Judah

The land of Judah. When this is named in Scripture, as distinguished from Israel, it is meant thereby to denote that the kingdoms were divided. The kingdom of the ten tribes, or Samaria, was distinct from Judah. It formed a divided character concerning Judah, that this kingdom retained a reverence for the true religion, and the priesthood, and the law, at a time when the ten tribes were following idolatry. It were needless to remark after what was said before concerning Judah, that the name means, the praise of the Lord.

the son of Jacob and Leah, who was born in Mesopotamia, Gen 29:35. It was he who advised his brethren to sell Joseph to the Ishmaelite merchants, rather than stain their hands with his blood, Gen 37:26. There is little said of his life, and the little that is recorded does not raise him high in our estimation. In the last prophetic blessing pronounced on him by his father Jacob, Gen 49:8-9, there is a promise of the regal power; and that it should not depart from his family before the coming of the Messiah. The whole southern part of Palestine fell to Judah’s lot; but the tribes of Simeon and Dan possessed many cities which at first were given to Judah. This tribe was so numerous, that at the departure out of Egypt it contained seventy-four thousand six hundred men capable of bearing arms, Num 1:26-27. The crown passed from the tribe of Benjamin, of which Saul and his sons were, to that of Judah, which was David’s tribe, and the tribe of the kings, his successors, until the Babylonish captivity.

Ju´dah, (celebrated), fourth son of Jacob and Leah (B.C. 1755). The narrative in Genesis brings this patriarch more before the reader, and makes known more of his history and character, than it does in the case of any other of the twelve sons of Jacob, with the single, exception of Joseph. It is indeed chiefly in connection with Joseph that the facts respecting Judah transpire; and as they have already been given in the articles Jacob and Joseph, it is only necessary to indicate them shortly in this place. It was Judah’s advice that the brethren followed when they sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites, instead of taking his life. By the light of his subsequent actions we can see that his conduct on this occasion arose from a generous impulse, although the form of the question he put to them has been sometimes held to suggest an interested motive:—’What profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him,’ etc. (Gen 37:26-27).

Not long after this Judah withdrew from the paternal tents, and went to reside at Adullam, in the country which afterwards bore his name. Here he married a woman of Canaan, called Shuah, and had by her three sons, Er, Onan, and Shelah. When the eldest of these sons became of fit age, he was married to a woman named Tamar, but soon after died. As he died childless, the patriarchal law, afterwards adopted into the Mosaic code (Deu 25:6), required him to bestow upon the widow his second son. This he did: but as Onan also soon died childless, Judah became reluctant to bestow his only surviving son upon this woman, and put her off with the excuse that he was not yet of sufficient age. Tamar accordingly remained in her father’s house at Adullam. She had the usual passion of Eastern women for offspring, and could not endure the stigma of having been twice married without bearing children, while the law precluded her from contracting any alliance but that which Judah withheld her from completing.

Meanwhile Judah’s wife died, and after the time of mourning had expired, he went, accompanied by his friend Hirah, to attend the shearing of his sheep at Timnath in the same neighborhood. These circumstances suggested to Tamar the strange thought of connecting herself with Judah himself, under the guise of a loose woman. Having waylaid him on the road to Timnath, she succeeded in her object, and when the consequences began to be manifest in the person of Tamar, Judah was highly enraged at her crime, and, exercising the powers which belonged to him as the head of the family she had dishonored, he commanded her to be brought forth and committed to the flames as an adulteress. But when she appeared, she produced the ring, the bracelet, and the staff, which he had left in pledge with her; and put him to confusion by declaring that they belonged to the father of her coming offspring. Judah acknowledged them to be his, and confessed that he had been wrong in withholding Shelah from her. The result of this painful affair was the birth of two sons, Zerah and Pharez, from whom, with Shelah, the tribe of Judah descended. Pharez was the ancestor of the line from which David, the kings of Judah, and Jesus came (Genesis 38; Gen 46:12; 1Ch 2:3-5; Mat 1:3; Luk 3:33).

These circumstances seem to have disgusted Judah with his residence in towns; for we find him ever afterwards at his father’s tents. His experience of life, and the strength of his character, appear to have given him much influence with Jacob; and it was chiefly from confidence in him that the aged father at length consented to allow Benjamin to go down to Egypt. That this confidence was not misplaced has already been shown [JOSEPH]; and there is not in the whole range of literature a finer piece of true natural eloquence than that in which Judah offers himself to remain as a bond-slave in the place of Benjamin, for whose safe return he had made himself responsible to his father. The strong emotions which it raised in Joseph disabled him from keeping up longer the disguise he had hitherto maintained, and there are few who have read it without being, like him, moved even to tears.

We hear nothing more of Judah till he received, along with his brothers, the final blessing of his father, which was conveyed in lofty language, glancing far into futurity, and strongly indicative of the high destinies which awaited the tribe that was to descend from him.

