Matthew Poole and continuators on Genesis 49:10

10 The Scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a Law-giver from between his feet , until Shiloh come: and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

(i. e.) The dominion or government, which is oft [illegible: 1 word] preded by this word, as Numb. 24. 17. Psal. 45 [illegible: 1+ letters]. Isa. 14. 5. Ezek. 19. 11, 14. A[illegible: 1+ letters]s 1. 5, 8. Z[illegible: 1+ letters]. 10. 11. because it is an ensign of government, E[illegible: 1+ letters]th. 4. 11. So it is a figure called a Metonymy of the sign, then which nothing more frequent. The sence is, That superiority or dominion over his brethren, which I said he should obtain, ver. 8. he shall keep, it shall not depart from him. Others the Tribe, as the word [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word], 1 Sam. 1[illegible: 1+ letters]. 19, 20, 21. 1 King. 11, 32, &c, So the sence is this, Whereas the other Tribes shall be captivated, dispersed and confounded, the Tribe of Judah shall be kept entire and distinct until Christ come. This is a great and important truth, and a singular demonstration of the all-d[illegible: 1+ letters]sposing providence of God, and of the truth and divine authority of the Scriptures, but it seems not to be the meaning of this place, 1. because both the foregoing and following words do evidently speak of Iudahs power and greatness, and particularly this Sheb[illegible: 1+ letters]t, or Sc[illegible: 1+ letters]pter is explained and restrained by the following [illegible: 1 word]: 2. because this renders the phrase, improper and absurd, for the Tribe had not departed from Iudah, nor had they ceased to be a Tribe, if the other Tribes had been mixed with them in their land, as indeed they were sometimes, See 2 Chron. 11. 16. 3. because this is not peculiar to the Tribe of Judah, for in this sence the tribe did not depart from L[illegible: 1+ letters]vi, nay that tribe was kept more distinct than that of Judah: thus also the tribe did not depart from Benjamin, as appears from Ezra 1. 5. and 10. 9. Nehem. 11. 4. Nay it is questionable whether in this sence, the Tribe departed from any of the other Tribes, not onely because there is a distinct mention of the several Tribes, Ezek. 48. which was written after the dispersion and supposed confusion of the other Tribes, and which speaks of the times after the coming of the Messiah, but also because of the great care which the Israelites generally took in distinguishing not onely their Tribes, but their several families in exact genealogies, of which we have many proofs and instances, as 1 Chron. 4. 33. and 5, 1, 7, 17. and 7. 7, 9, 40. and 9. 1, 22, and Ezra 2. 62. and 8. 1, 3. Nehem. 7. 5, 64. The Jews indeed have another device to avoid the force of this Text. They say, Shebet signifies a rod, to wit, a rod of correction, as the word is taken Prov. 22. 15. And so they say the sence is, The tyrannical Scepter, or the rod of the oppressour shall not cease or depart from Israel, till the Messiah come who shall save them from all their oppressours and enemies. But this is a vain and frivolous conceit, for 1. the following sentence, which expounds the former, as it is usual in Scripture, plainly shews that this S[illegible: 1+ letters]ebet or Rod is such as is proper to the Lawgiver, and therefore is a rod of authority, or a Scepter, which is called also a rod, Ezek. 19. 14. and not a rod of affliction. 2. This is contrary to the whole context, wherein there is nothing prophefied of Judah, but honour, and dominion, and victory and safety. 3. There was no reason why the rod of affliction should be appropriated to Judah, which was common to all the Tribes, and came sooner and fell heavier and abode longer upon the other Tribes than upon Judah. 4. This interpretation is confuted by the event or history, both because the rod of correction did depart from Judah, and from them more than from the other tribes, for many generations before the coming of the Messiah; and because that rod is not removed from them but hath continued longer and more dreadfully upon them since the coming of the Messias, than ever before; which one consideration hath been the occasion of the conversion of many Jews. 5. Howsoever the modern Jews pervert this word and text out of enmity to Christ and Christians, it is certain that the antient Jews, the LXX and the Chaldee Paraphrast, with many others take the word as we do, as the learned have proved out of their own writings. See my Latin Synopsis.

