xii. 15), lead us from the supposed form to the substantive termination

־וֹן which a _liquida_ may drop, and express the remaining vowel ו by ה." (Compare _Ewald_, § 163.) Now that _Shiloh_ is an abbreviation of _Shilon_ is proved, not only by the _nomen gentile_, but also by the fact, that the ruins of the town which received its name from the Shiloh in our passage, are, up to the present moment, called _Seilun_, and that Josephus writes _Silo_ as well as _Silun_, Σιλοῦν (compare _Robinson_, Travels iii. 1, p. 305); and, _finally_, by the analogy of the name שלמה, which is formed after the manner of שילה, and likewise shortened from שלמון. We must confess that _Tuch_ is right also when he asserts: "That it is quite impossible to give the word the signification of an appellative noun, since it is only in proper names, in which the signification of the suffix of derivation is of less consequence, that _on_ is shortened into _o_." The only exception is that of אבדה, "hell," in Prov. xxvii. 20; but even this is only an _apparent_ exception, and is quite in accordance with the rule laid down, inasmuch as "hell" is, in this passage, personified,--as is frequently the case in other passages. (Compare Rev. ix. 11.) But this case very plainly shows that we are not at liberty to apply, as _Tuch_ does, the measure of our proper names to those of Scripture, which are used in a more comprehensive sense. The Samaritan translation is, therefore, right in retaining the "Shiloh." As the passage under review is the first in which the person of the Redeemer meets us, so Shiloh is also the first _name_ of the Redeemer,--a name expressive of His nature, and quite in correspondence with the names in Is. ix. 5, and with the name Immanuel in Is. vii. 14. With respect to the _signification_ of the name, the termination _on_, according to _Ewald_, § 163, forms adjectives and abstract nouns. The analogy of the name שלמה, which is formed after the manner of שילה, indicates that it has here _an adjective_ signification, and, like Solomon, Shiloh denotes "the man of rest," corresponds to the "Prince of Peace" in Is.