Category Archives: Old Testament

During the midst of the allocation of the land to the various tribes of Israel, all of them gathered at Shiloh (Shilo) and set up the tent of meeting or tabernacle (Joshua 18:1), which is also called the house of God in Joshua 18:31. Here they made the final division of the land (Joshua 18:8-10).

Then the whole congregation of the people of Israel assembled at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there. The land lay subdued before them. (Joshua 18:1 ESV)

The book of Joshua describes the location of Shiloh in specific terms.

However, there is an annual festival to the LORD in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel (east of the main road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem) and south of Lebonah.” (Judges 21:19 NET)

The location of Shiloh in Old Testament times. Map: BibleAtlas.org.

The Israelites decided to take the ark of the covenant down to the battle field near the coastal plain. The Israelites were camped beside Ebenezer and the Philistines were camped at Aphek (1 Samuel 4). This was a bad decision. The Philistines defeated the Israelites on that occasion and captured the ark of the covenant. In the same conflict two sons of the judge Eli, Hophni and Phenhas, died. When word reached the old man at the gate of Shiloh he died. It was especially the message that the ark had been taken that most affected Eli.

As soon as he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell over backward from his seat by the side of the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. He had judged Israel forty years. (1 Samuel 4:18 ESV)

The ark never returned to Shiloh. Eventually, after the Philistines sent it back to the Israelites, David took it to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6).

The first photo shows a view of the tell toward the east. Notice the roof of a tower that allows a view of the general area. A hi-res image is available here.

Tel Shiloh where the tabernacle once stood. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

From that tower we look north at the view of the hill country of Ephraim. The tell is now overgrown, but the rocks in the foreground are the outline of excavated building at the site. Hi-res here.

The view north, and perhaps a bit east, from Tel Shiloh. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Shiloh was the home of Samuel. The biblical account of the intriguing story of Hannah who had no children is told in the early chapters of 1 Samuel. When Samuel was old enough to be away from home, his mother took him to live with Eli at the tabernacle in Shiloh (1 Samuel 1:24). God’s prophetic call came to Samuel at Shiloh (1 Samuel 3).

Shiloh is identified with Tell Seilun, a site located about 30 miles north of Jerusalem. Israel Finkelstein conducted an excavation of the tell between 1981 and 1984. He found eight strata from MB II to the Middle Ages.

The evidence for sacred continuity at the site from MB III–Iron I is instructive for the history of Israel. Surveys done by Finkelstein in the region of the central hills established that Shiloh was indeed in the heart of a settlement landscape that had greatly expanded in Iron I. The area surrounding Shiloh was perhaps three times as densely populated as any other region in the hills. Given that the top of the tell was long ago exposed, the nature of the shrine constructed by the Israelites is not ascertainable, whether it was a permanent building (cf. 1 Sam. 3:15) or a portable shrine (cf. 2 Sam. 7:6f). — Encyclopedia Jusaica.

Arutz Sheva (Israel National News) reports here that some new excavations are underway at Shiloh, but few details are given (HT: Joseph I. Lauer).

Tell es-Safi/Gath is a Philistine city currently being excavation under the direction of Prof. Aren Maeir of Bar Ilan University. The 2010 excavation season is over and we are learning more information about some of the discoveries this year.

The second image is of the very impressive collapse of a large brick wall that was found in Area F (near the summit of the tell). This wall, which appears to be over 20 m in length, was moved laterally about 2 meters, and then toppled. Based on the tight stratigraphic context, this can be dated to the mid-8th cent. BCE (above the 9th cent. destruction level, followed by level of wind-blown sediment, then the collapse and then 2, late 8th cent. levels). After discussing this with seismologists, it has been agreed upon that this in fact could have only have been caused by an earthquake, perhaps one of major force (ca. 8 on the Richter scale). Based on the dating of this event to the early/mid eighth century, it may very likely be evidence of the earthquake mentioned in Amos 1:1 (and perhaps also in Isaiah 6:4). Here is a picture of the collapse. Notice how bricks were moved off the stone foundation and then toppled over as a “deck of cards”.

Read the entire report, along with a hi-res image, here. Scroll back through the blog to see other discoveries this year.

Brick wall at Gath destroyed by earthquake. Photo: Bar Ilan University.

The earthquake revealed here may be the one mentioned by the prophet Amos. The earthquake was so significant that the prophet dated the reception of his prophecy “two years before the earthquake.”

The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. (Amos 1:1 ESV)

After considering some of the evidence for the date of the work of Amos, Hubbard says,

“For Amos’ ministry, then, a date between 760 and 755 BC seems to have gained almost unanimous support among scholars. (Joel & Amos, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, 90).