So the Hebrew word signifies, as here, so also Numb. 21. 18. Deut. 33. 21. Psal. 60. 7. and 108. 8. Isa. 33. 22. And the verb, from whence this word comes, signifies to make laws as Prov. 8. 15, &c. and the Hebrew word, chok, which comes from the same root constantly signifies a law or statute. Some render it the Scribe, and that either the civil Scribe, who belongs to the ruler; or the Ecclesiastical Scribe, the interpreter of the law, and so it signifies, that both the civil, and the Ecclesiastical power should continue in Judah till Christ came, and then should be taken away, both which the event did verifie. But indeed the Hebrew word for Scribe is So[illegible: 1+ letters]er, not Mechokek. which never is so used in Scripture, but always for a law-giver, as I have shewed, and so Kimchi and A[illegible: 1+ letters]en Egra, two late and learned Jews with others expound it.

From his posterity, or from those that come from between his fe[illegible: 1+ letters]t, i. e. that are begotten and born of that Tribe. And thus Kim[illegible: 1+ letters]i and the Chaldee Paraphrast and other antient Jews understand this place. And the truth of this interpretation may appear, by comparing hi[illegible: 1+ letters] with other texts of Scripture, as [illegible: 1 word]. 28. 5[illegible: 1+ letters]. where the young one is described to be one that cometh from between her (the womans) [illegible: 1 word]; and Ezek. 16. 25. and with those places where the word feet is used for the secret parts, as [illegible: 1 word] ▪ 7. 20. the hair of the feet▪ not properly so called, for hair seldom grows there, and 2 King. [illegible: 1+ letters]8. 27. I[illegible: 1+ letters]a. 36. 12▪ where the water which comes from the [illegible: 1 word] parts is called the water of the feet. And possibly that phrase [illegible: 1+ letters]f covering the feet applied to them that eased their bellies may note so much, because the care of the Jews in that action was not to hide their feet properly so called, but their secret parts, which without due care might be discovered upon that occasion.

(i. e.) The Messias. Which we need not stand to prove, because it is so expounded by all the three Chaldee Paraphrasts, and by the Jewish Talmud, and by divers of the latter Jews themselves. And the word signifies, either a peace-maker or Sa [illegible: 1+ letters]iour, or, as others, her son, or one that came out of the Womans Womb, or out of that skin, in which the child in the Womb is wrapped, which this word, or one near akin to it signifies. So it notes that the Messias should be born of a Woman, though without the help of man: Or, as others the sent, he who was oft promised and to be sent. And this signification may seem to be warranted by comparing Iohn 9. 7. those places of the New Testament, in which the Messias is described by that periphrasis of one sent or to be sent, as Io[illegible: 1+ letters]. 3. 39. &c. And the phrase here used is remarkable, till the Shiloh come, for the Shiloh or Messiah oft goeth under the name of him that was to come, as Matth. 21. 9. Luke 7. 20, and 13. 35. And hence the Kingdome of the Messiah is called the World or Kingdom to come, i. e. of him who was to come, Heb. 2. 5. and 6. 5.

They shall be gathered together or united both among themselves, and with the Jews under him as their head. Others, the reverence, obedience, or worship: Which comes to the same thing, for they that are gathered to him do also reverence, obey and worship him. The Hebrew word is used onely here and Prov. 30. 17.

