Genesis 49:10

10. Sceptre shall not depart from Judah “The symbol of tribal authority in Israel, not necessarily the badge of royalty . The token of tribal life and pre-eminence should not depart, but Judah should maintain its life, integrity, and supremacy as a tribe.” Newhall.

Ruler’s staff The word מחקק may denote either a ruler or his badge of office and power .

The latter best preserves the harmony of the parallelism. Some read, as the common version, lawgiver. The Septuagint and Vulgate have leader. Targum Onkelos, scribe; Targum Jerusalem, scholars of the law. Syriac, interpreter.

From between his feet Those who render מחקק ruler, or lawgiver, naturally explain this expression as a euphemism for posterity issue of his loins. But with the idea of ruler’s staff is associated the custom of Oriental kings, as depicted on the monuments, sitting on the throne with the royal sceptre between their feet.

Until he shall come Shiloh. By translating in this form we leave the grammatical construction as ambiguous as it appears in the Hebrew text. It is equally correct, so far as the mere question of syntax is concerned, to render until Shiloh comes, or until he comes to Shiloh. Three different readings appear in Hebrew MSS., namely, שׁילה שׁלה , and שׁלו . The Septuagint, Aquila, Symmachus, Syriac, and some of the Targums, seem to have read שׁלה , as if compounded of שׁ , abbreviation of אשׁר , and לה or לו . We have the cognate words שׁלו שׁלו and שׁלוה , meaning rest, or peace, and it is not impossible but one of these words was the original reading of our text . The Septuagint and other versions named above render, until that which is his shall come, or, till he come whose it is . The Vulgate reads, “until he comes who is to be sent . ” Others translate Shiloh as an appellative, meaning rest, “until he (Judah) comes to rest, or, “until rest comes . ” The English revisers (of 1885) place until Shiloh come in the text, and till he come to Shiloh in the margin . Many have adopted this last rendering, and understand Shiloh of the town where the tabernacle was set up after the conquest, (Joshua 18:1;) but against this is the decisive objection, that up to that time Judah had no notable pre-eminence . The honourable position assigned to this tribe in the desert march, (Numbers 2:3,) was by no means an adequate fulfilment of the terms of this oracle; for Moses, the Levite, was commander during all the march, and Joshua, the Ephraimite, succeeded him, and commanded the armies until after the conquest and partition of the land . It also is doubtful if Shiloh existed in Jacob’s time, and it is certain that it never appears in history as having any especial interest for the tribe of Judah, but was situated in the tribe-territory of Ephraim . Far more satisfactory is the ancient interpretation, represented in the Targums and maintained by most Christian expositors, which makes Shiloh a proper name, (meaning resting-place, or rest-giver,) and a designation of the Messiah, who was to spring from the tribe of Judah. Jacob’s prophetic vision opened for the moment into the distant future, and saw the regal position the tribe of Judah was destined to hold at the time when all the tribes should be organized into a kingdom. From the time when royalty was established in Israel by the conquests of David and his settlement upon the throne, the tribe of Judah held a regal pre-eminence, and maintained its distinct tribal character until the coming of Jesus Christ.

It is often alleged against this Messianic interpretation, that after the destruction of the kingdom of Judah by the Chaldeans the exercise of royal power was broken, and that no real Jewish king again reigned in the city of David. The Maccabean leaders were not of the tribe of Judah, and the Herods, who bore the title of kings, were of foreign birth. But, after granting all these allegations, the notable fact remains that the vast majority of those who returned from the Babylonian exile were of the tribe of Judah, and that their body of elders formed a council which virtually represented the sceptre and the ruler’s staff. Notwithstanding their many oppressions, and the occasional interruption of their worship, they were permitted during all those centuries to manage their own affairs, and to constitute a distinct and well-known body politic until finally broken up and scattered by the Romans. The sceptre of Judah was, indeed, during much of this time, of no great weight, but it was not taken away; it did not depart from Judah. The wars of the Maccabees and the government of Herod truly served to maintain and perpetuate (not Joseph, or Dan, or Naphtali but) the power of Judah. As long as the tribe retained its distinct existence and name, even though a foreigner held the sceptre, the spirit of this prophecy was fulfilled. So the Persian monarchy retained its name and power, even while a usurper occupied the throne. No one now questions, that when Christ appeared he sprang from the tribe of Judah.

It deserves special remark that the permanency of the kingdom of Judah and of the royal line of David is one of the marvels of history. While other and greater kingdoms fell, it remained. Revolutions swept over Egypt, and dynasty after dynasty passed away. Phoenicia and Syria, with their varied forms of power and pomp, flourished and decayed. The great Assyrian empire, after oppressing both Judah and Israel, and blotting out the latter, was overthrown, and yet the little kingdom of Judah, with a descendant of David on the throne, maintained its individuality, held its ancient sacred capital, and continued unbroken, resolute, hopeful. And even after its fall under Nebuchadnezzar, and seventy years of bitter exile, and after Babylon, in turn, had fallen and the Persian empire had risen into power, we find the children of Judah returning to their fatherland, rebuilding their temple and city, still led by a scion of the house of Judah. This irrepressible tribe, thus again established in their ancient regal seat, survived the fall of Persia, outlived the triumphs of Alexander and his successors, and maintained its national and political existence through unspeakable troubles and oppressions, until finally dispersed by the Romans in A.D. 70.

Obedience of peoples The Septuagint and Vulgate render, expectation of peoples; others, gathering, or congregation of peoples. But the word occurs elsewhere only at Proverbs 30:17, where obedience is the only suitable meaning . Here is the first intimation of such Messianic hopes as are more fully outlined in such passages as Isaiah 2:3; Isaiah 11:1-10.