Shilonite

Shilonite is a gentillic designation meaning inhabitant of Shiloh, used in the Old Testament to identify individuals connected with the town of Shiloh in Ephraim. The designation is applied most prominently to Ahijah the prophet, who is consistently identified as Ahijah the Shilonite (1 Kings 11:29; 12:15; 14:2; 15:29; 2 Chronicles 9:29). Ahijah was the prophet who tore his garment into twelve pieces and gave ten to Jeroboam, symbolizing the division of Solomon's kingdom, and who later pronounced doom on Jeroboam's house.

The term also appears in Nehemiah 11:5 identifying a Judahite settler in Jerusalem named Maaseiah as a Shilonite, and in 1 Chronicles 9:5 in the parallel list. The priestly and prophetic associations of Shiloh — as the location of the tabernacle and the center of Eli's priestly family — gave the designation Shilonite a specific religious weight. Ahijah's connection to the prophetic guild centered at Shiloh links him to the tradition that preceded the monarchy and that continued to speak God's word as an independent voice to the kings.