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Shiloh

What Bible dictionaries say about “Shiloh”, one article after the other.

Easton’s Bible Dictionary & Webster’s 1828 Dictionary

Shiloh - (Easton's Bible Dictionary)

Generally understood as denoting the Messiah, "the peaceful one," as the word signifies (Gen. 49:10). The Vulgate Version translates the word, "he who is to be sent," in allusion to the Messiah; the Revised Version, margin, "till he come to Shiloh;" and the LXX., "until that which is his shall come to Shiloh." It is most simple and natural to render the expression, as in the Authorized Version, "till Shiloh come," interpreting it as a proper name (comp. Isa. 9:6).

Shiloh, a place of rest, a city of Ephraim, "on the north side of Bethel," from which it is distant 10 miles (Judg. 21:19); the modern Seilun (the Arabic for Shiloh), a "mass of shapeless ruins." Here the tabernacle was set up after the Conquest (Josh. 18:1-10), where it remained during all the period of the judges till the ark fell into the hands of the Philistines. "No spot in Central Palestine could be more secluded than this early sanctuary, nothing more featureless than the landscape around; so featureless, indeed, the landscape and so secluded the spot that from the time of St. Jerome till its re-discovery by Dr. Robinson in 1838 the very site was forgotten and unknown." It is referred to by Jeremiah (7:12, 14; 26:4-9) five hundred years after its destruction.

Matthew George Easton, Easton’s Bible Dictionary; Noah Webster, American Dictionary of the English Language (1828)

The article in Easton + Webster 1828

Smith’s Bible Dictionary

(place of rest), a city of Ephraim. In (Judges 21:19) it is said that Shiloh is "on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem and on the south of Lebonah." In agreement with this the traveller of our own city, going north from Jerusalem, lodges the first night at Beitin , the ancient Bethel; the next day, at the distance of a few hours, turns aside to the right, in order to visit Seilun , the Arabic for Shiloh; and then passing through the narrow wady which brings him to the main road, leaves el-Lebban , the Lebonah of Scripture, on the left, as he pursues "the highway" to Nublus , the ancient Shechem. [SHECHEM] Shiloh was one of the earliest and most sacred of the Hebrew sanctuaries. The ark of the covenant, which had been kept at Gilgal during the progress of the conquest, (Joshua 17:1) seq., was removed thence on the subjugation of the country, and kept at Shiloh from the last days of Joshua to the time of Samuel. (Joshua 18:10; Judges 18:31; 1 Samuel 4:3) It was here the Hebrew conqueror divided among the tribes the portion of the west Jordan region which had not been already allotted. (Joshua 18:10; 19:51) In this distribution, or an earlier one, Shiloh fell within the limits of Ephraim. (Joshua 16:5) The ungodly conduct of the sons of Eli occasioned the loss of the ark of the covenant, which had been carried into battle against the Philistines, and Shiloh from that time sank into insignificance. It stands forth in the Jewish history as a striking example of the divine indignation. (Jeremiah 7:12)

Additional entry

In the Authorized Version of the Bible Shiloh is once used as the name of a person, in a very difficult passage, in (Genesis 49:10) "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be." Supposing that the translation is correct, the meaning of the word is peaceable or pacific , and the allusion is either to Solomon, whose name has a similar signification, or to the expected Messiah, who in (Isaiah 9:6) is expressly called the Prince of Peace. [MESSIAH] Other interpretations, however, of the passage are given, one of which makes it refer to the city of this name. [See the following article] It might be translated "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, till he shall go to Shiloh." In this case the allusion would be to the primacy of Judah in war, (Judges 1:1,2; 20:18; Numbers 2:3; 10:14) which was to continue until the promised land was conquered and the ark of the covenant was solemnly deposited at Shiloh.

William Smith; revised by F. N. Peloubet and M. A. Peloubet; CrossWire SWORD module Smith 1.3

The article in Smith

Translation Words

Definition

Shiloh was a walled Canaanite city that was conquered by the Israelites under the leadership of Joshua.

  • The city of Shiloh was located west of the Jordan River and northeast of the city of Bethel.
  • During the time that Joshua was leading Israel, the city of Shiloh was a meeting place for the people of Israel.
  • The twelve tribes of Israel met together at Shiloh to hear Joshua tell them which portion of the land of Canaan had been assigned to each of them.
  • Before any temple was built in Jerusalem, Shiloh was the place where the Israelites came to sacrifice to God.
  • When Samuel was a young boy, his mother Hannah took him to live in Shiloh to be trained by the priest Eli to serve Yahweh.

(Translation suggestions: How to Translate Names)

(See also: Bethel, dedicate, Hannah, Jerusalem, Jordan River, priest, sacrifice, Samuel, temple)

Bible References

Word Data

The original work by unfoldingWord is available from https://www.unfoldingword.org/utw. Bible Strong converted the Markdown and resource links to its dictionary schema and normalized Bible references.

The article in Translation Words