Shihor (Hastings' Dictionary)

A word meaning ' black ' or ' turbid.' from inyi to be black (Ca 1'). 1. In 1 Ch 13' Shihor of Egypt (iipia .Kiyinrrou ; Sihor jEgypti) and the entering in of Hamath are mentioned as the southern and northern liuiits of the kingdom of Israel in the time of David. The same (or similar) limits recur in 1 K 8"°, where ' the wady (nahal) of Egypt' takes the place of 'Shilior of Egypt.'

In Jos 13' (^ doki;Tos i) Kara Trpojunrou kiyviTTov, fluvius turbidus) the southern limit of the land that had not been conquered when Joshua was grown old is said to have oeen 'the Shihor which is before Egypt,' and the northern one was the entering in of Hamath (v.') El.sewhere the S.W. limit of the Promised Land is ' the wAdy of Egj'pt': Nu 34= »; cf. Ezk 47"', '' 48'- *■ », and see Egypt (River of).

The southern boundaiy of Judah, also, which corresponded with that of the Promised Land, ' went out at the wfldy (nahal) of Egypt, and the goings out of tht border were at the sea (Jos 15). In the same chapter (v.*') the territory of Judah is said to have extended ' unto the wiidy of Egypt and the great sea.' In each of the above passages the tiahal referred to as forming the southern boundary of the Promised Laud is the same, and it must have been a well-known and well-defined feature.

Such a feature is found in the Wiidy el-'Arish, which, with its many branches, drains nearly the whole of the desert ct-Tih. The ' nahal of Egyi)t ' (2 K 24', Is 27'^) and the ' iroTo/xiSs of Egvpt' (Jth 1') are also of course the Wddy el-'Aris)i. In Isaiah the LXX reads 'VivoKopovpuiv, now el-'Arish. Whether, however, this is the same as the Shihor is disputed. It is so taken by some (e.g. Knobcl, Keil, Konig [Fitnf neue arab. Landschaftsnamcn im AT, 1902, p. 37]), but Del. (Farad.

311) and Dillm. regard it as the easternmost or Pelusiac arm of the Nile ; while, according to Brugsch [Steininschrift u. Bibclwort, 153], it is Shi-Uor, or tlie ' Horus canal,' mentioned in lists of the Ptolemaic period as flowing by th« border-city of Thiru or Tar (see under Shur). SHIIIOK-LIBNATH SllILull 499 2. Shihor is certainly the Nile in 'the seed of Shihor' (Is 23^ a-ripiia /lerapSXuv [inr confused with inD ; see vv.'

- ">], A'ihis) ; and in ' the waters of Shilior' (Jer 2" Coup I'ljiii' {aqtia turbula)). C. \V. Wilson. SHIHOR -LIBNATH (n:?V ■'^iT; B 7<? Ztiiov kq! Aa^iivaO, A ZaC^p k. A. ; Sichor et Lahnnrith). — A natural feature near, and ajiparently to the south of, Carniel, to which the territory of Asher ex- tended (Jos 19™). Eusebius and Jerome (Onoin.) take Shihor and Libnath to be two distinct places ; but modem commentators consider Shihor-libnatli to be a river.

Tlie meaning of Libnath is ' white,' and some autlioritica have taken tlie words to mean ' the glass river,' whicli they identify with the Belus (Plin. v. 19), — now the ^ahr Na'm/ln, — a little south of Acre. The IJelus, however, is to the north of Carmcl, whilst the boundary of Asher included Dor (Joa IT"), which lay to the soutli. The Shihorlibnath wjus most probably the Nahr ez-Zerl:a, which has been identilied with the river Crocodeilon (of Ptolemy, v. xv. 5, xvi. 2 ; Plinj', V.

19) — the southern boundary, according to Pliny, of Phoenicia (so Keil, Dillmann, et al.) Hhihor, one of the names of the NUe (Is 23', Jer 2"), may liave been given to this river because there were crocodiles in it; — they are still found in the Nahr ez-Zerka. C. VV. Wilson'. 8HIKKER0N (pi??'; B ZoKX'ie, A ' A.KKapuv6. ; Si'c/inina). — A place on the northern boundary of Judah, mentioned between Ekron and Mount Baalali, the next place westward being Jabneel (Jos 15").

