Shiloh is a figure mentioned in the Hebrew Bible in Genesis 49:10 as part of the benediction given by Jacob to his son Judah. Jacob states that "the sceptre will not depart from Judah... until Shiloh comes...".
Versions and translations
The Latin Vulgate translates the word as "he... that is to be sent", which would be the equivalent of the Hebrewshaluach, indicating a possible corruption of the text. The Peshitta has "the one to whom belongs" Similarly, the Septuagint translates the word to "the things stored up for him". Some English translations retain the word "Shiloh", either as a title or as a place name. Other translations render the whole phrase in English, yielding "until he comes to whom it belongs", "until tribute comes to him" or "until He whose right it is comes".
Interpretation
The reference to sceptre and the Tribe of Judah has led many people to view this verse as a Messianic prophecy. This interpretation goes back at least as far as the Targum Onkelos in the first centuryAD, and was indeed interpreted to be the promised Messiah in most traditional Jewish thoughts and writings. Among Christians, "Shiloh" is seen as a reference to Jesus, whom they believe to have fulfilled the earlier prophecies of the Torah, although the word itself is not specifically mentioned in the New Testament, although some have connected it to the Pool of Siloam, referred to in the story of the healing of the man born blind. However, Genesis 49:10 became a major messianic text appealed to by the early Church Fathers. The Christian messianic interpretation is found in the capitalisation of the pronoun "He" in the Holman Christian Standard Bible. Some Christian scholars, however, have pointed out that the rendering of the text labors under the difficulty that Shiloh is not found as a personal name in the Old Testament. Other interpretations from analysts have translated the term to indicating "the name of a place, not a person", although they also conclude that this is less likely overall.
