Shiloh

Shiloh means “Peace,” “Resting Place,” or “Bringer of Prosperity.” It is located approximately 24 kilometers northeast of Ramah, where Samuel’s family lived. The city was built on a ridge, at an elevation of 803 meters, and surrounded by mountains on three sides with ample water. It was an excellent agricultural and pastoral area. In Joshua’s time, the entire congregation of Israel gathered at Shiloh and set up the tabernacle there. Afterward, all important matters of the Israelites were discussed here, making it essentially the political, military, and religious center of the time, no different from a capital city. All Israelite males were to “appear before the Lord your God three times a year” (Exodus 23:17), gathering at Shiloh to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths (Judges 21:19).

During the period of the Judges, the tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant were mostly in Shiloh (Joshua 18:1; Judges 18:31). According to the law, after the Ark was captured in Samuel’s time, Shiloh appears to have been destroyed by the Philistines. During the period of the divided kingdom, priests still resided there. Between the 8th and 4th centuries BC, it was abandoned and uninhabited. Settlement only resumed around the Roman period, and the remains of two Christian churches from the 5th and 6th centuries have been excavated. After the Islamic invasion, it was again abandoned, and modern-day Shiloh is a ruin.

The above images are used with authorization from “Comprehensive Bible Interpretation” and “Holy Light Biblical Geography Information Network.”