Cities & towns · Central highlands
Shiloh
What was Shiloh?
Shiloh was Israel’s first sanctuary town, where the tabernacle stood for generations and where Hannah prayed for a son.
TodayKhirbet Seilun, in the central West Bank
RoleHome of the tabernacle
PeopleEli, Hannah, Samuel
After the conquest, Israel set up the tent of meeting at Shiloh, and the land was allotted to the tribes there. For some three centuries it was Israel’s worship center.
There Hannah wept and prayed for a child, and there the boy Samuel heard God call his name in the night.
When Israel treated the ark as a charm, God let Shiloh fall — and the prophets later pointed to its ruins as a warning to a presumptuous temple.
Key verses BSB · Public Domain (CC0)
Joshua 18:1 “Then the whole congregation of Israel assembled at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting there. And though the land was subdued before them,” 1 Samuel 1:24 “Once she had weaned him, Hannah took the boy with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine. Though the boy was still young, she brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh.” 1 Samuel 3:21 “And the LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, because there He revealed Himself to Samuel by His word.”
Related places
Original BibleDawn profile. Drafted with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy. Scripture quoted from the public-domain Berean Standard Bible.