The fourth son of Jacob and Leah, born in Mesopotamia, B. C. 1755, Gen 29:35 . His name appears honorably in the history of Joseph, Gen 37:26,27 44:16-34; but disgracefully in that of Tamar his daughter-in-law, Gen 38:1-30 . The dying benediction of Jacob foretells the superior power and prosperity of the family of Judah, and their continuance as chief of the Jewish race until the time of Christ, Gen 49:8-12 . Though not the firstborn, Judah soon came to be considered as the chief of Jacob’s children, and his tribe was the most powerful and numerous. The southeastern part of Palestine fell to their lot. See JUDEA. On the border of their territory was Jerusalem, the seat of the Jewish worship; and from Judah sprung David and his royal race, from which descended the Savior of the world.\par After the return from the captivity, this tribe in some sort united in itself the whole Hebrew nation, who from that time were known only as Judaei, Jews, descendants of Judah. Judah-when named in contradistinction to Israel, Ephraim, the kingdom of the ten tribes, or Samaria-denotes the kingdom of Judah, and of David’s descendants. See HEBREWS and KINGS. One of the principal distinctions of this tribe is, that it preserved the true religion, and the public exercise of the priesthood, with the legal ceremonies in the temple at Jerusalem; while the ten tribes gave themselves up to idolatry and the worship of the golden calves.\par

Ju’dah. (praised, celebrated). The fourth son of Jacob and the fourth of Leah. (B.C. after 1753). Of Judah’s personal character, more traits are preserved than of any other of the patriarchs, with the exception of Joseph, whose life he, in conjunction with Reuben, saved. Gen 37:26-28. During the second visit to Egypt for corn, it was Judah who was understood to be responsible for the safety of Benjamin, Gen 43:3-10, and when, through Joseph’s artifice, the brothers were brought back to the palace, he is again the leader and spokesman of the band. So too, it is Judah who is sent before Jacob to smooth the way for him in the land of Goshen. Gen 46:28. This ascendancy over his brethren is reflected in the last words addressed to him by his father.

The families of Judah occupy a position among the tribes similar to that which their progenitor had taken among the patriarchs. The numbers of the tribe at the census at Sinai were 74,600. Num 1:26-27. On the borders of the Promised Land, they were 76,500. Gen 26:22.

The boundaries and contents of the territory allotted to Judah are narrated at great length, and with greater minuteness than the others, in Jos 15:20-63. The north boundary, for the most part coincident with the south boundary of Benjamin, began at the embouchure of the Jordan and ended, on the west, at Jabneel on the coast of the Mediterranean, four miles south of Joppa. On the east, the Dead Sea, and on the west, the Mediterranean, formed the boundaries. The southern line is hard to determine, since it is denoted by places many of which have not been identified. It left the Dead Sea at its extreme south end, and joined the Mediterranean at the Wady el-Arish. This territory is in average length about 45 miles, and in average breadth about 50.

1. The patriarch JUDAH; Jacob’s fourth son, by Leah. Judah ("praise"), Leah having praised Jehovah for giving him; Jacob similarly refers to the meaning of Judah, "thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise" (Gen 29:35; Gen 49:8). He saved Joseph from death by the cruel and covetous plan of selling him to the Midianites. Conscience and natural feeling wrought on Judah, "what profit is it (like the antitype Judas, and in the keen bargaining spirit of the Jews ages afterward: Joh 12:4-5; Mat 26:15), if we slay our brother and conceal his blood? Come and let us sell him ... and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh." Conscience was stupefied, and cupidity gratified, by this scheme. Judah was the brethren’s spokesman in prevailing on Jacob to let Benjamin go to Egypt, and he undertook to be surety for him (Gen 43:3-10); and when Joseph’s cup was found with Benjamin, professed their guilt and liability to bondservice, though actually innocent of stealing it, in order in oriental fashion to move pity.

Then Judah touchingly appealed to the supposed Egyptian prince to detain him as a bondservant instead of his youngest brother, by describing his father’s love for Benjamin after having lost Joseph, and the danger of bringing down his grey hairs with sorrow to the grave, so that Joseph could refrain no longer but made himself known (Genesis 44). Judah too is the one who prepares the way before his father in going to meet Joseph and settle in Goshen (Gen 46:28). Throughout Judah "prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief prince" (1Ch 5:2). Though "the birthright was Joseph’s" he was not registered as firstborn, because of Judah’s prevalence on the threefold ground, Jacob’s blessing, Judah’s historic preeminence, and David the prince (1Ch 28:4) being chosen from Judah. The tribe outnumbered all the others under Moses: 74,600 at Sinai (Num 1:26-27); :76,500 before entering Canaan (Num 26:22); outnumbering Dan at Sinai by 11,900. Again after the division of the land Judah was called by God to be the vanguard of the army warring with the Canaanites (Jdg 1:1-2).

