The sceptre, &c.— We shall not attempt to enter into the various expositions which have been given of this celebrated passage, but shall content ourselves with laying before the reader a few of those which appear to us the clearest and most unexceptionable.
I. The sceptre, i.e.. the power of government; law-giver, i.e.. a judge or a person who dispenses law; from between his feet, i.e.. of his posterity, Judah's posterity, Judah being often taken for the whole race of the Jews: Until Shiloh, i.e.. the Peace-maker, come; and until the gatherings of the nations shall be to him, viz. at the destruction of the Jewish state by Titus, Christ being then come, and the Gentiles converted. See Matthew 24:14. Shiloh is derived from Shalah, which word signifies, safety, salvation, peace, happy, fortunate, prosperous, triumphant.
II. The sceptre shall not depart from Judah— The word שׁבט shebet, which we translate, a sceptre, signifies, a rod, or staff of any kind; and particularly the rod or staff which belonged to each tribe as an ensign of their authority; and thence it is transferred to signify, a tribe, as being united under one rod or staff of government, or a ruler of a tribe; and in this sense it is used twice in this very chapter, Matthew 24:16. Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes, or rulers, of Israel. It has the same signification in 2 Samuel 7:7. In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel, spake I a word with any of the tribes, or rulers, of Israel? In the parallel place of Chronicles, it is Judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, why build ye not me an house of cedar? The word does indeed sometimes signify a sceptre, but that is apt to convey an idea of kingly authority, which was not the thing intended here. The LXX translate it, αρχων, a ruler, which answers better to a law-giver in the following clause. It could not, with any sort of propriety, be said, that the sceptre should not depart from Judah, when Judah had no sceptre, nor was to have any for many generations afterwards: but Judah had a rod or staff of a tribe, for he was then constituted a tribe; as well as the rest of his brethren. The very same expression occurs in Zechariah 10:11 and the sceptre of AEgypt shall depart away, which implies that AEgypt had a sceptre, and that that sceptre should be taken away: but no grammar or language could justify the saying, that Judah's sceptre should depart, or be taken away, before Judah was in possession of any sceptre. Would it not therefore be better to substitute the word staff, or ruler, instead of sceptre, unless we restrain the meaning of sceptre to a rod or staff of a tribe, which is all that is here intended? The staff, or ruler, shall not depart from Judah; such authority as Judah then had, was to remain with his posterity. It is not said or meant, that he should not cease from being a king, or having a kingdom, for he was then no king, and had no kingdom; but only that he should not cease from being a tribe, or body politic, having rulers and governors of his own, till a certain period here foretold.
Nor a law-giver from between his feet— The sense of the word sceptre will help us to fix and determine the meaning of the other word מחקק mechokek, which we translate a law-giver. For, if they be not synonimous, they are not very different. Such as the government is, such must be the law-giver. The government was only of a single tribe, and the law-giver could be of no more. Nor had the tribe of Judah, at any time, a legislative authority over all the other tribes; no, not even in the reigns of David or Solomon. When David appointed the officers for the service of the temple, (1 Chronicles 25:1; 1 Chronicles 25:31.Ezra 8:20.) and when Solomon was anointed king, and Zadok priest, (1 Chronicles 29:22.) these things were done with the consent and approbation of the princes and rulers of Israel. Indeed. the whole nation had but one law, and one lawgiver, in the strict sense of the word. The king himself was not properly a law-giver; he was only to have a copy of the law, to read therein, and not to turn aside from the commandment, to the right hand or to the left, Deuteronomy 17:18; Deuteronomy 17:20. Moses was truly, as he is styled, the law-giver, Numbers 21:18. Deuteronomy 33:21. And when the word is applied to any other person, or persons, it is used in a lower signification. For it signifies not only a law-giver, but a judge; not only one who maketh laws, but likewise one who exerciseth jurisdiction. In the Greek it is translated ηγεμενος, a leader or president; in the Chaldee, a scribe; in the Syriac, an expositor; and in our English Bible it is elsewhere translated a governor, as in Joshua 5:14 out of Machir came down governors, and out of Zebulun they that handle the pen of the writer. The law-giver therefore is to be taken in a restrained sense, as well as the sceptre: and perhaps it cannot be translated better than judge; nor a judge from between his feet.* Whether we understand it, that a judge from between his feet, shall not depart from Judah, or a judge shall not depart from between his feet, I conceive the meaning to be much the same, that there should not be wanting a judge of the race or posterity of Judah, according to the Hebrew phrase of children's coming from between the feet. They who expound it of sitting at the feet of Judah, seem not to have considered that this was the place of scholars, and not of judges, or doctors of the law. As Dan, Judges 5:16 was to judge his people as one of the tribes or rulers of Israel; so was Judah, and with this particular prerogative, that the staff or ruler should not depart from Judah, nor a judge from between his feet, until Shiloh came.
