittendus est], 'he who is to be sent.' The Masoretic reading in our present Hebrew Bibles is considered preferable to every other; and it remains to consider what is its import. [Calvin, followed by Knapp and others, make shilow (H7887) denote his (Judah's) seed-the term commonly used (Genesis 3:15; Genesis 22:18; Genesis 26:4; Genesis 28:14). But this is a forced and far-fetched meaning, obtained by the violent distortion of shiliyaah, the fetus, the afterbirth (Deuteronomy 28:57), into shilow (H7887), 'his son'-which is unknown in Hebrew. The generally prevalent opinion of modern scholars is, that shiyloh (H7886) is derived from shaalaah (H7951), and signifies quiet, tranquillity, peace.] But here again opinions diverge greatly as to whether Shiloh is to be considered the subject or the object of the Hebrew verb.

Many writers are of opinion that the grammatical construction requires the interpretation to be, 'until he (Judah) come to Shiloh.' This is the favourite view of the modern Jews, of most Rationalists, particularly Bunsen, 'Essays and Reviews,' etc. It accords, indeed, with grammatical rules, because the adverb of motion is sometimes omitted at the end of the name of a place (1 Samuel 4:12, where identically the same phrase occurs as used here: cf. Judges 21:12; 1 Kings 14:4). And the import of the prophecy, as brought out by this interpretation, is, that in the war of invasion Judah should take the lead of the other tribes, and the conquest of Canaan would not be made until the ark was deposited in Shiloh, a town in central Canaan. Delitzsch has recently given his support to this view, by saying that the arrival at Shiloh was a crisis in the early history of Judah, the foundation of the preeminence of that tribe. But the facts of the sacred history do not establish the truth of this interpretation. Shiloh, as a place, being nowhere mentioned in Genesis, probably did not exist in the time of the patriarchs; and though the name does occur in the later books, it was of no historical importance. Besides, not to insist on the leadership being in the hands of Moses the Levite, and of Joshua the Ephraimite, until the time of arrival at Shiloh, all the tribes were there as well as Judah, which did not then acquire either authority over the other tribes or dominion over the nations.

Further, the fixing of any definite locality is altogether inconsistent with the general character of this prophecy; and, finally, the arrival at Shiloh was an event too early in the national history of Israel to form the leading subject of a prophecy which pointed to 'what should befall them in the last days.' Rejecting this interpretation, then, we consider Shiloh, as our translators have done, to be the subject of the verb, and the clause rightly rendered, "until Shiloh come," the original name being retained. Almost all commentators, both Jewish and Christian, agree in regarding this as a Messianic prophecy. But they differ very much as to whether the reference is direct or indirect. Many who think there is no evidence that in the patriarchal age the expectation of a personal Messiah existed, interpret the clause, 'until peace come,'-conceiving that this interpretation yields a sense consistent with the tenor of the previous context, which would thus describe Judah's warfare under the image of a lion, and then the happy peace he should ultimately enjoy. But the most prevalent opinion is, that Shiloh means 'the man of rest,' the 'pacificator,' the 'peace-bringer'-corresponding to that which forms the climax of Messiah's titles, as enumerated in the famous prophecy (Isaiah 9:6).

Until, х `ad (H5704) kiy (H3588)]. The meaning is, not that the sceptre shall depart from Judah when Shiloh has come, but that it shall continue uninterrupted until then. This view harmonizes with the clause which follows:

And unto him shall the gathering of the people be, х `amiym (H5971)] - nations. х `Am (H5971), singular, denotes uniformly, with hardly any exception, the people Israel. The plural describes the nations beyond the limits of Canaan. yiqªhat (H3349) `amiym (H5971)]. These words mean, not "gathering," but obedience-a willing obedience, the fruit of faith, the expression of piety (cf. Proverbs 30:17). Gesenius connects this grammatically with the preceding clause: 'until Shiloh come, and unto him shall be yielded the obedience of nations.' The interpretation of the Septuagint is similar, but erroneous [autos prosdokia ethnoon], 'He is the expectation of nations.' But that clause is generally considered as containing a distinct prophetic declaration by itself-namely, the call and spontaneous submission (Psalms 110:3; Romans 16:26) of all nations to Shiloh; and in Revelation 7:9 the prediction is represented as accomplished.