Judah in his conduct before Joseph in Egypt manifested true nobility; if he had sold his brother yet he was willing to be sold himself for the youngest brother. So, when Reuben forfeited his birthright by incest, Simeon and Levi by manslaughter, Judah the next oldest received from Jacob the best blessing of the older sons (Gen 49:8-12). Judah’s "hand was in the neck of his enemies" in his victories as leading tribe; "his father’s children bowed down before him"’ when Judah became the royal tribe, of whom sprang David and David’s almighty Son. The "lion," the king of beasts, is Jacob’s image for Judah; afterward it was his standard, with the motto "Rise up, Lord, let Thine enemies be scattered" (Targum in Pseudo Jonathan). Judah should hold the tribal "sceptre," and have "lawgivers" (Psa 60:7) among his posterity ("from between his feet") until Shiloh ("the Prince of peace") should come. So accordingly Augustus’ decree (Luk 2:1, etc.) and the Roman procuratorship, superseding native rule, marked the appearance of Christ of the tribe of Judah.

In Him all Judah’s regal and legislative powers merged and found their consummation. Judah as to temporal prosperity should "bind his foal unto the vine and his donkey’s colt unto the choice vine, washing his garments in wine and his clothes in the blood of the grape, his eyes being red with wine and his teeth white with milk." Spiritually the targums of Jerusalem and Pseudo Jonathan refer this also to Messiah. Chrysostom interprets the "vine" the Jewish people, the wild donkey the Gentiles brought into the church’s vineyard. Christ is the true vine (Joh 15:1); He trod the winepress alone, empurpling His garments with His blood (Isa 63:1 ff). The wine is the inspiring Spirit in believers as milk is the nourishing spiritual food (Son 5:1; Isa 55:1; Eph 5:18; 1Pe 2:2). In Moses’ dying blessing (Deu 33:7) he prays: "Hear Lord the voice of Judah (in prayer) and bring him (marching at the head of the tribes back again victorious) unto his people."

Judah stopped with his friend Hirah, an Adullamite, and there married a Canaanitess, Shuah’s daughter (Bath-Shua), by whom he had sons, Er, Onan, and Shelah. Er died childless; and oriental or Chaldee custom (afterward permitted and regulated under the Mosaic code: Mat 22:24; Deu 25:5) required Onan to marry his widow Tamar. Onan having been slain by Jehovah for unnatural sin, Shelah ought to have been given her; but Judah, from superstitious fear lest he too should die, delayed. Then she waylaid Judah as a veiled harlot (one apparently consecrated by vow to impurity in the worship of Venus Astarte, the Babylonian Mylitta) at the gate of Enaim (margin) and received his signet, bracelets, and staff in pledge for the kid he promised her. She resumed her widow’s garments.

When it was known that she was with child, Judah, by his patriarchal authority, would have burned her as having disgraced his family; but she proved by the signet and bracelet that Judah himself was the father of her children, and that she had a claim on him as nearest of kin to marry her when he withheld Shelah (Ruth 3-4; Gen 38:25-26). Pharez and Zarah were the offspring, Pharezthe ancestor of David and of Messiah Himself (Gen 46:12)). God can bring purity out of impurity. The three sons born in Canaan accompanied Judah to Egypt on his removal there (Exo 1:2). Nahshon, Amminadab’s son, was chief at the first census (Num 1:7; Num 2:3; Num 7:12; Num 10:14), David’s ancestor (Rth 4:20). Caleb represented Judah among the spies, and in the allotment of the land (Num 13:6; Num 34:19). Judah led the van in the wilderness march on the E. of the tabernacle, with Issachar and Zebulun his kinsmen (Num 2:3-9; Num 10:14).

The boundaries of Judah are given (Jos 20:20-63). The territory was thickly studded with towns and villages. Benjamin was on the N. The northern bound ran from the embouchure of Jordan, by the valley of Hinnom under Jerusalem, to Jabneel on the western sea coast; the Dead Sea on E., and the Mediterranean on W. The southern bound ran from the extreme southern end of the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean at wady el Arish. The wilderness of Zin was its extreme southern limit. Its length averaged 45 miles, its width 50. Four main regions made up the territory.

(1) "The south" (Negeb); the southernmost district of Canaan, the pasture lands between the hills and the desert; a portion of this was ceded to Simeon (Jos 15:20-32; Jos 19:1-9).

(2) The shephelah, or rolling lower hills, the hilly lowland between the central mountains and the Mediterranean plain (Jos 15:33). The shephelah was hounded by the Negeb on the S.; on the N. it reached to Lydda, where the plain of Sharon begins, famous for its flowers; the hilly part (Ashedoth) of the shephelah is on the E., the link between mountain and plain, and is more thick with villages than the plain, grainfields alternate with meadows, gardens, and olive groves.

