What does it mean that the scepter will not depart from Judah (Genesis 49:10)?

The prophecy as to Judah is in great contrast to that as to Simeon and Levi, for all is favorable. Though Judah had been guilty of very serious wrong too, his deeply felt repentance evident in Genesis 44:18-34 was such that God was free to bless him greatly. His brothers would praise him (Judah means “praise”). He would subjugate his enemies. His father's children would bow to his authority. He is likened to a lion, the king of beasts, feeding on the spoils of his conquest. The scepter of kingly authority would not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver, until the coming of Shiloh, the Lord Jesus. To Him (Shiloh) would be the obedience of the people.

The prophecy as to Judah is in great contrast to that as to Simeon and Levi, for all is favorable. Though Judah had been guilty of very serious wrong too, his deeply felt repentance evident in chapter 44:18-34 was such that God was free to bless him greatly. His brothers would praise him (Judah means "praise"). He would subjugate his enemies. His father's children would bow to his authority. He is likened to a lion, the king of beasts, feeding on the spoils of his conquest. The scepter of kingly authority would not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver, until the coming of Shiloh, the Lord Jesus. To Him (Shiloh) would be the obedience of the people.

Verse 10 contains a striking prophecy, indicating that Judah would be the tribe out of whom should come the kingly line, culminating in "Shiloh," a term which is taken to refer to Christ as the Prince of peace. And of course we know that our Lord, as concerning the flesh, sprang out of Judah, as we are reminded in the Epistle to the Hebrews. Out of that kingly line He sprang, as is shown by the two genealogies recorded by Matthew and Luke. But at the end of that verse another striking fact is alluded to, for the word, "people," is more correctly, "peoples;" that is, it refers to the nations generally and not merely to the nation of Israel. And the coming of Shiloh has resulted in His becoming, by reason of His rejection and death, the Centre of gathering for a multitude out of all nations; and in the coming age He will be visibly the Centre not only of Israel but of the nations also.

A. The "sceptre" may be no more than the tribal symbol; and if this be the sense, Judah was thus kept till Shiloh, the Prince of Peace, came and was rejected, when in due time the place was lost, till He come again: then, and not before, the gathering or obedience of the peoples shall be unto Him. If it mean one entitled to royal sway in Zion, this is also true. So the line of David through Solomon went on to Jesus, as Matthew 1 shows; and in Him dead, risen, and glorified it abides, to be made good when God's time comes.

One of the distinguishing insignia of royalty: a rod or staff of dignity. It was held out by the king to Esther. Esther 4:11, etc. The prophecy that "the sceptre shall not depart from Judah . . . . until SHILOH come," refers to Christ as 'the Prince of Peace.' Gen. 49:10. The sceptre is not now wielded by Judah while the people are Lo-ammi, but their supremacy will be renewed when the purpose of God is fulfilled. Many passages speak of Christ sitting upon the throne of David, and reigning till His enemies are cast beneath His feet. A sceptre of righteousness will be the sceptre of His kingdom. Num. 24:17; Ps. 45:6; Isa. 14:5; Ezek. 19:11, 14; Amos 1:5, 8; Zech. 10:11; Heb. 1:8.

This period in Israel's history is reflected in Jacob's prophecy concerning Judah, the royal tribe, where nothing but praise is heard (Judah=praise). It is a "Golden Age" for Israel, when the nations around them are subdued. The words of Jacob and Shiloh ( = he who brings rest) probably refer in the first place to Solomon, the king of peace. But it is obvious that they reach far beyond him, as is shown by the words that the sceptre would not depart from Judah until the arrival of Shiloh, to whom the obedience of the peoples would be. This prophecy as to Shiloh is therefore a Messianic prophecy. Judah was to have a prominent roll until the coming of Christ, though later on this was limited to the kingdom of the two tribes and reduced to an even lesser degree after the return from the Babylonian captivity. While it is true that the nations have even now become obedient to Christ by the obedience of faith (Romans 16:26), yet we have to conclude that this prophecy extends further into the future. Our Lord was rejected and the universal peace and prosperity about which Jacob speaks was postponed until Christ's second coming. Then He will reign as the Prince of Peace, and His dominion will be to the ends of the earth.