* Some have supposed, that mechokek signifies primarily a staff or ensign of legislative or judicial authority; and that the phrase from between his feet, alludes to the ancient custom of a judge's sitting with a staff of authority between his feet, leaning or resting his hand on the top of it, as sitting in judgment, or attending in a court of justice. See PARKHURST on the word.
Until Shiloh come— That is, until the coming of the Messiah, as almost all interpreters, both ancient and modern, agree. For howsoever they may explain the word, and whencesoever they may derive it, the Messiah is the person plainly intended. The LXX translate it, until τα αποκειμενα αυτω, the things reserved for him come; or, according to other copies ω αποκειται, he for whom it is reserved, come: and what was the great treasure reserved for Judah, or who was the person for whom all things were reserved, but the Messiah, whom we hear declaring in the gospel, Matthew 11:27 all things are delivered unto me of my Father; and again, ch. Genesis 28:18. all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth? The Syriac translates it to the same purpose, he whose it is: I suppose, meaning the kingdom: and the Arabic, whose he is; I suppose, meaning Judah: and whose was Judah, or whose was the kingdom, so properly as the Messiah's, who is so many times predicted under the character of the king of Israel? Junius and Tremellius, with others, translate it filius ejus, his son; as if it was derived from שׁיל shil, profluvium sanguinis, or שׁליה shilejah, secundina, that wherein the infant is wrapped, and thence, by a metonimy, the infant itself. And who could be this son of Judah, by way of eminence, but the Messiah, the Seed in which all the nations of the earth should be blessed? In the Samaritan text and version it is, the peace-maker; and this, perhaps, is the best explication of the word; and to whom can this, or any the like title, be so justly applied, as to the Messiah, who is emphatically styled by Isaiah, ch. Genesis 9:6. the Prince of peace; and at whose birth was sung that heavenly anthem, Luke 2:14. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will towards men?
We now proceed to draw the full and exact completion of this part of the prophecy. The twelve sons of Jacob are constituted twelve tribes, or heads of tribes, Luke 2:28. To Judah it was particularly promised, that the sceptre, or rod of the tribe, should not depart from him, nor a judge or law-giver from between his feet: his tribe should continue a distinct tribe, with rulers, and judges, and governors of its own, until the coming of the Messiah. The people of Israel, after this settlement of their government, were reckoned by their tribes, but never before; and the tribe of Judah made as considerable a figure as any of them. When it was promised to Judah particularly, that the sceptre should not depart from him, it was implied that it should depart from the other tribes; and accordingly the tribe of Benjamin became a sort of appendage to the kingdom of Judah; and the other ten tribes were, after a time, carried away captive into Assyria, whence they never returned. The Jews also were carried captive to Babylon, but returned after seventy years; and, during their captivity, they were far from being treated as slaves, as appears from the prophet's advice to them, Jeremiah 29:5; Jeremiah 29:32. Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them, &c. Many of them were so well fixed and settled at Babylon, and lived there in such ease and affluence, that they refused to return to their native country. In their captivity they were still allowed to live as a distinct people, appointed feasts and fasts for themselves, and had rulers and governors of their own, as we may collect from several places in Ezra and Nehemiah. When Cyrus had issued his proclamation for the rebuilding of the temple, then rose up the chief of the fathers, saith Ezra, Ezra 1:5 so that they had chiefs and rulers among them. Cyrus ordered the vessels of the temple to be delivered to the prince of Judah, Ezra 1:8 so that they had then a prince of Judah; and these princes and rulers, who are often mentioned, managed their return and settlement afterwards. It is true, that, after the Babylonish captivity, they were not so free a people as before, living under the dominion of the Persians, Greeks, and Romans; but still they lived as a distinct people under their own laws. The authority of their rulers and elders subsisted under these foreign masters, as it had even while they were in AEgypt. It subsisted under the Asmonean princes, as it had under the government of the judges, and Samuel and Saul; for, in the book of Maccabees, there is frequent mention of the rulers and elders, and council of the Jews, and of public acts and memorials in their name. It subsisted even in our Saviour's time; for, in the Gospels, we read often of the chief priests and the scribes, and the elders of the people. Their power indeed in capital causes, especially such as related to the state, was abridged in some measure; they might judge, but not execute, without the consent of the Roman governor, as I think we must infer from John 18:31. Then said Pilate unto them, take ye him, and judge him according to your law: the Jews therefore said unto him, it is not lawful for us to put any man to death. The sceptre was then departing, and in about forty years afterwards it totally departed; their city was taken, their temple was destroyed, and they themselves were either slain with the sword or sold for slaves; and, from that time to this, they have never formed one body or society, but have been dispersed among all nations; their tribes and genealogies have been all confounded, and they have lived without a ruler, without a law-giver, and without supreme authority and government in any part of the earth; and this a captivity not for seventy years, but for above seventeen hundred.