(3) The mountain or "hill country of Judah," the largest of the four (Jos 15:48-60). Beginning at its highest level below Hebron, 3,000 ft. above the sea level, it reaches E. to the Dead Sea and W. to the shephelah; an elevated plateau of a tolerably general level; the southern part of the mountain backbone stretching N. until interrupted by Esdraelon plain, and having on it Hebron, Jerusalem, and Shechem; this "mountain of Judah" abounds in rains of former towns; springs are numerous, as at Urtas near Solomon’s pools, but no streams. It rises from the Negeb precipitously, between the hilly region on the, western part of the shephelah and the desert of Judah" extending to the Dead Sea (ver. 61): a rugged limestone range, with sides covered with grass, shrubs, and trees; the valleys intersecting it yield plentifully grain, wheat, and millet; orchards, olive yards, and vineyards rise in terraces up the sides.

(4) "The desert of Judah" (midbar), the sunken district near the Dead Sea; from the northern border of Judah (Jos 15:6-7) to wady Fikreh on the S. and to Maon, Tekoah, and Bethlehem toward the W.: a soil of chalk, marl, flint, and lime, bore of vegetation on the side toward the Dead Sea; but where springs are, luxuriant, and even in the desolate parts bearing traces of ancient works of man. The present barrenness, so far from disproving, confirms Scripture, which, though describing its former fertility, foretells its desolation for its apostasy. Its towns were six (Jos 15:62). (See ENGEDI.) The city of Salt was at the southern end of the Dead Sea in the Salt Valley. The priests’ nine cities were all in Judah; the Levites had no cities in Judah (Jos 21:9-19). The allotment to Judah was first (Jos 15:1; Jos 19:51). Joshua prepared the way by destroying the chief towns and slaying their kings, penetrating even to Hebron and Debir in the hill country.

Judah and Simeon followed up the conquest (Jdg 1:9; Jdg 1:19-20), occupying the mountain and the graingrowing Philistine tract, with Gaza, Askelon, and Ekron, but unable to drive out the Canaanites from the valley (Emek) where their chariots gave the latter the advantage (Jdg 1:19), but in Jdg 1:9 "valley" is shephelah, rather the low hilly region between the mountain and the plain. The Philistine tract was wrested from Judah’s hands (1 Samuel 4-5; 1Sa 7:14), then Judah recovered it. Judah took little part in the conflicts under the judges, except (Judges 20) the attack on Gibeah. The Philistine incursions were through Dan’s and Benjamin’s territory, not Judah’s. The tribe acted throughout independently of the rest (2Sa 2:4; 2Sa 2:11; 2Sa 19:40-43). 2Sa 19:2. Ezr 3:9, = Hodaviah (Ezr 2:40), Hodevah (Neh 7:43).

3. Ezr 10:23; Neh 12:8; Neh 12:36.

4. Neh 11:9, "second over the city"; compare 1Ch 9:7.

Judah (jû’dah), praise. 1. The fourth son of Jacob and Leah, was born in Mesopotamia. Gen 29:35. The name was given as an expression of the mother’s gratitude. We know more of him than of the other patriarchs except Joseph, whose life he saved, advising the sale. Gen 37:26-28. His marriage, an incident in his son’s life, and his intrigue with Tamar are recorded in Gen 38:1-30. Judah became the surety for the safety of Benjamin on the second journey to Egypt. Gen 43:3-10. His conduct is worthy of all praise, and his plea for Benjamin’s liberty is one of the most touching speeches in the Bible. Gen 44:14-34. He went down into Egypt with three sons. Gen 46:12. The tribe of Judah was always large and prominent, vying with Ephraim for the supremacy. The prophetic blessing which his father pronounced on Judah, Gen 49:8-12, is very remarkable. It describes the warlike character and gradually increasing strength of the tribe, comp. Num 2:3; Jos 14:11; Jos 15:1; Jdg 1:1-2; 1Ch 14:17; Psa 18:40; Isa 29:1 (where its capital is called Ariel, "lion of God"); Rev 5:5; the duration of its power—viz., until the coming of Christ, when Judæa became a province of Rome, comp. Luk 2:1-7; Joh 18:31; Act 5:37; and the destruction of their city, a.d. 70, when the Christian dispensation had become established, compare Mat 24:14; Act 2:8; Rom 10:18, in the glory and triumph of the Messiah.

[Ju’dah]

1. The fourth son of Jacob and Leah, and the head of the tribe bearing his name, which signifies ’praise.’ It was Judah who advised the selling of Joseph rather than taking his life: so his descendants, the Jews, delivered the Lord into the hands of the Gentiles. He sinned in the matter of Tamar his daughter-in-law; was ready enough to have her punished till it was shown that he also was guilty. Thus is traced the terribly corrupt history of the family of whom according to election Christ was to be born. Though not the eldest son he began to take a chief place in the family. He was able to persuade his father to let Benjamin be taken into Egypt, and when appeals were to be made to Joseph it was Judah who made them. When Jacob blessed his sons, the predictions show that in Judah was centred the royal line. The sceptre should not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh came, etc. Gen 49:8-12. From Judah sprang David and a long succession of kings. Christ as born of the tribe of Judah, is referred to as "the Lion of the tribe of Juda." Rev 5:5. In Luk 3:33; Heb 7:14; Rev 5:5; Rev 7:5, the name is given as JUDA: and in Mat 1:2-3, it is JUDAS.

