Bible Questions and Answer

Shiloh was Israel's religious center for over two hundred years before Jerusalem. After the conquest, Joshua set up the tabernacle at Shiloh, and the remaining land was divided among the tribes by casting lots there. Every year there was a festival at Shiloh. In a strange story at the end of Judges, the tribe of Benjamin, nearly wiped out in a civil war, was allowed to grab wives from the young women dancing in the vineyards at this festival. At Shiloh, Hannah prayed so earnestly for a son that the priest Eli thought she was drunk. She later brought her son Samuel to serve there, and God called Samuel by name at night. The ark was taken from Shiloh into battle and captured by the Philistines, and Eli died when he heard the news. Shiloh seems to have been destroyed afterward, and later the prophet Ahijah lived there. Jeremiah pointed to Shiloh's ruins as a warning to Jerusalem.