The Targum has the form Shimron, Eusebius (Onom.) Saxupai', Jerome (Onon.) Harho- rona. The site is unknown (so Dillm.) Tobler {Drit. Wand. p. 25) identilied it with Khitrhet Sukercir ; but this place lies between Jabneel {Yehnah) and Aslidod {Esdiid), and is about 4 miles south-west of Jabneel. C. W. Wilson. SHILHI (•n^5i; BA in 2 Chron. ZaXd, B in 1 Kings le/Kel, A in 1 Kings ZaXaKd, Luc. in both 2(\fti).

— Father of king Asa's wife Azubah, who was queen-mother in the reign of Jehosha])hat (1 K 22«, 2 Ch 20"). It is unusual for the queen- mother's father to be named in the summaries of the earliest reigns. Besides Shilhi, Ahsahjm (1 K 1.5, Abishalom) and (2 K 8'»- =") Ahab (or Omri) are the only certain cases. SHILHIM {CT^^ ; LXX B Za\^, A 2fX«(/i ; Vulg. SiHm). — A town of .ludali, in the Ncgeb, or South, wliich is mentioned between Lebaoth and Ain (Jos 15'-).

The site was unknown to Eusebius and .Jerome (Onom. s. ZaKtel, Selci), and has not yet been recovered. In the list of towns allotted to Simeon (Jos 19") its ])lace is taken by Sharuhen, anil in 1 Ch 4" by Shaaraim (see Shaahaim, No. 2). Prom the reading of the LXX, it has been erroneously supjiosed that Shilhim and Ain are the Salini and Aenon of Jn 3=*. See Salim. C. W. WIL.SON. 8HILLEM, SHILLEMITES. — See Siiallu,m, No. 7. 8HIL0AH.— See SllELAH and Sll.OAM.

SHILOH (usually nhi\ 8 times 'iVp, thrice 'iS's', On 49'" [see tlie next art.] rh'V ; originallv, as the gentilic -jV;' 'Shilonite' shows, p'?»' ; L.XX ZriXu, Zr,\uii, Jg 21'-'' -' 15 ZtjXwi').— The situation of Shiloli is, in Jg 21", described with unusual min- nteness : it is .said to lie 'on the north of licth-el, on the cast side of the highway that giielh up from lieth-el to Shechem, and on the south of LebAnah.' The position of the modern Seiliin corresiionds exactly with this de.

scrijilion : as the traveller now journeys along the great north roa<i which leads to Nflblus (the ancient Shechem), ha passes Beitin (Beth-el) at 10 miles from Jerus. ; at about 8 miles N. of Beitin (near Sinjil), if he turns to _the right for about a mile, and tlien, at Turmus'A3-a, turns northwards and crosses a small plain, he will see rising before him, at 9J miles N.N.E of Beitin, the large rounded Tell, on the summit of which is the ruined site of Seilfln ; N.

of tlie Tell runs the Wady Seilfln, and going down this to the W. he will rejoin the high road at a point 10 miles N. of Beitin, and a little E. of el-Luli/ian, evidently the Lebonah of Jg 21", 3 miles N.N.W. of Seilfln. The most noticeable feature in the natural situation of Seilfln is its seclusion. ' On the E. and N. it is shut in by bare and lofty hills of grey limestone, dotted over with a few li^-trees ; ' only on the S. is it open to- wards the plain just mentioned.

The 'Tell on which Seilfln stands is some ISOO ft. in length from N. to S., and 900 ft. from E. to W. ; the Wady on the N. is a deep vallev, in the sides of which are many rock -cut sepulchres; at the head of the valley on the E., about 3 mUe from the Tell, there is a tine spring of water. The site consists of nothing more than ' the ruined houses of a modern village, with here and there fragments of masonry which may date back to Crusading times, especially one sloping scarp.'

