Prophecy 4 of 30 · King
The sceptre won't depart from Judah
Jacob says the sceptre will not depart from Judah "until he comes to whom it belongs" (WMB); the Hebrew word here is Shiloh, and "unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be" (JPS 1917).
Try me out Ask the Bible guide (an AI) about this prophecy. A few free answers a day.
Hebrew · Leningrad Codexעִבְרִית
10לֹֽא־יָס֥וּר שֵׁ֨בֶט֙ מִֽיהוּדָ֔ה וּמְחֹקֵ֖ק מִבֵּ֣ין רַגְלָ֑יו עַ֚ד כִּֽי־יָבֹ֣א שילה [שִׁיל֔וֹ] וְל֖וֹ יִקְּהַ֥ת עַמִּֽים׃lo-yasur shevet mihuda umechokek mibben raglav ad ki-yavo shilo velo yikkehat ammim
JPS 1917 · Jewish translation
10The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, As long as men come to Shiloh; And unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be.
World Messianic Bible
10The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs. The obedience of the peoples will be to him.The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs. The obedience of the peoples will be to him.
Genesis 49:10. Transliteration simplified. Read the whole chapter
Fulfilment · New CovenantWMB
Hebrews 7:14 For it is evident that our Lord has sprung out of Judah, about which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.
Revelation 5:5 One of the elders said to me, “Don’t weep. Behold, the Lion who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome: he who opens the book and its seven seals.”
Luke 1:32-33 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. There will be no end to his Kingdom.”
How rabbinic tradition reads it
Many ancient Jewish sources read Shiloh as the Messiah: Targum Onkelos ("until the Messiah comes, whose is the kingdom") and the Talmud (Sanhedrin 98b: "Shiloh is his name").
Why Messianic Jews read it as Yeshua
Judah kept a measure of self-rule until the first century. Yeshua came from Judah (Hebrews 7:14), before the Temple and Judah's self-government ended in 70 CE.
Look at the text for yourself
Read Genesis 49:10 slowly, in the Hebrew and the JPS translation above. Then ask the question the Ethiopian official asked: "Who is the prophet talking about?"
Sources
- Targum Onkelos on Genesis 49:10
- Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 98b
- Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (public domain), via OpenScriptures. English: JPS 1917; World Messianic Bible (public domain).