The tribe held a prominent position. In the journeyings of the Israelites, Judah took the lead, and at the first and second census their numbers were 74,600 and 76,500. Their allotted portion was large. Its east border embraced the whole of the Dead Sea, and extended to Gath and the land of the Philistines on the west. Its northern boundary was about 31° 48’ N, and in the south it extended to the Desert of Paran. Jerusalem was near the border between Judah and Benjamin. In Jos 18:28 it is one of the cities mentioned as falling to Benjamin; but in Jos 15:63 and Jdg 1:8 it is referred to Judah. David and his successors being of this tribe, Jerusalem became their dwelling place.

2. Ancestor of some Levites who helped to rebuild the temple. Ezr 3:9. Perhaps the same as HODAVIAH No. 3.

3. Levite who had taken a strange wife. Ezr 10:23.

4. Son of Senuah: he was an overseer in Jerusalem. Neh 11:9.

5. Levite who returned from exile. Neh 12:8.

6, 7. A prince of Judah, and a priest and musician who assisted at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem. Neh 12:34; Neh 12:36.

JUDAH (Ἰούδα).—Two passages in the Gospels mention ‘Judah’ ( Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 ), or ‘Juda’ (Authorized Version ), which is orthographically distinct from ‘Judaea’ (Ἰουδαία) as well as geographically smaller. The one is Mat 2:6 ‘And thou Bethlehem, land of Judah, art in no wise least among the princes of Judah,’ etc., alluding to Bethlehem, the birthplace of Christ, in the heart of the hill country. The other is Luk 1:39 ‘And Mary arose in these days and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah’; which also probably alludes to some town in the centre of the hill country, the birthplace of John the Baptist. In the latter passage, however, instead of ἰς πόλιν Ἰούδα, Reland in 1714 (Pal^{. [Note: Palestine, Palestinian.]} p. 870), endorsed by Robinson in 1841 (BR^{P [Note: RP Biblical Researches in Palestine.] 2 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred]} ii. 206) and others of more recent date, emend to read εἰς πόλιν Ἰούτα, i.e. ‘Juttah’ in lieu of ‘Judah.’ But there is no good philological reason for thinking that the latter is a corruption or softer pronunciation of the former; and, as the context would indicate, the word ‘Judah’ in Luk 1:39 seems to be parallel to the ‘hill country’ of Luk 1:65 (cf. Cheyne, art. ‘Juttah’ in Encyc. Bibl., also Plummer, Int. Crit. Com. ad Luk 1:39). It is, therefore, probably better to treat the passage as a reference to that portion of the hill country of Judah round about Hebron, or to the south of it. Tradition has fixed upon ‘Ain Kârim, a little west of Jerusalem, as the birthplace of John the Baptist. See, further, artt. Judaea, Hill, etc.

George L. Robinson.

( = praised [?]; comp. Gen. xxix. 35, xlix. 8).

By: Emil G. Hirsch, J. F. McLaughlin, Solomon Schechter, M. Seligsohn, J. Frederic McCurdy

—Biblical Data:

The fourth son of Jacob and Leah; born in Padan-aram (Gen. xxix. 35). It is he who suggests the sale of Joseph to the Ishmaelite traders. He becomes surety for Benjamin, and prevails upon his father to let him go down to Egypt according to the request of Joseph, after Reuben has failed (ib. xliii. 3-14). In subsequent interviews with Joseph, Judah takes a leading part among the brethren (e.g., "Judah and his brethren," ib. xliv. 14), and makes a most touching and persuasive plea for the release of Benjamin (ib. xliv. 16-34). In Jacob's blessing (ib. xlix.) he seems to be exalted to the position of chief of the brethren, owing apparently to the misconduct of Reuben and the treacherous violence of Simeon and Levi (see ib. xxxiv., xxxv. 22; comp. ib. xlix. 4, 5-7), who thereby forfeit the birthright. Success in war, booty (under the figure of the lion's prey), the hegemony, at least for a time, among the clans of Israel, and residence in a rich vine-growing and pastoral country are promised to his descendants (ib. xlix. 8-12).

According to Gen. xxxviii., he married the daughter of the Canaanite Shuah, by whom he had three sons, Er, Onan, and Shelah. Er married Tamar,but died childless. According to custom his widow was given in marriage to his brother Onan, who was slain for misconduct; and she was then promised to the third son, Shelah. This promise not having been fulfilled, she resorted to stratagem, and became by Judah the mother of Pharez and Zarah. Pharez was ancestor of the royal house of David (Ruth iv. 12, 18-22; I Chron. ii. 3-16).