The vineyards (Jg 2\io. 21) (,f yiiiloli have disappeared ; but the traces of terraces, still visible on the sides of the Tell, show that once it was actively cultivated. Below the top of the hill, on the N. of the ruins, a kind of irregular quadrangle, some 400 ft. from E. to W., and SO ft. from N. to S., has been hewn roughly out of the rock ; it has been conjectured that this was the site of the ancient sanctuary (see below). Leaving the Tell on the S.E.

, traces of an ancient road, about 10 ft. wide, are visible. At the S.E. foot of the Tell there is a small disused mosque, shaded by a line oak tree ; and, some 500 yds. S.E. of this, a building which seems to have \)een once a synagogue, 37 ft. square, built of good masonry (see further particulars in Guirin, Sainarie, ii. (1S75) 21-23 ; PEt'Mem. ii. 367-370, with a plan of the Tell ; Conder, Tent Wur/c', 44-46). Shiloh is mentioned frequently in the earlier history of Israel.

It laj' in the territory of Eph- raim, 12 miles S. of Shechem. It was the spot at which, after leaving Gilgal, the ark and tent of meeting were stationed, and where also, according to tradition, Joshua divided the liind by lot be- tween the tribes (Jos 18«- »■ '" J E ; hS' 19" 21- 229- '« P). It continued to be the principal Isr. sanctuary throughout the period of the Judges (cf. Jg 18'' 'all the time that the house of God was in Sliiloh') till the age of Samuel (1 S 1-4).

The narrative of Jg 2I''°", — which, whatever m.ay be the case with some other parts of Jg 19-21, is certainlj- ancient — introduces us to a primitive stage of religious feel- ing and practice in Israel : we hear of ' Jahweh's pilgrimage,' held annually in Shiloh, and of the nuiidens of Shiloh coming out to dance in the choruses (cf.

Ex \r,^ 32'") ; the feast, to judge from the terms in which it is spoken of, seems (like that of Shechem, Jg 9") to have been at this time hardly more than a local village fe.stival, though it maj' have already been attended bj' pilgrims from the neighbourliood, and in 1 S 1-2 ajipears to liava develdjicd into an early form of what is called in JE the ' pilgrimage of" Ingathering' (Ex 23'« 34*'), or (1>, P, and later) the ' jiilgrimage of Booths' (cf. Wellli. Hist.

94) t on the imrticular occasion referred to, the Benjamitcs, lajing wait for the women in the vineyanis, captured them, and carried them home as wives. In 1 S 1-4 (cf. 14', 1 K 2-'') Eli and his two sons are priests at Shiloh ; the ark is still there, till it is carried oil' (4"') to be a protection to the Israelites in their battles with the Philis 500 SHILOH SHILOH tines ; a pilgrimage is matle to it ' from year to year' (n:-?; d-C'D V2^' [of.

P'] : so Ex 13", Jg 11* 21'), for purposes of sacrilice, at the ' coming round of the days' (1» cf. Ex 34-=), i.e. at the arrival of the new year, when the pilgiimage of Ingathering (TCsjri in Ex. I.e.) was held ; Elkanali ami his household go up to it regularly (1-' 2''-"') from tlieir home — probably (see Ramaii, 6) either at Rfim-iillah, 12 miles to the S.W., or at Beit Rima, 12 miles to the W". ; and the youthful Samuel is presented there to Jahweh, to ministir before Him ( l^, ^ 2" etc.

). Tlie sanctuary in which the ark is, is however no lon^'er, as in the Pent., a ' tabernacle ' or ' tent ' ('?"n) ; it is a fixed structure, a 'temple' (Sj-n P 3») or 'house' (I'-''"), with a 'door-post' (ni!>D 1') and 'doors' (mnSi 3"): see, further, Tabkrnacle. The representation in 1 S 1-4, taken as a whole, points to the existence of a luore considerable religious centre, and a more fully organized system of religious observ- ances, thau appear to be implied by the terms of Jg 21'"-'.

