Continued from Chapter 8
(Genesis 49:10)
Christians attempt to demonstrate that the Messiah had to come prior to the end of Jewish sovereignty in 70 C.E. by citing Genesis 49:10: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to him shall be the obedience of peoples.”
Shiloh is identified with the Messiah according to the traditional commentaries of both Judaism and Christianity. Some Christians understand the text to mean that Judean sovereign authority will end, following the coming of the Messiah. Since the termination of what little Jewish self-government remained took place approximately forty years after the death of Jesus, the verse is taken to imply that Jesus was the Messiah. But if this text is taken to mean that the scepter shall not depart from Judah until the Messiah comes, as Christians assert, then there is an historical discrepancy that needs to be dealt with. Moses, who ruled over Israel, was a Levite. Joshua of the tribe of Ephraim followed him as ruler. The judges who held office prior to the establishment of the monarchy were not necessarily of Judean origin. But, did this prophecy only apply to the period following the establishment of the monarchy? The last Judean king, Zedekiah, was taken into captivity around 586 B.C.E. The returnees from the Babylonian exile and subsequent generations were under foreign domination (Persian, Greek, Roman) except for a relatively short period of independence during the reign of the Hasmoneans (165 B.C.E. to 63 B.C.E.), who were a priestly family of the tribe of Levi.
At the time of Jesus’ death, the highest sovereign Israelite authority was that of the high priest, a descendant of Levi. As such, for approximately six hundred years, before the birth of Jesus, the scepter of leadership was wielded by rulers outside the tribe of Judah. The Christian interpretation of this verse simply does not bear out according to the historic facts. What is called for is an interpretation that takes historical reality into consideration.
The phrase “the scepter shall not depart” is a prophetic pronouncement declaring that the right to the scepter of leadership is permanently assigned to the tribe of Judah, regardless of who is actually exercising authority over Israel at any given time. The phrase “until Shiloh comes” does not mean that at this time the scepter of leadership will depart from Judah. On the contrary, it indicates that from then on, the scepter—the kingship—will forever remain in actuality within the tribe of Judah.
Sometimes the word ‘ad, “until,” is understood as ‘ad v’lo ‘ad bichlal, “until [a given point], but not including that point.” For example, Rashi explains, “Until the morrow of the seventh week you shall count” (Leviticus 23:16): “But [the limit denoted by] ‘until,’ [i.e., the morrow itself] is not included [in the counting]. They [i.e., the days to be counted] are forty-nine days.” The context of verse 16 indicates that ‘ad should be understood as not including the fiftieth day, for if the fiftieth day were included the term “seven weeks” in verse 15, “You shall count for yourselves … seven weeks, they shall be complete,” would be inexact. At other times, it is understood as ‘ad ve‘ad bichlal, “until [a given point], and including that point.” Rashi explains, “I gave from Gilead even until the brook Arnon, within the brook and the border; even until the brook Jabbok” (Deuteronomy 3:16): “The entire brook and also beyond its border, that is, ‘until’ [i.e., the brook] is included and more than that.”
There are talmudic discussions on the meaning of the word “until” as used in different contexts. For example, “Our mishnah [Berachot 4:1] said: R. Judah says: The Morning Prayer may be recited until four hours” (B.T Berachot 26b). The rabbis in the Gemara then analyze R. Judah’s ruling. Does the word “until” in the mishnah mean it includes the fourth hour itself or does it mean that the fourth hour is not included? They conclude that the word “until” used by R. Judah means “until and including” the fourth hour” (B.T. Berachot 27b). In B.T. Niddah 58b we find the following statement, “‘Up to’ [‘ad] may sometimes include the terminus and sometimes exclude it.” In sum, sometimes “until” means inclusive of and sometimes exclusive of and the exact meaning must be derived from the context in which it is used.
Those Christians under discussion are in error in their understanding of the Hebrew word ‘ad, “until” as used in Genesis 49:10. They suppose that “until” means “before,” “up to a certain time, but not including anything following that time.” They arrive at this incorrect conclusion through a misreading of the biblical text. The Hebrew word ‘ad, “until,” does not mean exclusively, “before,” or “up to a certain point but not beyond.” It also has a meaning parallel to “until” as found in the verse, “[H]e [Jonathan] and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land” (Judges 18:30b). Were Jonathan and his sons priests only up to the day before what is called “the day of the captivity of the land”? Or, were they priests even on that eventful day? A plain reading of the text would show that “until” here includes at least part of “the day of the captivity of the land.” How the adverb ‘ad (“until”) is used is dependent on context. For example, “For I will not leave you until I have done that which I have spoken to you” (Genesis 28:15), and “No man shall be able to stand before you until you have destroyed them” (Deuteronomy 7:24). Did God leave Jacob after doing all that He promised him? Were the enemies of Israel who were killed able to stand after they were destroyed? In light of Jewish history, “until” in Genesis 49:10 means inclusive of the following period.
Even after the Messiah comes, the scepter will still belong to Judah. The right to the scepter will never depart from Judah until the Messiah comes, at which time his scepter will be wielded over all nations (Isaiah 11); up to that time it was wielded over Israel alone. As for Genesis 49:10, there is nothing in it to suggest that it applies to Jesus. The majority of the world’s population has never been followers of Jesus.
Continued