Genesis 49:10

The sceptre shall not depart from Judah,.... Which some understand of the tribe, that Judah should not cease from being a tribe, or that it should continue a distinct tribe until the coming of the

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.

The secptre, i.e. the dominion or government, which is oft expressed by this word, as ,14 Amos 1:5,8 Zechariah 10:11, because it is an ensign of government, . So it is a figure called a metonomy of the sign, than which nothing more frequent. The sense is, That superiority or dominion over his brethren, which I said he should obtain he shall keep; it shall not depart from him. Others, the tribe, as the word shebet signifies, , &c. So the sense is this, Whereas the other tribes shall be captivated, dispersed, and confounded, the tribe of Judah shall be kept entire and distinct until Christ come. This is a great and important truth, and a singular demonstration of the all-disposing providence of God, and of the truth and Divine authority of the Scriptures; but it seems not to be the meaning of this place, 1. Because both the foregoing and following words do evidently speak of Judah’ s power and greatness, and particularly this shebet, or sceptre, is explained and restrained by the following lawgiver. 2. Because this renders the phrase improper and absurd; for the tribe had not departed from Judah, nor had they ceased to be a tribe, if the other tribes had been mixed with them in their land, as indeed they were sometimes. See . 3. Because this is not peculiar to the tribe of Judah; for in this sense the tribe did not depart from Levi, nay, that tribe was kept more distinct than that of Judah; thus also the tribe did not depart from Benjamin, as appears from 10:9 . Nay, it is questionable whether in this sense the tribe departed from any of the other tribes, not only because there is a distinct mention of the several tribes, , which was written after the dispersion and supposed confusion of the other tribes, and which speaks of the times after the coming of the Messiah, but also because of the great care which the Israelites generally took in distinguishing, not only their tribes, but their several families, in exact genealogies, of which we have many proofs and instances, as 5:1,7,17 7:7,9,40 9:1,22 Ezr 2:62 8:1,3 Ne 7:5,64. The Jews indeed have another device to avoid the force of this text. They say shebet signifies a rod, to wit, a rod of correction, as the word is taken . And so they say the sense is, The tyrannical sceptre, or the rod of the oppressor, shall not cease or depart from Israel till the Messiah come, who shall save them from all their oppressors and enemies. But this is a vain and frivolous conceit; for, 1. The following sentence, which expounds the former, as it is usual in Scripture, plainly shows that this shebet, or rod, is such as is proper to the lawgiver, and therefore is a rod of authority, or a sceptre, which is called also a rod, , and not a rod of affliction. 2.

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].Ver. 10. Until Shiloh come.] Shiloh is by some expounded, the son of his secundines. The Hebrew word implies His son, and, Her son; that is, the son of the Virgin, that came of the line Judah. Secundines are proper to women. He therefore, whom Secundines alone brought forth, without help of man, is Christ alone, the promised seed. Others render Shiloh, Tranquillator, Salvator, the Safe maker, the Peace maker, the Prosperer. This Prince of Peace was born in a time of peace, not long after that Pompey had subdued Judea to the Roman government, and reduced it into a province. Then was the sceptre newly departed from Judah; and Herod, an Edomite, made king of the country. And unto him shall the gathering of the people be.] As unto the standard bearer, the carcass, the desire of all nations (Haggai 2:7, with Hebrews 12:25). Totus ipse desideria, saith the Church. And, "When I am lifted up," saith he, "I will draw all men after me." They follow the Lamb wheresoever he goeth; as the hop and the heliotrope do the sun. Usque dum venturae erunt secundinae eius, id est, Iudae, ut masculinum genus in Heb. ostendit. A themate Shalah, unde Shaluah, tranquillitas; unde Lat. Salvere, Salvus, salvare. - Amama. Sub Augusto cuncta atque continua totius generis humani aut pax fuit, aut pactio. - Flor., Hist., lib. iv.

(10) The sceptre shall not depart from Judah.—Heb., a sceptre. The staff, adorned with carvings, and handed down from father to son, soon became the emblem of authority (see Note on Genesis 38:18). It probably indicates here tribal rather than royal rank, and means that Judah would continue, until the time indicated, to be a self-governed and legally-constituted tribe. Nor a lawgiver from between his feet.—Most modern critics translate ruler’s staff, but “lawgiver” has the support of all the ancient versions, the Targums paraphrasing it by scribe, and the Syriac in a similar way by expounder—i.e., of the law. Ruler’s, staffs has the parallelism in its favour, but the ancient versions must not be lightly disregarded, and, besides, everywhere else the word means law-giver (see Deuteronomy 33:21; Judges 5:14; Isaiah 33:22). “From between his feet” means, “from among his descendants.” The Targum of Onkelos renders, “from his children’s children.” Until Shiloh come.—Many modern critics translate, “until he come to Shiloh,” but this is to be rejected, first, as being contrary to all the ancient versions; and, secondly, as turning sense into nonsense. The town of Shiloh was in the tribe of Ephraim, and we know of no way in which Judah ever went thither. The ark was for a time at Shiloh, but the place lost all importance and sank into utter obscurity after its destruction by the Philistines, long before Judah took the leading part in the commonwealth of Israel. Shiloh.—There are several interpretations of this word, depending upon different ways of spelling it. First, Jerome, in the Vulg., translates it, “He who shall be sent.” He read, therefore, Shalu’ch. which differs from the reading in the Hebrew text by omitting the yod, and putting the guttural ð for h (Heb., ð) as the final letter. We have, secondly, Shiloh, the reading of the present Hebrew text. This would mean, Peaceful, or Peace-maker, and agrees with the title given to the Messiah by Isaiah (Genesis 9:6). But, thirdly, all the versions excepting the Vulg. read Sheloh. Thus, the LXX. has, “He for whom it is laid up” (or, according to other MSS., “the things laid up for him.”). With the former reading, Aquila and Symmachus agree; with the latter, Theodotion, Epiphanius, and others, showing that Sheloh was the reading in the centuries immediately after the Nativity of our Lord. The Samaritan transcript of the Hebrew text into Samaritan letters reads Sheloh, and the translation into Aramaic treats the word as a proper name, and renders, “Until Sheloh come.” Onkelos boldly paraphrases, “Until Messiah come, whose is the kingdom;” and, finally, the Syriac has, “Until he come, whose it is.” There is thus overwhelming evidence in favour of the reading Sheloh, and to this we must add that Sheloh is the reading even of several Hebrew MSS.