(i. e.) The Gentiles, as the Jews themselves understand it. And so it is a plain Prophesie of the conversion of the Gentiles by and under the Messiah, signifying, that whereas the Ordinances of God and means of Worship and Salvation were confined to the Jews before Christs coming, Psal. 1[illegible: 1+ letters]7. 19, 20. when the Messiah should come, the pale of the Church should be enlarged, the partition wall between Jews and Gentiles taken down, and the Gentiles should Worship the true God and the Messias. And this is no more than is foretold and promised in other Prophesies, [illegible: 1 word] we shall see hereafter. The summe of this verse is, The Scep[illegible: 1+ letters] [illegible: 1+ letters]r Dominion shall be seated in the Tribe of Iudah, though [illegible: 1+ letters]e doth not determine when it shall come thither; but when once it shall come, it shall not depart from thence, till the Messiah come, and then Iudah shall lose his Scepter and other Priviledges, and the Gentiles shall come into the stead of the Jews, and shall embrace that Messiah, whom they shall reject. So now here is an undeniable argument to prove against the Jews that the Messiah is already come, and that the Lord Jesus Christ is he, because he was to come during the time wherein the Scepter was in the hands of Iudah, and about that time when Jesus Christ came the Scepter was taken away from Iudah and the Jews, and hath now been lost for sixteen hundred years together. The Jews are mightily perplexed and confounded with this argument, one evidence whereof is their various and contradictory Expositions of the place, whilest some of them affirm this Shiloh to be Moses, others, Saul, others, Ieroboam, others, Nebuchadnezzar, which neither need, nor deserve confutation; others, David. Which, though some of the acutest of the Jewish Doctours assert, is as contemptible as any of the rest, it being ridiculous to say the Scepter departed from Iudah under him by whom it first came into that Tribe, having been till Davids time in other Tribes. But the great difficulty is, how this was accomplished, for if the event fully agrees with this Prophesie, the cause of the Jews is lost, and Christ must be owned as the true Messias. The Scepter was for a time in other Tribes, as in Moses of the Tribe of Levi, in divers of the Judges, who were of several Tribes, and lastly in the Tribe of Benjamin under Saul, but the Scepter departed from all these. But this is prophesied as Iudahs priviledge, that when once the Scepter or Government came into that Tribe, which it did in Davids time, it should not depart from it till Christ came, and then it should depart. And thus it came to pass. Concerning the time from David unto the Captivity of Babylon there is no dispute, there being a constant succession of Kings in that Tribe all that time. For the time of the Babylonish Captivity, wherein there may seem to be more difficulty, it is to be considered. 1. That the Scepter or Government was not lost or departed from Iudah, but onely interrupted, and that but for seventy years at most, which in so long a space of time as above a thousand years is little to be regarded. As none will say, the Kingdom was departed from the house of David, because of those inter-reigns or interruptions which sometimes fell out in that Family. Adde to this, that God had given them an absolute promise and assured hope of the restauration of Iudahs Scepter, so that this was rather a sleep then the death of that Government. 2. That within these seventy years there were some remainders and beams of Iudahs Soveraignty, in I[illegible: 1+ letters]hoiachin, 2 King. 25. 27. in Daniel, who was of that Tribe, Dan. 2. 25. and 5. 13. and of the Kings seed, Dan. 1. 3. and in the successive Heads or Governours of the exiles, of whom the Jewish Writers say so much, and they affirm that they were always of the house of David, and were more honourable than the Governours of the Jews which were left in the Land of Israel. 3. All that was then left of the Scepter of the Jews was in the Tribe of Iudah, nor was the Scepter departed from Iudah to any other Tribe; and that is the thing which seems especially to be respected in this Prophesie: For Iudah is here compared with the rest of the Tribes, and it is here signified, that the Power and Dominion which was in Iudah, when once it came thither, should not shift from tribe to tribe, as it had done, but, whilst there was any Scepter or supreme Government among the Iews, it should be in that tribe even till the coming of the Messias. But if there should happen any total but temporary intercision or cessation of the Government among all the Tribes, which now was the case, that was no preiudice to the truth of this promise, nor to the priviledge granted to Iudah above the rest of the Tribes. After the captivity, the state of the Iews was very various. Sometimes they had Governours put in by the Persian King, as Zoro[illegible: 1+ letters]abel, who was also of the Tribe of Iudah, and; as it is supposed, Nephew of Ie[illegible: 1+ letters]ojachin; and Nehemiah, whom Eusebius affirms to have been of the Tribe of Iudah. And though he may seem to be numbred among the Priests, Nehem. 