E. G. H. J. F. M.—In Rabbinical Literature:

Judah was born on the fifteenth day of the third month (Siwan), in the year of the Creation 2195, and died, at the age of 119, eighteen years before Levi (Book of Jubilees, xxviii. 15, for the date of birth only; Seder 'Olam Zuṭa; Midr. Tadshe, in Epstein, "Mi-Ḳadmoniyyot ha-Yehudim," Supplement, p. xxiii.; "Seder ha-Dorot," i. 47; comp. Test. Patr., Judah, 12). In the "Sefer ha-Yashar," section "Shemot," p. 104b (Leghorn, 1870), however, it is said that Judah died at the age of 129, eighty-six years after he went to Egypt.

His Name.

Judah's name is interpreted as a combination of "Yhwh" (given as a reward for his public confession, Gen. xxxviii. 26) with the letter "dalet," the numerical value of which is 4, Judah being the fourth son of Jacob (Soṭah 10b; Yalḳ., Gen. 159). With reference to I Chron. v. 2, Judah is represented by the Rabbis as chief over his brothers, who obeyed him and who did nothing without his approval; he is styled "the king" (Gen. R. lxxxiv. 16; Test. Patr., Judah, 1). He is therefore held responsible by the Rabbis for the deception that his brothers practised upon their father by sending to him Joseph's coat dipped in the blood of a kid (Gen. xxxvii. 31-32). Judah was punished for it in a similar manner, Tamar sending to him his pledge, saying, "Discern, I pray thee, whose are these" (ib. xxxviii. 25; Gen. R. lxxxiv. 19, lxxxv. 12). The death of his wife and his two sons (Gen. xxxviii. 7-12) is also considered by Tanḥuma (Tan., Wayiggash, 10) as a divine retribution for the suffering which he caused his father by selling Joseph. According to Gen. R. xcv. 1 and Tan., l.c., Jacob suspected Judah of having killed Joseph; Tanḥuma even adds that it was Judah himself who brought Joseph's coat to Jacob. Judah's attempt to rescue Joseph (Gen. xxxvii. 26) is considered insufficient; for, as he was the chief, he should have brought Joseph on his shoulders to his father (Gen. R. lxxxv. 4). His brothers, on seeing their father's grief, deposed Judah and excommunicated him, saying: "If he, our chief, had ordered us to bring Joseph home, we would have done so" (Ex. R. xlii. 2; Tan., Wayesheb, 12). Judah atoned for that fault by confessing that it was he who had given Tamar the pledge; and he was rewarded for that confession by a share in the future world (Soṭah 7b). "Bat Shua'" (Gen. xxxviii. 12), according to Jubilees, xxxiv. 20, was the name of Judah's wife, while in "Sefer ha-Yashar" (section "Wayesheb") her name is given as "'Illit." Judah was the first to institute the levirate marriage (Gen. R. lxxxv. 6).

Judah as Hero.

Judah is furthermore represented as a man of extraordinary physical strength. When he shouted his voice was heard at a distance of 400 parasangs; when he became angry the hair of his chest became so stiff that it pierced his clothes; and when he took into his mouth lumps of iron he reduced them to dust (Gen. R. xciii. 6). According to others, blood flowed from his two bucklers (ib. xciii. 7). He was a prominent figure in the wars between the Canaanites and his father's family after the latter had destroyed Shechem. These wars are alluded to by pseudo-Jonathan (on Gen. xlviii. 22) and in Midr. Wayissa'u (Jellinek, "B. H." iii. 1-5), and are described at great length in "Sefer ha-Yashar," section "Wayishlaḥ" (see also Jubilees, xxxiv. 1-9; Test. Patr., Judah, 3-7). Judah's first remarkable exploit was the killing of Jashub, King of Tappuah. The latter, clad in iron armor, came riding on a horse and shooting arrows with both hands. While still at a distance of thirty cubits (according to Midr. Wayissa'u, 177⅓ cubits) from him, Judah threw at Jashub a stone weighing sixty shekels, unhorsing him. Then in a hand-to-hand fight Judah killed his adversary. While he was stripping the armor from the body, he was assailed by nine of Jashub's companions, of whom he killed one and put to flight the rest. Of Jashub's army he killed 1,000 men (comp. Test. Patr., l.c.), or, according to "Sefer ha-Yashar" (l.c.), forty-two men. Great exploits were performed by him at Hazar and Gaash, where he was the first to jump upon the wall and create havoc among the enemy. Midr. Wayissa'u describes also the battle between the children of Jacob and those of Esau, in which the chief part was taken by Judah. When Judah interfered in behalf of Benjamin (Gen. xliv. 18-34), he at first had a heated discussion with Joseph, which is given at great length in the "Sefer ha-Yashar" (section "Wayiggash," agreeing in many points with Gen. R. xciii. 7). The following incidents may be mentioned: When Joseph retained Benjamin, Judah shouted so loudly that Hushim, the son of Dan, who was in Canaan at a distance of 400 parasangs from him, heard his voice. Hushim came immediately to Egypt, and with Judah desired to destroy the land. In the "Sefer ha-Yashar" it is stated that Judah lifted a stone weighing 400 shekels, threw it into the air, and finally ground it to dust with his foot. He then told Naphtali to count the districts of Egypt, and when the latter reported that there were twelve of them, he said to his brothers: "I take three for myself and let each one of you take one, and we shall destroy the whole of Egypt." It was this decision that induced Joseph to disclose himself to his brothers.