Verse 10. From Judah the sceptre shall not depart] The Jews have a quibble on the word שבט shebet, which we translate sceptre; they say it signifies a staff or rod, and that the meaning of it is, that "afflictions shall not depart from the Jews till the Messiah comes;" that they are still under affliction and therefore the Messiah is not come. This is a miserable shift to save a lost cause. Their chief Targumist, Onkelos, understood and translated the word nearly as we do; and the same meaning is adopted by the Jerusalem Targum, and by all the ancient versions, the Arabic excepted, which has [Arabic] kazeeb, a rod; but in a very ancient MS. of the Pentateuch in my own possession the word [Arabic] sebet is used, which signifies a tribe. Judah shall continue a distinct tribe till the Messiah shall come; and it did so; and after his coming it was confounded with the others, so that all distinction has been ever since lost. Nor a teacher from his offspring] I am sufficiently aware that the literal meaning of the original מבין רגליו mibbeyn raglaiv is from between his feet, and I am as fully satisfied that it should never be so translated; from between the feet and out of the thigh simply mean progeny, natural offspring, for reasons which surely need not be mentioned. The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, and the Jerusalem Targum, apply the whole of this prophecy, in a variety of very minute particulars, to the Messiah, and give no kind of countenance to the fictions of the modern Jews.

10. The sceptre] Lit. “rod.” Either a king’s sceptre, or a general’s baton. LXX ἄρχων = “ruler”; Lat. sceptrum. The rendering of the LXX, which gives a personal explanation, is unsupported by any evidence. the ruler’s staff] R.V. marg., as A.V., a lawgiver. The same word is found in Numbers 21:18 (“the sceptre,” marg. “the lawgiver”) and Psalms 60:7, “Judah is my sceptre” (marg. “lawgiver”). LXX ἡγούμενος = “leader”; Lat. dux; Syr. Pesh. “an interpreter”; Targ. Jerus. “scribe.” The parallelism of the clauses makes it almost certain, that we have in this clause “the lawgiver’s staff” corresponding to “the ruler’s sceptre” in the previous clause. Whether the “sceptre” and the “staff” are the insignia of national monarchy or tribal government, has been much debated. The picture of a person bearing these emblems is most suitable to the Oriental conception of a king. from between his feet] The literal explanation is the simplest and the most picturesque. The lawgiver seated on his throne holds the wand emblematical of his office between his feet. Another explanation, illustrated by Deuteronomy 28:57, makes the expression refer to the descendants of Judah. So LXX ἐκτῶνμηρῶναὐτοῦ; Lat. de femore ejus. Until Shiloh come] These are among the most difficult and controverted words in the book. The alternative renderings in the R.V. text and marg. represent the different lines of interpretation which have been followed. (1) “Until Shiloh come.” This rendering was not known until a.d. 1534, when it was first suggested by Sebastian Mόnster, possibly on the strength of a Talmudic tradition. There is no allusion elsewhere in the O.T. to “Shiloh” either as a personal name, or as a Messianic title. Except for this passage, the use of “Shiloh” as indicating a person would be devoid of meaning to the Hebrew reader. True, the song is full of obscurities. But the improbability of this late interpretation is so great, that it may be dismissed from consideration. (2) “Till he come to Shiloh,” i.e. “till he, Judah, comes to Shiloh.” Shiloh was the resting-place of the Ark, in the centre of the tribe of Ephraim, e.g. 1 Samuel 1:24. It was destroyed by the Philistines, and its sanctuary desolated; see Jeremiah 7:12-15. The theory, that the prediction in this verse received its fulfilment in Joshua 18:1; Joshua 18:8-10, is difficult to comprehend. The Davidic monarchy began after the days of Shiloh. The reference to a place in the tribe of Ephraim is quite unsuitable in this context. (3) LXX ἕωςἂνἔλθῃτὰἀποκείμενααὐτῷ, until that which is his shall come, and Old Latin donec veniant quae reposita sunt ei. This rendering gets rid of the difficulty of a proper name. It assumes that the disputed word represents a dialect form of Hebrew words meaning “that which to him.” The sense may then be Messianic. The rule of Judah shall continue until “that which is reserved for him,” i.e. the age of perfect prosperity, shall come to him. (4) “Till he comes whose it is” (so Syr. Pesh.). This is also supported by Targ.

10. Sceptre shall not depart from Judah — “The symbol of tribal authority in Israel, not necessarily the badge of royalty.