Sceptre and lawgiver shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh come. Here everything depends upon fixing the derivation and signification of this word. There cannot be any doubt, and, indeed, it is now almost universally admitted, that it is derived from שלה, "to rest." In the first edition of this work, the author gave it as his opinion, that its formation was analogous to that of כידור, "tumult of war," from כדר, "to be troubled," קיטר, "smoke," from שִׁלֹחַ ,קטר from שלח; and many (_Hofmann_, _Kurtz_, _Reinke_) have stedfastly maintained this opinion even until now. But the author must confess that the objections raised against this derivation by _Tuch_ are well-founded. "In the first place," _Tuch_ remarks, "it is well known that forms like קיטר do not constitute any special class in the etymology, but have originated from _Piel_ forms (_Ewald_, Lehrb. d. Hebr. Spr. § 156 b), as is very clearly shown by קימוש, being found by the side of קִמּוֹשׁ. But the _o_ in the final syllable of these words is not an o unchangeable, according to the rules of etymology, and could, therefore, not remain in a root לח; _and there is not found, in general, any form of a root_ לח _analogous to_ קיטר." But far more decisive is another reason. "The _nomina Gentilia_ גילני (2 Sam. xv. 12), שילני (1 Kings [Pg 69] xi. 29, xii. 15), lead us from the supposed form to the substantive termination ־וֹן which a _liquida_ may drop, and express the remaining vowel ו by ה." (Compare _Ewald_, § 163.) Now that _Shiloh_ is an abbreviation of _Shilon_ is proved, not only by the _nomen gentile_, but also by the fact, that the ruins of the town which received its name from the Shiloh in our passage, are, up to the present moment, called _Seilun_, and that Josephus writes _Silo_ as well as _Silun_, Σιλοῦν (compare _Robinson_, Travels iii. 1, p. 305); and, _finally_, by the analogy of the name שלמה, which is formed after the manner of שילה, and likewise shortened from שלמון. We must confess that _Tuch_ is right also when he asserts: "That it is quite impossible to give the word the signification of an appellative noun, since it is only in proper names, in which the signification of the suffix of derivation is of less consequence, that _on_ is shortened into _o_." The only exception is that of אבדה, "hell," in Prov. xxvii. 20; but even this is only an _apparent_ exception, and is quite in accordance with the rule laid down, inasmuch as "hell" is, in this passage, personified,--as is frequently the case in other passages. (Compare Rev. ix. 11.) But this case very plainly shows that we are not at liberty to apply, as _Tuch_ does, the measure of our proper names to those of Scripture, which are used in a more comprehensive sense. The Samaritan translation is, therefore, right in retaining the "Shiloh." As the passage under review is the first in which the person of the Redeemer meets us, so Shiloh is also the first _name_ of the Redeemer,--a name expressive of His