SHILOH shī’ lō (usually שִׁלֹ֔ה; sometimes שִׁלֹ֜ו or שִׁילﯴ׃֮; LXX Σηλώ, Σηλώμ; meaning uncertain).
A city in the territory of Ephraim located by Judges 21:19 as “north of Bethel, on the east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem (q.v.), and south of Lebonah.” As such it was twenty m. N and slightly E of Jerusalem. The Ark of the covenant and the Tabernacle were there from the time of Joshua through Samuel’s time. Shiloh was thus an important Israelite center of worship. The modern site is known as Khirbet Seilun.
1. Excavations. Shiloh was identified with Seilun on the basis of surface explorations and the similarity of names by E. Robinson in 1838. Danish expeditions in 1926, 1929 and 1932 confirmed this identification. There were traces of occupation in the Middle Bronze period (c. 2100 to 1600 b.c.) but no evidence of Canaanite occupation was found for the Late Bronze period (c. 1600 to 1200 b.c.). Evidence was found, however, for the occupation of the site again beginning about 1200 b.c. and continuing to about 1050 b.c. when Shiloh or parts of it were destroyed, prob. by the Philistines. The Israelites were evidently the first to build extensively at the site. No sign of the Temple of Jehovah which played a central role in the life of Samuel was found (1 Sam 1:9; 3:3). Evidence of a city wall, however, and also of a synagogue and a Christian church were found and these suggest that the site was remembered for many centuries later.
The location of Shiloh was well suited to be a quiet place of worship. It was surrounded by hills on all sides except the SW, and pasture lands and a water supply were nearby. The position is not strategic, however, and did not lend itself to defense nor to control of highways and land areas.
2. Shiloh in the Bible. After the conquest, Joshua first dwelt at Gilgal and then at Shiloh (Josh 14:6; 18:1). Why Shiloh was chosen is not known, though the fact that it was seemingly uninhabited in Canaanite times may have suggested it as an “uncontaminated” location for worship. The tent of meeting was set up in Shiloh and the Israelites assembled there. Three men from each tribe were selected to travel the length and breadth of the Promised Land and to write a description of it. They then returned to Shiloh and Joshua cast lots to give the seven remaining tribes their inheritances (18:1; 19:51). Shiloh did assume some military importance for Israel when the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh built their own large altar by the Jordan (22:9, 12).
The importance of Shiloh as a center for Israelite worship continued into the time of the Judges. The Biblical writer remarks upon the length of time that the house of God was there (Judg 18:31). There was a yearly feast of Yahweh held at Shiloh in which hundreds of dancing girls took part (Judg 21:19ff.). Some four hundred virgin girls had been brought from Jabesh-gilead to Shiloh to serve this purpose, and they eventually became wives to the Benjaminites who had suffered tragic defeat and who, through the loss of their wives, no longer had the means to perpetuate the tribe. This annual festival with dancing girls has suggested to some the existence of a kind of fertility cult at Shiloh.
While shiloh held the place of prominence in Israelite worship during this period, other places began to assume some importance as well. Thus we see that the Ark of the covenant was in Bethel at least for a time (Judg 20:26, 27).
Shiloh continues to figure largely in the religious life of Israel during Samuel’s time. Elkanah, Samuel’s father, went to Shiloh year by year to sacrifice to Yahweh. Eli and his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests in Shiloh at the time. It was in the temple at Shiloh that Hannah prayed for a child and there she brought him to be dedicated to Yahweh’s service. The two sons of Eli had largely corrupted the sacrificial system as it was meant to be practiced at Shiloh, and their conduct with the women who served at the entrance of the shrine was by no means above reproach. This has again suggested to some the presence of a kind of Canaanite fertility cult at Shiloh. Yahweh’s appearance to the boy Samuel at Shiloh and his establishment as a prophet there also emphasize the centrality of the place in the religious history of early Israel (1 Sam 3:21).
