This verse first tells us that kingship over Israel will come from the tribe of Judah. This began with King David who was the first king from the tribe of Judah. Second, the authority whose responsibility is the keeping of the Divine Law will be from the tribe of Judah. Shilo is a name for the Messiah. Once the Messiah arrives, Kings over Israel will forever be from the tribe of Judah. Also, once the Messiah arrives, the authority whose responsibility is the keeping of the Divine Law, will forever be from the tribe of Judah. Furthermore, the nations of the world will assemble and submit to the Messiah.

Since King David was the first king from the tribe of Judah and since the Messiah is to come from the tribe of Judah, for over two thousand years throughout Jewish writings there has been an association of Messiah with Son of David. It is natural to pair the key word Who is Messiah with Son of David and look for the smallest area table produced by ELSs of these two key words. With the expected number of ELSs set to 35, the probability that a text from the ELS random placement text population would produce as small a table as that produced by the Torah is 41.5/10,000. The resulting table is shown on the right.

The father of King David is Jesse. This suggests that we pair Who is Messiah with Son of Jesse. The resulting smallest area table is not statistically significant.

The expected number of ELSs is set to 50. The cylinder size is 871 columns. The probability that a text from the ELS random placement text population would produce as small a table as this is 24.5/100.

Finding by Professor Haralick

Regarding the etymology of the word Shilo שילה, Rabbi Hirsch explains that it can be derived from the word שול, which is

the lower hem of a garment and denotes the extreme end. Jacob is lying here on his death bed, at the very first beginning of the nation of which the foundation stone has hardly been laid, and looks down the centuries at the last "sprout from the stem" of Judah. The suffix ו [ of שילה] is written with a ה to indicate weakness (feminine) and by calling the last generation שילה, Jacob says the time will come when the kingdom of David will appear at its lowest deepest end, and Judah no longer as strong as a lion, but femininely weak, and one will think that it has reached its final stage where Judah's strength and virility will almost have disappeared, and then -- just then -- when the undertakers of world-history will already have ordered the coffin for Judah's body apparently coming to its end, לו יקהת עמים, it will manfully arise and to it the nations will come. (Samson Rafael Hirsch, The Pentateuch Genesis, Isaac Levy trans., Judaica Press Ltd., Gateshead, 1989, p. 664.)

The second place in the Torah which prophesizes about the Messiah is in Bilaam's last prophecy.

I shall see him, but not now. I shall look at him, but it is not near. A star has issued from Jacob. And a scepter-bearer has risen from Israel. And he shall pierce the nobles of Moab and undermine all the children of Seth. Edom shall be a conquest and Seir shall be the conquest of his enemies -- and Israel will attain success. (Numbers 24:17-18)

I shall see him, but not now. If the children of Israel are worthy and return to God, the Messiah will come early. I shall look at him, but it is not near. If the children of Israel are not worthy and do not return to God on their own initiative, without prompting from God, the Messiah will come in its time. A star has issued from Jacob. In the first case, the star is the metaphor for the Messiah. And a scepter-bearer has risen from Israel.In the second case, the scepter is the metaphor for the Messiah.

The word translated as sceptre is שבט, whose most common meaning is staff, rod, or tribe. The shepherds use a rod to guide and correct the sheep. Psalm 23:4 mentions God's rod and staff.

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

A scepter is a special kind of staff or rod. A scepter is a staff that is associated with the highest power and majesty. In many kingdoms, the king would hold the scepter. Before a person could speak to the king, the king would give the scepter to the person to hold, temporarily delegating the speaking authority of the king to the speaker. Speaking to the king without the king's scepter was a serious offence and would carry a death sentence. In the religious context, a staff which is a scepter carries Divine authority and creative force.

The Midrash Yelamdenu states that

the staff with which Jacob crossed the Jordan (Genesis 32:10-11) is identical with that which Judah gave to his daughter-in-law, Tamar (Genesis 38:18). It is likewise the holy rod with which Moses worked (Exodus 4:20-21), with which Aaron performed wonders before Pharaoh (Exodus 7:10), and with which, finally, David slew the giant Goliath (I Samuel 17:40). David left it to his descendants, and the Davidic kings used it as a scepter until the destruction of the Temple, when it miraculously disappeared. When the Messiah comes it will be given to him for a scepter in token of his authority over the heathen. (Yalkut Shimoni on Psalms, section 869)

And he shall pierce the nobles of Moab and undermine all the children of Seth. Edom shall be a conquest and Seir shall be the conquest of his enemies -- and Israel will attain success. This verse references the peoples of Moab, Edom, and Seir. These peoples include the Moslems who descended from Ishmael and those that descended from Lot and the Christians who descended from Esau. In the end of days, these are the peoples who will fight against Israel. And it will appear as if Israel is going to lose. But the Messiah, who will have Divine authority, will come. Israel will be successful and all the nations will in the end submit to the Messiah.