# Genesis 49.10



## VirginiaHuguenot (Sep 2, 2005)

Gen 49:10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

I have read Calvin, Henry, Poole, JFB, Wesley and the Geneva Bible notes on this verse. I know that Charles Spurgeon preached on this text but I have not read that sermon. 

I also take note of the Westminster Assembly's employment of this verse in support of two propositions:

WCF, Chap. 19:


> IV. To them also, as a body politic, He gave sundry judicial laws, which expired together with the State of that people; not obliging under any now, further than the general equity thereof may require.



WLC


> Q. 45. How doth Christ execute the office of a king?
> A. Christ executeth the office of a king, in calling out of the world a people to himself,...



It seems to me that much can be and has been said about this verse. Matthew Henry:



> Many excellent pens have been admirable well employed in explaining and illustrating this famous prophecy of Christ.



To put it succintly, this verse 1) points to the future coming of the Messiah; 2) foretells the termination of the Hebrew polity; and 3) indicates that Christ as king and lawgiver will govern the Gentiles as well as the Jews. This is an admittedly very simple summary.

Any other thoughts? Discussion?

What other sources should I read to help digest this immensely profound verse?

[Edited on 9-3-2005 by VirginiaHuguenot]


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Sep 6, 2005)

* bump *

(I've now read comments pertinent by this passage by Robert Shaw, Zacharias Ursinus, Jonathan Edwards, Loraine Boettner and William Symington.)

See also Num. 24.17: I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.

[Edited on 9-6-2005 by VirginiaHuguenot]


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Oct 19, 2005)

* bump *


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## Saiph (Oct 19, 2005)

> foretells the termination of the Hebrew polity



I do not agree with this.




> Mat 5:17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the *Law or the Prophets;* I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
> Mat 5:18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is *accomplished*.
> Mat 5:19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.



So what are you asking exactly about the Genesis text ?


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Oct 19, 2005)

I am asking what people think this verse means. I am primarily interested in the historic Reformed and Confessional views of the text. I am not particularly interested in modern theonomic interpretations or a debate over theonomy.

[Edited on 10-19-2005 by VirginiaHuguenot]


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## Saiph (Oct 19, 2005)

Gen 49:10 

The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.


It means:


Isa 11:1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. 
Isa 11:2 And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. 
Isa 11:3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, 
Isa 11:4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. 
Isa 11:5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins. 
Isa 11:6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. 
Isa 11:7 The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 
Isa 11:8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. 
Isa 11:9 They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. 
Isa 11:10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples--of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious. 
Isa 11:11 In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea. 
Isa 11:12 He will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Jan 16, 2006)

Matthew Poole on Matt. 2.1:



> The verse further tells us, that this was in the days of Herod the king: these words, the king, are added to distinguish him from Herod the tetrarch, Matt 14:1, or other Herods. This was that Herod the Great, commonly called the Ascalonite, the son of Antipater. There are three opinions of learned men concerning him. Some think that he was by birth an Idumean, and that his mother was an Arabian, and say he was the first foreigner that ever reigned in Judea; and that in him the prophecy was fulfilled, Gen 49:10, that the sceptre should not depart from Judah till Shiloh came.



Matthew Henry on Matt. 2.1:



> I. When this enquiry was made concerning Christ. It was in the days of Herod the king. This Herod was an Edomite, made king of Judea by Augustus and Antonius, the then chief rulers of the Roman state, a man made up of falsehood and cruelty; yet he was complimented with the title of Herod the Great. Christ was born in the 35th year of his reign, and notice is taken of this, to show that the sceptre had now departed from Judah, and the lawgiver from between his feet; and therefore now was the time for Shiloh to come, and to him shall the gathering of the people be: witness these wise men, Gen 49:10.


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## Contra_Mundum (Jan 21, 2006)

I preached this text Dec. 25, 2006.


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Jan 21, 2006)

> _Originally posted by Contra_Mundum_
> I preached this text Dec. 25, 2006.



Bruce, 

Is there any wisdom you might be able to share with me about this verse? Are your sermons recorded or transcribed?


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