1888 63 "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet (from amongst his descendants) until Shiloh come." This was remarkably fulfilled: the tribe always retained its cohesion and autonomy, even when in captivity, until "there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed," rather enrolled for taxation. It was when the Jews were thus going to lose their nationality, and become merged as units into the Roman Empire, — when Joseph and Mary had gone to their native town of Bethlehem for the very purpose of being registered as Roman subjects, that Messiah was born. Shiloh came. "And unto Him shall the gathering of the peoples (plural) be," but that gathering is still future. The taxation itself did not take effect till the time of Cyrenius (or Quirinus) fifteen years after. This explains the apparent anachronism in [Luke 2. "Peacemaker."]

But, first, the ruling position of Judah was not till but after he came to Shiloh. That any one, therefore, during the kings would falsify the events in a pretended prophecy put into dying Jacob's lips is too much for the credulity of any one but a rationalist. Secondly, one who speaks of others so scornfully as this writer ought not to have exposed himself to the charge of such ignorance as confounding "the peoples" or nations with the people or tribes of Israel. I believe, therefore, with the amplest authority in Hebrew, that as the language admits of our taking Shiloh as the subject, not object, so the sense in the context demands that we render it "until Shiloh (i.e. Peace, or the Man of Peace' the Messiah) come."

Yes, Jacob speaks of Shiloh. But Shiloh was presented to the responsibility of the Jew first; and consequently all seemed to break down, and in one sense all really did. "To him shall the gathering of the peoples be;" and so certainly it will be, but not yet. Shiloh came; but Israel were not ready, and refused Him. Consequently the gathering (or the obedience) of the peoples, however sure, is yet in the future. The counsel of God seemed to be abortive, but was really established in the blood of the cross, which unbelief deems its ruin. It is postponed, not lost.

I confine myself in this chapter to the first point, showing from Scripture that Christ's kingdom is an earthly dominion, and is brought in, not by grace, but by judgment, executed by the Lord returning to the world in manifested glory. Before the nation of Israel existed, Jacob, in blessing his sons, prophesied that "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. Binding His foal unto the vine, and His ass's colt unto the choice vine, He washed His garments in wine and His clothes in the blood of grapes" (Gen. 49:10-11). Here, whatever the difficulties of the passage, it is clear that a ruler is promised of the tribe of Judah, around whom the gathering of the people shall be, and who shall inaugurate a period of peace and plenty. That this ruler is the Christ is generally acknowledged, but how does the prediction agree with His first appearance? He was then not the ruler, but the One who had not where to lay His head. If the people gathered round Him, it was to cry out — "Crucify Him, crucify Him." Instead of bringing peace, He brought a sword; and the destruction, instead of the prosperity, of the people, was the result of His appearance among them. All this, then, is yet to have its fulfilment when the rejected Christ again comes to the earth for the salvation and blessing of the chosen seed.

The meaning of the word Shiloh.

In scripture this word "Shiloh" has two meanings. It is the name of a person in Genesis 49:10. "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and to him shall the gathering of the people be." The meaning of "Shiloh" here as applied to a person is "whose it is," or "whose right it is." Surely that person is Christ the Lord. It was when He had accomplished the work of redemption, when God had raised Him from the dead, He was the One, the only One, "whose right it is" to gather to Himself. Whether we look at the church of God, or the future gathering of Israel and the millennial nations, or we look up to heaven in Revelation 5, and see one in the midst of the throne, there is only one whose name is Shiloh; to Him, "whose it is," shall the gathering of the people be. He alone is the Shiloh. He alone is worthy. Worthy is the Lamb. Oh, let us never forget His words — what meaning they have — "For where two or three are gathered together to my name, there am I in the midst of them." (Matt. 18:20) And this bring us to