Genesis 49 · a question people ask
What does "until he comes to whom it belongs" mean?
The Hebrew of 49:10 reads ad ki yavo shiloh, "until Shiloh comes" or "until he comes to whom it belongs". Strong's and Brown-Driver-Briggs list this shiloh as its own word, found only here, apart from the town Shiloh (H7887), which can be spelled the same way. Brown-Driver-Briggs takes it as apparently "he whose it is, or that which belongs to him", close to the WEB's "to whom it belongs". Strong's takes it as "Shiloh, an epithet of the Messiah". Readers take the line in three main ways.
How Christians read it
Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
"Until he comes to whom it belongs"
Those who hold this view read the line as the scepter staying with Judah until its rightful owner comes. They compare Ezekiel 21:27, "until he comes whose right it is; and I will give it", and see the rightful king as the Messiah.
Genesis 49:10 · Ezekiel 21:27
"Until Shiloh comes"
Those who hold this view read Shiloh as a name or title of the coming ruler himself, as Strong's does, and see it fulfilled in Jesus, to whom "the obedience of the peoples" belongs.
Genesis 49:10
"Until he comes to Shiloh"
Others read the Hebrew literally as "until he comes to Shiloh", the town where "the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled themselves together" and "set up the Tent of Meeting" (Joshua 18:1). Strong's lists the town separately (H7887), "from the same as 7886".
Joshua 18:1
The verses
“The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs. The obedience of the peoples will be to him.”