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Muhammad in the Bible David Benjamin KeldaniEdited & Annotated by: Prof. Dawud M. R. Alhanbali & Prof, Dr. Kaseb A. Albadran ( 23 )into “He to whom it belongs.” It is easy to see how the translator has understood the word as composed of “sh” abridged from of āsher = “he, that,” and lōh (the Arabic lehu) = “is his.” Consequently, according to the Pshitta, the clause will be read in the following manner: “Until he to whom it belongeth come, and,” etc. The personal pronoun “it” may refer to the sceptre and the lawgiver separately or collectively, or perhaps to the “obedience” in the fourth clause of the verse, the language being poetic. According to this important version, the sense of the prediction would appear to be plainly this:“The royal and prophetic charactershall not pass away fromJudah until he to whom it belongs comes, for his is the homage of people.”However, apparently this word is derived from the verb shalah and therefore meaning “peaceful, tranquil, quiet and trust-worthy.”It is most likely that some old transcriber or copyist currente calamo and with a slip of pen has detached the left side of the final letter het, and then it has been transformed into hi; for the two letters are exceedingly alike being only very slightly different on the left side. If such an error has been transmitted in the Hebrew manuscript, intentionally or unintentionally, the word is derived from shălăh, “to send, delegate,” the past participle of which would be shăluh — that is, “one who is sent, apostle, messenger.”However, there appears no reasonable cause for a deliberate change of hetfor hi,since the yod is preserved in the presentshape ofShiloh, which has no vaw that would be necessary for the past participle Shālūh. Besides, I think the Septuagint hasretained the Shiloh asit is. The only possible change, therefore, would be of the final letter het into hi. If such were the case, then the word would take the form of Shilūăh and correspond exactly to the “Apostle of Yah,” the very title given to Muhammad alone “Răsūl Allah,” i.e. “the Apostle of God.” I