Question In Genesis 49:10 the Bible says “The scepter shall not pass from Judah until Shiloh come.” Doesn’t this prove the Jews missed the messiah when Jesus came and the Temple was destroyed?
Answer You ask an interesting question. The scepter, obviously, refers to the king and most agree that Shiloh represents the messiah So let‘s start our study by rephrasing the Scripture a bit more clearly:
“The Kingship of Israel shall not pass from the tribe of Judah until messiah comes.”
Now obviously there was not a King of Israel when Jacob spoke these words and the Torah predicts that a time will come when the King of Israel would not be in his own land or have dominion over his people (Deut. 28:36). Indeed the first King of Israel was from the Tribe of Benjamin. Furthermore, Kings from the House of Judah ceased to exist after the First Temple was destroyed, some 500 years before the Christian messiah. The Hasmonean kings, who ruled during the Second Temple period and the lifetime of Jesus, were, in fact, from the Tribe of Levi, not Judah.
Some prefer, for obvious reasons, the place the scepter in the hands of the Sanhedrin, rather than the King of Israel. However, for much the same reason, they cannot be the object of the prophecy either, since the Sanhedrin was made up mostly of Priests (Tribe of Levi).
Therefore, you see, this ‘prophecy’ cannot refer to Jesus. Indeed, if taken literally and as a prophecy, the messiah should have come in 586 BCE.
I say, “If taken as a prophecy” because it appears an imperative rather than a prophecy. Simply stated, the verse simply means, that from the time David (from the Tribe of Judah) ascends the throne, for as long as a King reigns over Israel, that king must be from the Tribe of Judah. Jacob is giving the leadership role to his son Judah and his descendents, not prophesying.