The sanctuary of Shiloh is not, however, after 1 S 1-4, again referred to in the history ; and it seems in fact that, shortly after the events narrated in these cliaplers, it was de- stroj'ed, probably by the Philistines; inch.22(v."cf. with 14^), itmaj'be observed, the priesthood settled formerly at Shiloh appeals at Nob.

The recollec- tion of this disaster was so vividly impressed upon the people's memory that long afterwards Jeremiah could refer to it as a token of what J " might do then to His temple in Jerusalem (Jer 1" ' But go ye now to my place [i.e. my sacred place], which was in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell at the first, and see what I did to it for the wicked- ness of my people Israel,' v.'*; 26' 'I will make this house like Shiloli,' v.')

; and it is alluded to also by a late psalmist {Ps 78'" ' He forsook the dwelling-place of Shiloh, the tent he liad caused to dwell among men'). It is indeed very possible that the narrative of this disaster formed the original sequel of 1 S 4"'-7', and that when the Book of Samuel assumed its present form it was omitted to make room for 7, S.

Shiloh itself, however, continued to be inhal>ited ; for the pro- phet Ahijah, who promised Jeroboam the kingdom of the ten tribes, was a native of it (1 K ll-"^ 12" [ = 2 Ch 10"] 15^ ; cf. 2Ch 9=) ; and Jeroboam's wife went there to consult him when her husband was ill (1 K W-) : see also Jer 41». _ Though a few mediBBval writers were acquainted with the site of Shiloh (Moore, Jiui'je«, p. 461 n.)

, it w;w i)nicticaliy un- known from the time of Jerome till it w:is rediscovered by Robinson, BRP ii. t!iiS-270. Ct. Sunley, A/> 231-3. Jerome spealts of the remains of an altar aa just visible there : Epi- taph. Pauice (iv. 2, p. 676, ed. Bened.), 'Quid iiarrem Silo, in qua altare dirutum hodieque nionstraturV ; Vimitiu ou Zeph l'(iii. 1655), vix oltarid fuudamenta monstrtiiitur.' S. II. Driver. SHILOH (!^^, Sam. iSpi), Gn 49'". —i.

In ex- amining the various interpretjitions that have been given of this passjvge, it will be convenient to take first those adopted by AV and RV, or admitted into RVm. There are four of tliem. (1) ' Until Shiloli come.' — This rendering did not appear in any translation of the Bible before the 16th cent., though some authority for it might have been found in a fanciful Talm. passage, "f he Wyclif VSS followed the Vulg.

{qui mittcnrliis est, reading apparently nh^) : ' till he come that sliall be (oris to be) sent.' Coverdale's Bible of 1535 has 'till the worthye come.' Seb. Munster's version (1534) was the first to treat the word as a name : quuusque vcniat Silo. John Rogers (1537) has 'until Sylo come.' Matthew, Tavemer, the Great Bible, and the Bishops' Bible all adopt it : ' till Shiloh come.' The dithculty in the waj' of this rendering is to find a meaning for Shiloh as a designation of the Messiah.

The only indication of a desire to make it a proper name appears in the Talm. passags alluded to above. Sank. 986 : ' Rab said, The world was created only for the sake of David ; Samuel said. It was for the sake of Moses ; R. Yochanan said, It was only for the sake of the Messiah. What is his name? Those of the school of R. Shila say, Shiloh is his name, as it is said " Until Shiloh come." Those of the school of R. Yannaisay, Yinnon is his name, as it is .

said (Ps 72'), Before the sun let his name be propagated (mnnon). Those of the school of R. Chaninah say, Chaninah is hia name, as it is said (.Jer 16"), tor I will give you no favour (Jianlna).' This attempt to connect the Messiah's name with that of some favourite teacher, of course renders the passage worthless as an authority. Even as a title Shiloh cannot be legitimately supported. It has been taken as an abstract noun put for a concrete, ' till re.it (or a rest- or peace- giver) come.'

