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Shiloh

City / town

The place in the hill country of Ephraim where the tabernacle stood through the period of the judges, making it Israel's central sanctuary before Jerusalem. Samuel served here as a boy under Eli, and the later ruin of Shiloh became a warning in Jeremiah's preaching (Joshua 18:1; 1 Samuel 3; Jeremiah 7:12-14).

Where in scripture

The whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled themselves together at Shiloh, and set up the Tent of Meeting there. The land was subdued before them.

Joshua 18:1 — cited in the description of Shiloh

[1] The child Samuel ministered to Yahweh before Eli. Yahweh’s word was precious in those days. There were not many visions, then. [2] At that time, when Eli was laid down in his place (now his eyes had begun to grow dim, so that he could not see), [3] and God’s lamp hadn’t yet gone out, and Samuel had laid down in Yahweh’s temple, where God’s ark was; [4] Yahweh called Samuel; and he said, “Here I am.” [5] He ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am; for you called me.” He said, “I didn’t call. Lie down again.” He went and lay down. [6] Yahweh called yet again, “Samuel!” Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am; for you called me.” He answered, “I didn’t call, my son. Lie down again.” [7] Now Samuel didn’t yet know Yahweh, neither was Yahweh’s word yet revealed to him.

1 Samuel 3 — opening verses — cited in the description of Shiloh

[12] “But go now to my place which was in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel. [13] Now, because you have done all these works,” says Yahweh, “and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you didn’t hear; and I called you, but you didn’t answer; [14] therefore I will do to the house which is called by my name, in which you trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh.

Jeremiah 7:12–14 — cited in the description of Shiloh

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, a public-domain translation.

Joshua 18:11 Samuel 3Jeremiah 7:12–14

What we know — and how we know it

Bible — stated in scripture (with verse) · 1 Archaeology — physical evidence · 1
Life, role & deeds
BibleWhere the tabernacle stood and the boy Samuel served, until the ark was lost to the Philistines.
Joshua 18:1; 1 Samuel 4:3
Samuel · Eli
Tel Shiloh (Khirbet Seilun) excavations (Danish expedition, H. Kjaer, 1926-32; I. Finkelstein, 1981-84); Iron I settlement with destruction layer (I. Finkelstein, S. Bunimovitz & Z. Lederman, 'Shiloh: The Archaeology of a Biblical Site', Tel Aviv University Institute of Archaeology, 1993). Deg777 — CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons) ArchaeologyExcavations at Tel Shiloh have found a substantial Iron Age settlement and a destruction fitting the site's biblical eclipse.
Tel Shiloh (Khirbet Seilun) excavations (Danish expedition, H. Kjaer, 1926-32; I. Finkelstein, 1981-84); Iron I settlement with destruction layer (I. Finkelstein, S. Bunimovitz & Z. Lederman, 'Shiloh: The Archaeology of a Biblical Site', Tel Aviv University Institute of Archaeology, 1993).

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