And unto him shall the gathering of the people be— Or, the obedience of the people, as it is otherwise translated. These words are capable of three different constructions; and each so probable, that it is not easy to say which was certainly intended by the author; or rather, as the different senses perfectly coincide with each other, it is probable that the Holy Spirit intended to include the whole. 1st, The words may relate to Judah, who is the main subject of the prophecy, and of the discourse preceding and following; and by the people we may understand the people of Israel; and then the meaning will be, that the other tribes should be gathered to the tribe of Judah, which sense is approved by Le Clerc and some late commentators. Or, 2nd, They may relate to Shiloh, who is the person mentioned immediately before; and, by the people, we may understand the Gentiles; and then the meaning will be, that the Gentiles should be gathered, and become obedient to the Messiah; which sense is consonant to other texts of Scripture, and is confirmed by the authority of most ancient interpreters; only some of them render it, And he shall be the expectation of the nations. Or, 3rdly, They may still relate to Shiloh, and yet not be considered as a distinct clause, but be joined in construction with the preceding words, until Shiloh come, the word until being common to both parts; and then the sentence will run thus, Until Shiloh come, and to him the gathering, or obedience of the people; that is, until the Messiah come, and until the people or nations be gathered to his obedience; which sense is preferred by the most learned Mr. Mede and some others.
Each of these interpretations may very well be justified by the event; for, if we understand this of Judah, that the other tribes should be gathered to that tribe, it was in some measure fulfilled by the people's going up so frequently as they did to Jerusalem, which was in the tribe of Judah, in order to obtain justice in difficult cases, and to worship God in his holy temple,
Whither the tribes go up, (saith the Psalmist, Psalms 122:4-5.) the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord. For there are set thrones of judgment; the thrones of the house of David. Upon the division of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, the tribe of Benjamin, and the priests and Levites, and several out of all the other tribes, (see 2 Chronicles 13:16.) went over to Judah, and were so blended and incorporated together, that they are more than once spoken of under the notion of one tribe, 1 Kings 11:13; 1 Kings 11:32; 1 Kings 11:36. And it is expressly said, 1 Kings 12:20 there was none that followed the house of David but the tribe of Judah only, the rest being swallowed up in that tribe, and considered as parts and members of it. In like manner, when the Israelites were carried away captive into Assyria, Exodus 17:18 there was none left but the tribe of Judah only; and yet we know that the tribe of Benjamin, and many out of the other tribes, remained too; but they are reckoned as one and the same tribe with Judah. Nay, at this very time there was a remnant of Israel which escaped from the Assyrians, and went and adhered to Judah; for we find afterwards, that in the reign of Josiah there were some of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of the remnant of Israel, who contributed money to the repairing of the temple, as well as Judah and Benjamin, 2 Chronicles 34:9 and at the solemn celebration of the passover, some of Israel were present, as well as of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. When the people returned from the Babylonish captivity, several of the tribes of Israel associated themselves, and returned with Judah and Benjamin; and in Jerusalem dwelt of the children of Judah, and of the children of Benjamin, and of the children of Ephraim and Manasseh, 1 Chronicles 9:3. At so many different times, and upon such different occasions, the other tribes were gathered to this tribe, insomuch that Judah became the general name of the whole nation; and, after the Babylonish captivity, they were no longer called the people of Israel, but the people of Judah, or Jews.
Again; If we understand this of Shiloh or the Messiah, that the people or Gentiles should be gathered to his obedience, it is no more than is foretold in many other prophecies of Scripture. It began to be fulfilled in Cornelius the Centurion, whose conversion, Acts 10. was, as I may say, the first fruits of the Gentiles; and the harvest afterwards was very plenteous. In a few years the Gospel was disseminated, and took root downward, and bore fruit upward in the most considerable parts of the world then known. We ourselves were of the Gentiles, but are now gathered unto Christ.
Lastly; If we join this in construction with the words preceding, until Shiloh come, two events are specified as forerunners of the sceptre's departing from Judah, the coming of the Messiah, and the gathering of the Gentiles to him; and these together point out with great exactness the precise time of the sceptre's departure. Now it is certain, that before the destruction of Jerusalem, and the dissolution of the Jewish commonwealth by the Romans, the Messiah was not only come, but great numbers likewise of the Gentiles were converted to him. The very same thing was predicted by our Saviour himself, Matthew 24:14. This Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come, the destruction of Jerusalem, and end of the Jewish constitution. The Jews were not to be cut off till the Gentiles were grafted into the church; and in fact we find that the apostles and their companions preached the gospel in all parts of the world then known. Their sound, as St. Paul applies the saying, Romans 10:18 went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. And then the end came. Then an end was put to the Jewish polity in church and state. The government of the tribe of Judah had subsisted, in some form or other, from the death of Jacob to the last destruction of Jerusalem; but then it was utterly broken and ruined; then the sceptre departed, and hath been departed ever since. And now even the distinction of tribes is in a great measure lost among them: they are called Jews; but the tribe of Judah is so far from bearing rule, that they know not for certain which is the tribe of Judah; and all the world is witness, that they exercise dominion nowhere, but live in subjection everywhere. See Bishop Newton.