This interpretation has been adopted by Vater, Justi, Rosenmiiller, Winer, Baumgarten- Crusius, Hengstenberg, Reinke, Gesenius (Lex.), Murphy, and others, though many of these wTiters understand by the pcacc-giver Solomon or some other earthly ruler, not the Messiah. But the philological difliculties in its way are very great. The form .1^!? presupposes a verb 'f^v or V-y wliich does not exist. It cannot be legitimately derived from .iSy.

Besides, this verb is so often associated with the idea of careless, worldly ease, that a title of the Messiah is not very likely to have been derived from it. A ditierent justification of Shiloh = Messiah is attempted in tlie Targum pseudo-Jonathan, and tlie AIT rh-a may rest on it. It makes it mean 'his son.' But there is no Heb. word Vv. Even could these difliculties be surmounted, a greater one remains in the way of the AV and RV rendering.

The announcement of the Messiah by name or title is out of place in a patriarchal blessing. Even a late editor would not so glar- ingly have violated the proprieties of time. The absence of NT reference is also strongly against such an interpretation. (2) ' Until lie come to Shiloh.' This has much in its favour. Sliiloh, wherever else it occurs, denotes the Ephraimite town. It is natural to take it so here. Tlie construction of the sentence and the parallelism both suggest this rendering.

In 1 S 4'^ the very phrase occurs, n^p ^i3;!. Taken so, tlie clause is understood to refer to the assembling of Israel as a nation at Sliiloh (Jos 18'), when Judah may be supposed to have lost the pre-eminence or tribe-leadership held by it in the wanderings (Nu 10'^ Jg V- '", Jos 15). This interpretation does not necessarily afl'ect the Messianic character of the whole passage, though it no longer attaches the thought to tlie word Shiloh. The Wew is undoubtedly an attractive one.

We see Judah, the honoured of his brethren, marching in triumphal progress to the national sanctuary, and there laying down the emblems of authority in order to enjoy the fruits of peace, while the nations around bow submissive to his sway. And if, as seems not unlikely, an etlbrt was made to constitute Shilnh a jiolitical as well as a religious centre, thus anticipating Jerus., tliLi interpretation becomes still more attractive. The objections to it are twofold.

First, djs' and pcno seem to suggest sovereignty rather than mere tribal pre-eminence (see art. Lawgiver, vol. iiL p. 83*). The historical difficulty is still greater. ^fo particular place is assigned to Judah in the histories in connexion with Shiloh. Indeed its rflle took it, not to ShUoli, but to Hebron and its ni-ighbourhood.

To obviate this difficulty some commentators supply a general subject to the verb, 'till one or the people come-' But, even so, an SHILOH SlILMEATH 501 objection remains. It is out of keeping with the spirit of the patriarchal blessings to affix a limit to the prosperity of a tribe. In the case of Juiiah especiallj', we should expect a further outlook, and it seems too violent to explain ' Judah will lead till Caua^in is subdued and after.' [Cf.

, however, tlie use of ly in Ps 110' 112' ; see Oxf. Ileb. Lex. s. iv, U. \h\ Many good names, however, support the render- ing just discussed. Among them are Eiclihorn, Ileruer, Ewald, Bleek, Delitzsch, Dillmann [pro- visionally ; but thinking (so also Holz.) that a really sjitisfactory explanation is not to be found], S. Davidson, Strack (and Rodiger, Thcs., giving pro- minence to the idea of peace or rest in Shiloh). Intluenced by the objections stated above, Hitzig, Tuch, and G.

Baur would translate '?'iy as lonq as, on the analogy of Hor. Od. iii. 30. (7-9) ; cf. V'crg. jEn. ix. 446, 449. But Shiloh had been destroyed long before Judali obtained real supremacy. It is as a fallen rival to Jerusalem that propliets allude to the place. (3) 'Until that which is his shall come.' This follows the reading rAy, a poetical equivalent of iS i^'Si- It was presumably the reading of the LXX (and Theod. ), who render ?

