“‘Go now to my place
That was in Shiloh.
There I made
My name dwell at first.
See what I did to it,
Due to the wickedness
Of my people Israel.
Now,
Because you have done
All these things
Watch out!’
Says Yahweh.
‘When I spoke to you persistently,
You did not listen.
When I called you,
You did not answer.
Therefore I will do
To the house
That is called by my name,
In which you trust,
What I did to Shiloh.
This is the place
That I gave to you
As well as your ancestors.
I will do
Just what I did to Shiloh.
I will cast you out of my sight.
I will do
Just as I cast out all your kinsmen,
All the offspring of Ephraim.’”
Shiloh had been an ancient Canaanite shrine and then an Israelite shrine until it was destroyed by the Philistines around 1050 BCE. Shiloh was in the Ephraim territory, north of Bethel and Jericho, about 20 miles north of Jerusalem. It had been an Israelite shrine where the Ark of the Covenant was until Jerusalem was built by King David and King Solomon. Here Yahweh reminds Jeremiah that his name had lived at Shiloh. However, due to the wickedness of those people, he changed his living place to Jerusalem. Like them, these people in Jerusalem were not listening when Yahweh called. They did not answer him. Thus he was going to do to Jerusalem what he had done to Shiloh. He was going to cast them all out of his sight, as he had done to Ephraim and all its descendants.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 