Shiloh (šīlō Hebrew: שִׁיל֔וֹ or šīlōh Hebrew: שילה[1]) 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 scepter will not depart from Judah... until Shiloh comes...".
The translation and interpretation of this verse is subject to some controversy.
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The Latin Vulgate translates the word as "he ... that is to be sent" [2], which would be the equivalent of the hebrew shaluach (Hebrew: שלוח, "messenger"), indicating a possible corruption of the text (on either side).
The Peshitta "the one to whom [it] belongs"[3]
Similarly, the Septuagint translates the word to "the things stored up for him"[4][5].
No old version seem to interpret the word as to being the city called Shiloh.
The phrase is translated in the King James Version as "(..) until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.", thus making Shiloh a personal name.
For those who hold that Shiloh is an otherwise unattested personal name, the verse is interpreted as a Messianic prophecy. This tradition is reflected in the Dead Sea Scrolls , Targums , and various Rabbinic sources .
No other verse seem to support this interpretation, nor does the personal name make any obvious sense either to Christians or Jews.
Targum Yerushalmi mentions "till the time that the King the Meshiha, shall come"[6], and Targum Onkelos similarly mentions "until the Meshiha come"[7]
The Medieval Jewish scholar Rashi suggested that "Shiloh" is actually a composite of two Hebrew words[8]: shai and loh or in English, "tribute" and "to him." This rendering makes more sense in the immediate context, in the course of the blessing which predicts the rule of Judah, replete with the images of royalty. The noun that is parallel to shai loh only occurs in one other place in the Hebrew Bible (Proverbs 30:17), in which it means something akin to "obedience."
Another strand of interpretation holds that the verse refers to the Israelite site of Shiloh, the original cultic center for the Israelites, which suffered conflagration during the Iron I period. This school of thought holds that the verse broadcasts a hope for the eventual reunion of Israel, reading the verse as, "until he comes to Shiloh." The name is though of a different spelling (The name of the city lacks a yod).
Some Muslims interpret it as a prophecy of Muhammad[9]
Some Rastafarians have associated the name with the return of Haile Selassie I.
Joseph Smith, Jr. associates Shiloh with the root of Jesse[10], or in other words, Jesus Christ.