When the Ark of God was captured and Israel was defeated at the hands of the Philistines, Shiloh lost its significance (4:3, 4, 12), and the priests evidently fled to Nob just N of Jerusalem (22:11). Shiloh, or at least its temple, was evidently destroyed in about 1050 b.c. but the visit of Jeroboam’s wife to the home of Ahijah the prophet in Shiloh prob. implies the existence of some kind of shrine there at least as late as 922 b.c. (1 Kings 14:2, 4). It was generally recognized that God had forsaken “his dwelling at Shiloh, the tent where he dwelt among men, and delivered his power to captivity, his glory to the hand of the foe” (Ps 78:60). Jeremiah implies that in his day the ruins of the temple at Shiloh could still be seen and this fact he used to give force to his declaration that the Temple at Jerusalem would suffer a similar fate because of moral and religious corruption (Jer 7:12, 14; 26:6, 9). The site of the city itself seems to have experienced some occupation as late as the time of Gedaliah (Jer 41:5).
3. Shiloh in Genesis 49:10. The reference to Shiloh, rendered “until Shiloh come” by the KJV and ASV, has been the occasion of a great deal of discussion and difficulty. This is in the blessings of Jacob and is contained in the particular blessing given to his son Judah. It seems impossible to give a truly satisfactory explanation of the problem.
Shiloh in this passage has been taken traditionally as a reference to the Messiah. The name would then have to be derived from shālâ, “to be at ease,” and would mean something like “the peace-giver.” This derivation, however, is linguistically difficult. Shiloh is not elsewhere in the Bible as a personal name and, significantly, the passage is not cited Messianically in the NT. Interestingly, the Qumran compilation of Patriarchal Blessings paraphrases the word “Shiloh” as “the rightful Messiah” or “the Messiah of righteousness,” rather than taking it as a personal name. In support of this rendering, Ezekiel 21:27, which is prob. an echo of Genesis 49:10, may be cited. The Dead Sea community took the passage to mean that royal power belonged forever to the house of David (who was of the tribe of Judah) in contrast to the Hasmonean priest-kings who ruled over them. Genesis 49:10 was interpreted Messianically before the Christian era, but Shiloh was not taken as a personal name, as far as is known, until the doubtful passage in the Talmud (see Sanh. 98b). Even then, Shiloh was not seriously put forward as a personal name until the 16th cent.
A second interpretation suggests that Shiloh does refer to the city mentioned above, and the passage indicates that Judah or Judean rule was to continue until it extended as far as Shiloh. If Shiloh is understood as being the center of Israelite worship and therefore as representative of Israel as a whole, the passage would find fulfillment in the prominence which the tribe of Judah gained and in the extension of her sovereignty by David. If in patriarchal times, Shiloh was reckoned as a kind of foe to be conquered, this interpretation would be beset by perhaps the least difficulties.
Two other suggestions, each involving a minor emendation, have been given. Shiloh could be read shellô, “to whom,” or “that which is,” being a contraction of ’asher lô. This is evidently the LXX understanding of the word and support from Ezekiel 21:27 is generally claimed for it.
Another emendation has been suggested, making the word mōshelô, “his ruler.” Interestingly, the Akkad. word for “prince” or “ruler” is shêlu or shîlu. This would read “his ruler” when repointed as shayyālô. Other Assyrian technical terms are found in the OT (e.g. Rab-shakeh; Tartan) and this may be a possible solution. It should be noted, however, that other Assyrian technical terms occur in the OT, only in the lit. dating from the time that Assyria was in contact with the Hebrews, namely the 9th cent. and later.
Bibliography On the city and its excavations, see: W. F. Albright, BASOR, IX (1923), 10, 11; “The Danish Excavations at Seilun—A Correction,” PEQ, LIX (1927), 85-88; H. Kjaer, “The Danish Excavation of Shiloh. Preliminary Report,” PEQ, LIX (1927), 202-213; “The Excavation of Shiloh 1929,” JPOS, X (1930), 87-174; “Shiloh. A Summary Report of the Second Danish Expedition, 1929,” PEQ, LXIII (1931), 71-88. On the interpretation of Shiloh in Gen 49:10 see: G. R. Driver, “Some Hebrew Roots and their Meanings,” JTS, XXIII (1922), 70; J. Skinner, Genesis, ICC (2nd. ed. 1930), 518-524; J. Lindblom, “The Political Background of the Shiloh Oracle,” Supplements to VT, I (1953), 78-87; J. Allegro, “Further Messianic References in Qumran Literature,” JBL, LXXV (1956), 174-176; O. Eissfeldt, “Silo and Jerusalem,” Supplement to VT, IV (1957), 138-147. See also the commentaries on Genesis.