When Jacob blessed his sons, he said to Judah, the fourth-born son, in 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“.
Shiloh is an anticipated ruler who remains anonymous. Some interpret the name as “until he comes to whom it belongs“. The Greek edition of the Torah (Septuagint / LXX) translates: τὰ ἀποκείμενα (tá apokeímena) “that which is preserved / that which is present / that which exists”.
The gematrically trained Kabbalist recognises from the numerical value of ‘shiloh’ and Messiah that both are of the same essence. And so the incomprehensible word ‘shiloh’ takes on meaning.
According to Onkelos, Midrash Rabbah and Rashi, the name Shiloh refers to the future King Messiah.
The Ba’al HaTurim notes that the numerical value of the letters of the name Shiloh is exactly the same as the name of Moses. The Mekubal Rabbi Haim Vital in his Sha’ar HaPesukim (Vayehi 20B) points out the mystical relationship between Moses and the Messiah. One was the first saviour, the other will be the last.
The Torah mysteriously points to a Messiah who will be a ruler whom all nations will serve.
Isaiah says: “I will make you (the Servant of God) as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth“ (Isaiah 49:6).
Jesus says in John 12:46: “I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness”.
Messiah images in the Torah
- God seeks us – Adam where are you?
- The possibility of a choice – Two trees in the Garden of Eden
- Neediness instead divinity – A new view
- God’s master plan – Salvation through a human being
- A divine clothing – God acts
- A world upside down – Kai and Abel
- Living in the presence of God – Enoch
- God is calling – Noah
- A king-priest like Melchizedek
- God visits Abraham
- Life through a sacrifice – Isaac
- The ladder to heaven – Jacob
- New identity from Jacob to Israel
- Messiah Ben Joseph – Joseph the son of Jacob
- Shiloh, whom all nations will serve – Blessing on Judah
- Moses, the prototype of the Saviour
- References to Jesus in Moses
- The Passover Lamb
- The pillar of cloud and fire
- God wants to be with us – The tabernacle / The temple
- The snake on a pole – An image of a new beginning
- The rock in the desert – Faith is not a method
- A prophet greater than Moses
- A star from Jacob – Bileam