Because Judah had pledged himself to bring Benjamin back to his father, saying, "If I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever" (Gen. xliii. 9), his bones were rolled about without rest in the coffin during the forty years that the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness. Moses then prayed to God, arguing that Judah's confession had induced Reuben to confess his sin with Bilhah (Soṭah 7b; B. Ḳ. 92a; Mak. 11b). Judah's name was engraved on the emerald in the high priest's breastplate (Num. R. ii. 6).

Preeminence of the Tribe.

The tribe of Judah had the preeminence over the other tribes in that Elisheba, the mother of all the priests; Othniel, the first judge; Bezaleel, thebuilder of the Tabernacle; and Solomon, the builder of the First Temple; and all the pious kings were of the tribe of Judah, as will be the Messiah (Yalḳ., Gen. 159). This distinction was given to the tribe of Judah as a reward for its zeal in glorifying God at the passage of the Red Sea. When the children of Israel were about to cross, a dispute arose among the tribes, each desiring to be the first to enter the water. The tribe of Benjamin sprang in first, for which act the princes of Judah threw stones at it (Soṭah 37a). In Ex. R. xxiv. 1 it is stated, on the contrary, that the other tribes refused to enter the slimy bed of the sea until the tribe of Judah set them the example by plunging in. According to R. Judah, the Temple was erected on Judah's land—another reward to the tribe (Gen. R. xcix. 1); but a different opinion is that only the whole eastern side of the edifice, including the courtyards and the altar, was on Judah's ground, while the Temple proper was on land belonging to Benjamin (Yoma 12a; Zeb. 53b). The people of Judah are said to have been versed in the Law ("bene Torah"), because in the wilderness the tribe was placed on the east side of the camp (Num. ii. 3), being thus near to Moses and Aaron (Num. R. xviii. 4). It seems that the soil of Judah's territory was remarkable for the excellent quality of its grain, one measure of Judean grain being worth five measures of that produced in Galilee (B. B. 122a).

The reason given for the transportation into captivity of the tribe of Judah is that it was a punishment for intemperance (Gen. R. xxxvi. 7).

S. S. M. Sel.—Critical View:

It is very generally maintained by recent criticism that Judah is simply the eponymous ancestor of the tribe of that name, and that the narrative in Genesis gives the history of the tribe in the form of personal history (see Judah, Tribe of). It is worthy of note, however, that the thirty-eighth chapter of Genesis, which is held to give an account of the various clans which united to form the tribe, under the figure of the marriages, etc., of Judah and his sons, makes no mention of the Kenites and the Kenizzites (comp. Judges i. 12-15, 16). It is hardly a sufficient answer to say that the Caleb or Kenizzite clan was distinct until the time of David (see I Sam. xxv. 3, xxx. 14); for, according to the commonly received view, Gen. xxxviii. belongs to J and was not written earlier than the ninth century B.C., by which time, in any case, these clans must have been incorporated with Judah.

JUDAH (‘he is to be praised’; the popular etymologies seem to regard the name as an unabbreviated Hoph. impf. of jâdâh, ‘to praise’).—Judah is represented as the fourth son of Leah by Jacob (Gen 29:35 [J [Note: Jahwist.] ] Gen 35:23 (P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] ]). Though he was of late birth, the Judæan document (J [Note: Jahwist.] ) nevertheless gives him precedence over Reuben, the firstborn, who is favoured by the later Ephraimite document E [Note: Elohist.] . According to J [Note: Jahwist.] , it was Judah who proposed to sell Joseph in order to avert the danger which threatened him at the hands of his brethren (Gen 37:26 ff.). Similarly, when they return to Joseph’s house with the silver cup, J [Note: Jahwist.] gives the pre-eminence to Judah, and makes him spokesman for all in his pathetic appeal to Joseph (Gen 44:14-34). Reuben, because of his lust towards Bilhah (Gen 49:4; cf. Gen 35:22), and Simeon and Levi, because of their barbarous conduct towards the Shechemites, fall before their enemies and into disfavour with their brethren, and Judah succeeds to the primogenitureship.