a)s Si l\Ori to, aroKciiMci'a airnf, ' till the things reserved for him come.' This is adoijted, with some hesitation, by Driver. But, a.s Dillm. says, c for the relative in an apparently Jud:ean text would be very strange. Ihe inde- terminate expression of the Messianic hope is in its favour. (4) ' Until he come whose it is.' This follows a variant reading of LXX 6 dir^KeiTai, a reading lend- ing itself so readily to Christian exegesis that we do not wonder at its adoption by the Fathers, e.

g. Justin, Ap. i. 32 (supplying shortly after t4 (3affiX«o>'), ignat. P/iil. (longer form), Iren. IV. x. 2, Origen (frequently). It was adopted also by Onkelos ('the Messiah, whose is the kingdom'), the Peshitta, and Saadya (lutli cent.) The ren- dering is, however, a doubtful one, tliough it is adopted hy Gunkel ; for tlie subject 'it' (mn) is missing : Onkelos' version is a paraphrase which may or may not be legitimate. Ezk 2P* (Ileb.) presents a somewhat similar plira.se iS nyx ><3 ij; E?T ?

r ; but the subject in the relative clause is here expressed. Still, whether original or not, this reading seems to express a right sense; cf. (6) below. ii. Other suggestions are — (1) 'Till tranquillity come.' This assumes the existence of a very possible n^cJ or rt'jii = peace. But it leaves tlio sentence without an explanation of 'iSi, and the parallelism sutlers. It has the support of Keuss, Knobel, Friedliinder. (2) ' Till he comes to peacefulness or a place of rest' (also '^h-^).

So Kurtz, Oehler, and Perowne. (3) ' Till he comes to that which is his own.' So OrcUi (Altlcst. Weiss, von d. Vollcndu?!;/ des Gottej.reuhi'j<, 1882, p. 137 ff. [ = 0T Pronh. 117 fl'.]), comparing Dt 33' ; and apparently Ball. (4) Lagarde {Onom. Harm, 1870, ii. 06), compar- ing Mai 3', conjectures, as Matthew Hillei had done before him, rS'x^'=his desired one. This is accepted bv Bickell {Cann. VT Metrice, 1882, p. 188). Driver objects that the word savours of Syr. ratlier lliaa Hell.

, and that the sense asked is not suital)le here. (5) WelUiausen, in his Geschichte, p. 375 (1878), threw out the suggestion that I'j] was a gloss explanatory of nV,;'. ' Till he come to whom is tho obedience,' etc. But this destroys the parallelism and the symmetry of tlie verse. (6) Wellh. (Comp. 321), abandoning (5), thinks that the verse denotes in some way an ideal limit of time, the coming of the Messiah, and pre- supposes (as in fact the terms of vv.

- • do likewise) the Davidic monarchy [lie does not say clearly how he understands n'?-=]. This view of the pas- sage certainly seems correct. In spite of the dilfi- cuTties connected with .T?t, the words do seem to refer to the transition of the power of Judah into the hands of an iileal ruler. (7) Clieyne (Isaiah, ii. [1S84] Essay iv.) thinks the text was once fuller, and would read nS ng'v or Dsv. (8) Neubauer, At/wnwum, May 30th, 18S5, pro- poses to read dW, i.e.

Jerusalem, 'until he come to Salem' (cf. Ball), with allusion to the establish- ment of tlie Davidic kingdom. This, of course, implies that B3ir lias the meaning 'leader's staft",' nui 'sceptre' (cf. j). oOO"" bottom). It maj' be noticed that the Messianic tone of the passage is independent of the reading of this clause, being conveyed by the clause succeeding it. LiTERATURB. — Besides above citationa and references see Driver in Cainb. Journal of I'hU. vol. xiv. No.

27, 1S83 (synopsis and explanation of Rabbin, and other interpretations), and Expositor, 3rd series, vol. ii. IIHS;')] p. 10 ff. ; S. Davidson, Introd. to OT, vol. i. ; kurtz, llixt. Old Covenant, vol. ii. ; the Comm. on On 4910 ; and the hist, and exeg. discussion in O. Baur, Alttest. Weistagung (ISUl), 227-200. A. S. Aglen.