Judah

"Praise, the fourth son of Jacob by Leah. The name originated in" "Leah's words of praise to the Lord on account of his birth: "Now" "will I praise [Heb. odeh] Jehovah, and she called his name" "Yehudah" (Gen. 29:35)." "It was Judah that interposed in behalf of Joseph, so that his "life was spared (Gen. 37:26, 27). He took a lead in the affairs" "of the family, and "prevailed above his brethren" (Gen. 43:3-10;" "44:14, 16-34; 46:28; 1 Chr. 5:2)." "Soon after the sale of Joseph to the Ishmaelites, Judah went to "reside at Adullam, where he married a woman of Canaan. (See" "[325]ONAN; [326]TAMAR.) After the death of his wife Shuah, he" "returned to his father's house, and there exercised much" "influence over the patriarch, taking a principal part in the" events which led to the whole family at length going down into Egypt. We hear nothing more of him till he received his father's blessing (Gen. 49:8-12).

"When the disruption took place at Shechem, at first only the" tribe of Judah followed the house of David. But very soon after "the tribe of Benjamin joined the tribe of Judah, and Jerusalem" "became the capital of the new kingdom (Josh. 18:28), which was" "called the kingdom of Judah. It was very small in extent, being" only about the size of the Scottish county of Perth. "For the first sixty years the kings of Judah aimed at re-establishing their authority over the kingdom of the other "ten tribes, so that there was a state of perpetual war between" them. For the next eighty years there was no open war between "them. For the most part they were in friendly alliance," "co-operating against their common enemies, especially against" Damascus. For about another century and a half Judah had a somewhat checkered existence after the termination of the kingdom of Israel till its final overthrow in the destruction of "the temple (B.C. 588) by Nebuzar-adan, who was captain of" Nebuchadnezzar's body-guard (2 Kings 25:8-21). "The kingdom maintained a separate existence for three hundred "and eighty-nine years. It occupied an area of 3,435 square" "miles. (See ISRAEL, KINGDOM [327]OF.)"

Judah and his three surviving sons went down with Jacob into "Egypt (Gen. 46:12; Ex. 1:2). At the time of the Exodus, when we" "meet with the family of Judah again, they have increased to the" "number of 74,000 males (Num. 1:26, 27). Its number increased in" "the wilderness (26:22). Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, represented" the tribe as one of the spies (13:6; 34:19). This tribe marched "at the van on the east of the tabernacle (Num. 2:3-9; 10:14)," "its standard, as is supposed, being a lion's whelp. Under Caleb," "during the wars of conquest, they conquered that portion of the" country which was afterwards assigned to them as their inheritance. This was the only case in which any tribe had its inheritance thus determined (Josh. 14:6-15; 15:13-19). "The inheritance of the tribe of Judah was at first fully "one-third of the whole country west of Jordan, in all about" "2,300 square miles (Josh. 15). But there was a second" "distribution, when Simeon received an allotment, about 1,000" "square miles, out of the portion of Judah (Josh. 19:9). That" which remained to Judah was still very large in proportion to the inheritance of the other tribes. The boundaries of the territory are described in Josh. 15:20-63. "This territory given to Judah was divided into four sections. "(1.) The south (Heb. negeb), the undulating pasture-ground" between the hills and the desert to the south (Josh. 15:21.) This extent of pasture-land became famous as the favourite "camping-ground of the old patriarchs. (2.) The "valley" (15:33)" "or lowland (Heb. shephelah), a broad strip lying between the" central highlands and the Mediterranean. This tract was the garden as well as the granary of the tribe. (3.) The "hill-country, or the mountains of Judah, an elevated plateau" "stretching from below Hebron northward to Jerusalem. "The towns" and villages were generally perched on the tops of hills or on rocky slopes. The resources of the soil were great. The country "was rich in corn, wine, oil, and fruit; and the daring shepherds" were able to lead their flocks far out over the neighbouring "plains and through the mountains." The number of towns in this" district was thirty-eight (Josh. 15:48-60). (4.) The "wilderness, the sunken district next the Dead Sea (Josh." "15:61), "averaging 10 miles in breadth, a wild, barren," "uninhabitable region, fit only to afford scanty pasturage for" "sheep and goats, and a secure home for leopards, bears, wild" "goats, and outlaws" (1 Sam. 17:34; 22:1; Mark 1:13). It was" "divided into the "wilderness of En-gedi" (1 Sam. 24:1), the" "wilderness of Judah (Judg. 1:16; Matt. 3:1), between the" "Hebron mountain range and the Dead Sea, the "wilderness of Maon" (1 Sam. 23:24). It contained only six cities. "Nine of the cities of Judah were assigned to the priests (Josh. 21:9-19).

"The Authorized Version, following the Vulgate, has this" "rendering in Josh. 19:34. It has been suggested that, following" "the Masoretic punctuation, the expression should read thus, "and" "Judah; the Jordan was toward the sun-rising." The sixty cities" "(Havoth-jair, Num. 32:41) on the east of Jordan were reckoned as" "belonging to Judah, because Jair, their founder, was a Manassite" "only on his mother's side, but on his father's side of the tribe" "of Judah (1 Chr. 2:5, 21-23)."

Definition of Judah:
"the praise of the Lord; confession"

Related Bible Dictionary Terms:
Baale of Judah    Gibeah of Judah    Judah Kingdom of    Judah Tribe of    Judah upon Jordan    Rivers of Judah