A tradition is preserved in Gen 38:1-30 which is generally supposed to be of great value as bearing upon the early development of the tribe. Judah is there said to have withdrawn himself from his brethren and to have gone down to a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah. There he met with Bath-shua, a Canaanitess, whom he took to wife. She bore him three sons, Er, Onan, and Shelah. Er and Onan were slain by Jahweh for their wickedness. Er’s widow, Tamar, a Canaanitess also, it seems, posing by the wayside as a hierodule, enticed Judah to intercourse with her, and of her the twin sons Perez and Zerah were born to Judah. This story is usually held to be based upon facts of tribal history, though cast in the form of personal narrative, and also to prove clearly that Judah, like other tribal names, is but the eponymous head of the tribe. It points to the settlement of Judah in the region of Adullam and its union with foreign stock. Hirah is a Canaanite clan; Er and Onan stand for two other clans which became united to Judah, but early disappeared; the other three continued to exist as constituents of Judah. Besides these it would appear that in the time of David the Calebite and Jerahmeelite tribes, mentioned in 1Ch 2:1-55 as descendants of Perez, were incorporated into the tribe. In 1Sa 27:10; 1Sa 30:14 they still appear to be independent, though the Chronicler makes both Caleb and Jerahmeel descendants of Judah through Perez and Hezron, to whom also he traces David. In Num 13:1-33 (P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] ) Caleb, who is sent by Moses as one of the spies, belongs to Judah; but in Num 32:12, Jos 14:6; Jos 14:14 (R [Note: Redactor.] ), Jdg 3:1-31 etc., he is a Kenizzite, the son of Kenaz. From the last passage we see that Othniel, whose chief centre was Kiriathsepher (Debir), was another closely related tribe, and both appear from Gen 36:16; Gen 36:42 (P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] ) to have been Edomites. Kenites, commonly supposed to be of Midianite origin, we are told in Jdg 1:16, also went up from Jericho with Judah into the Wilderness.

Of all these foreign elements by which the tribe of Judah was increased, the Calebite was the most important. In fact the Chronicler makes the Judahite stock consist largely of the descendants of Hezron. It was the Calebite capital, Hebron, that under David (himself said to be Hezronite) became the capital of Judah. After this time the history of the tribe becomes the history of the Southern Kingdom.

P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] ’s Sinai census (Num 1:27) gives 74,600, and that of the Wilderness 76,500 (Num 26:22).

The territory of the tribe is described in Jos 15:1 ff. (P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] ); but this is late and an ideal apportionment. In the Song of Deborah Judah is not even mentioned, because ‘it was not yet made up by the fusion of Israelite, Canaanite, Edomite, and Arabic elements,’ as Stade (GVI [Note: VI Geschichte des Volkes Israel.] 113) puts it. The Blessing of Jacob (Gen 49:8 ff.) and that of Moses (Deu 33:7) reflect conditions during the monarchy. How the tribe entered W. Canaan and obtained its early seat around Bethlehem it is impossible to say. See also Tribes of Israel.

James A. Craig.

JUDAH.—1. See preced. article. 2. Ezr 3:9 (cf. Neh 12:8) = 1Es 5:58 Joda. 3. A Levite, Ezr 10:23 = 1Es 9:23 Jud 1:4. An overseer, Neh 11:9. 5. A priest’s son, Neh 12:36. 6. Luk 1:39; see Jutah. 7. See next article.

JUDAH ‘upon (AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ) or at (RV [Note: Revised Version.] ) Jordan’ (Jos 19:34) is a very doubtful site. It is the general opinion that the text of this passage must be corrupt, and that the name of some place near Jordan, perhaps Chinneroth, may have been lost.

E. W. G. Masterman.

jōō´da (יהוּדה, y^ehūdhāh, “praised”):

(1) 4th son of Jacob by Leah (see separate article).

(2) An ancestor of Kadmiel, one of those who had the oversight of the rebuilding of the temple (Ezr 3:9). He is the same as Hodaviah (Ezr 2:40), and Hodevah (Neh 7:43).

(3) A Levite who had taken a strange wife (Ezr, Mar 10:23).

(4) A Levite who came up with Zerubbabel (Neh 12:8).

(5) A priest and musician who took part in the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem (Neh 12:36); (3), (4) and (5) may be the same person.

(6) A Benjamite, the son of Hassenuah, who was second over the city of Jerusalem in the days of Nehemiah (Neh 11:9).

(7) One of the princes of Judah who took part in the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem (Neh 12:34).

See Tribes.

1) Son of Jacob (Israel). Ancestor of one of the tribes of Israel; 2) The tribe that bears his name; 3) The Southern Kingdom after the death of Solomon when Israel was split into two kingdoms; the Kingdom of Judah included the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and part of the tribe of Levi.

One of the 12 sons of Jacob (Israel);

also the tribe and, later, the nation

named after him. Described as the

“southern kingdom,” it was made up of

the Israelite tribes that occupied the

southern part of Palestine, while the

northern tribes were united into a

“northern kingdom” known as Israel.