10. 8. yet a diligent reader will find that he is even there distinguished from them by his Title the Tirshatha, ver. 1. and the word priests, ver. 8. relateth onely to the rest there mentioned besides him, especially if this be compared with chap. 9. 38. where the Princes (among whom surely Nehemiah was the chief) are distinguished from the Priests. And sometimes the people chose Governours, or Captain-generals, as the Maccabees, and others. But under all their vicissitudes, after their return from Babylon, the chief government was evidently and unquestionably seated in the great council called Sanhedrim or Synedrium, wherein though some of the Tribe of Levi were mixed with those of the Tribe of Iudah, yet because they together with other members of that Council had their power both from that Tribe, by which they were chosen, and in it, and for it, the Scepter did truly remain in the Tribe of Iudah: even as it was rightly called the Roman Empire when Trajan a Spaniard or other forreigners administred it: or as we call it the Kingdom of Poland, when they chuse a King of another Nation. How great and venerable the authority of this Council was among the Iews may easily be gathered 1. from the divine institution of it, Numb. 11. 16▪ whereby indeed it was at first to consist of persons indifferently chosen out of all the Tribes, but now the other Tribes being banished and dispersed in unknown places, and Benjamin and Levi being as it were accessions to the Tribe of Iudah, and in a sort incorporated with it, it now becomes as it were appropriated to the Tribe of Iudah, as acting in its name and by its authority; and the whole land is called Iud[illegible: 1+ letters]a, and all the people Iews, from the predominancy of that Tribe above the rest. 2. From the great power and priviledges antiently granted to it, Deut. 17. 8. &c. 2 Chron. 19. 8, 11. Psal. 122. 5. 3. From the testimony of Iosephus and other Iewish writers, which is most considerable in this argument, who largely describe and magnifie the power and authority of it, who tell us, that the power of their King was subject to that of this Council; and therefore one of them addressing his speech to that Council, where also the King himself was present, first salutes the Senatours, and after them the King. They affirm also that the power of making War or Peace was vested in that Council; and that Herod was tried for his life by it. If it be said, that the power of this Council was in a great measure taken away, which the Iews confess, Ioh. 18. 31. and that the Scepter of Iudaea was in the hand of the Romans, and by them given to Herod, who was no Iew, but an Idumaean, and this before the coming of the Messias, which is the onely remaining difficulty, to this many things may be said, 1. That this hapned but a few years before the coming of Christ, when Christ was even at the doors and about to come, and therefore might well be said to be come, especially in the Prophetical stile, whereby things are oft said to be done, which are near doing. 2. That the Iewish Senatours did long struggle with Herod about the Government, and did not yield it up to him till his last year, when they took an oath of fealty to him, which was after Christ was born. Nor indeed was the Scepter quite gone from them then, for that Council still had the power, though not of life and death, yet of Civil and Ecclesiastical matters. See Ioh. 18. 31. So that if the Scepter was gone, the Lawgiver remained there still. Nor was their Government and Commonwealth quite destroyed until the destruction of Ierusalem by Titus. And therefore some translate the place thus, and that with great probability, The Scepter shall not depart—until the Shiloh come, and until (which word is repeated out of the former member, as is most usual in the Scripture) the gathering of the people be to him, (i. e.) until the Gentiles be converted and brought in to Christ. And this interpretation receiveth countenance from Mat. 24. 14. The Gospel shall be preached in all the world,—and then shall the end come, not the end of the whole world, as it is evident, but the end of the Commonwealth and Government of the Iews, when the Scepter and Lawgiver should be wholly taken away from that tribe and people.

Marginal references: Psal. 60. 7. & 1[illegible: 1+ letters]8. 8.; Luk. 1. 32.