JUDAS. - Fourth son of Jacob, born of Leah, called Jéhâdhâh "praise, acclaim" (Gen. 29:35; 49:8). He sought with Reuben to save Joseph (Gen. 37:26 ff.). By Tamar he had Perez (Gen. 38; cf. Revue biblique, 34 [1925], pp. 524-46), ancestor of Jesus (Mt. 1:3 ff.). A strong and faithful character; by his eloquence, by the nobility of his sentiments, he holds a pre-eminent place in the family of Jacob (Gen. 43:3-10; 44:14-34; 46:28), which passes also to the tribe that took its origin from him (Gen. 49:8-12).
The tribe of J. is the most numerous (Num. 1:26 ff.; 26:19-21); its principal families are listed in Num. 26:19-21; I Chron. 2. In the desert it holds the first place in the arrangement of the camp and of the march (Num. 2:3-9; 10:14) and in the offering of sacrifices (Num. 7:12-17). It receives the first and most important lot in the division of the Promised Land (Josh. 15; cf. 14:6-15). After the death of Joshua it is chosen to lead the attack against the Canaanites (Judg. 1:1-19) and against Gibeah-Benjamin (Judg. 20:18).
The territory assigned to it bordered on the north with Dan and Benjamin (Josh. 18:15-19; 19:40-46): an irregularly curving line that runs from the mouth of the Jordan to Minet Rûbîn on the sea; the Dead Sea was the eastern boundary, the Mediterranean the western; to the south it reached as far as Kadesh-barnea (Josh. 15:1-12; F.-M. Abel, [see bibl.], II, pp. 46-50). It comprised 4 topographical parts: the neghebh (= dry country, scorched by the sun), the southern district from the springs of the Wâdî el-Halîl as far as Kadesh; the desert of J., along the whole Dead Sea; the mountain of J., a zone parallel to the preceding one, on the north-south axis of Hebron; the sêphêlah, hills sloping down to the plain along the Mediterranean. The neghebh was ceded to Simeon (Josh. 19:2-7). A fertile territory, famous for its vineyards (Num. 13:13, 25; Song 1:13; II Chron. 26:10; cf. Gen. 49:11 ff.), for its extensive pastures and numerous flocks (I Sam. 25:2; Am. 1:1 ff.). The Bible names altogether 134 cities of J. (Josh. 15:21-62; with those of Simeon which were later annexed to them: Josh. 19:1-7; F.-M. Abel, II, pp. 86-93).
During the period of the Judges, J. remained in the shadows; because of its adaptability, it is the tribe that received into its bosom the greatest number of foreigners (cf. II Chron. 2). But with Saul and above all with David, and afterwards, J. fills the history of the Old Testament with itself. From now on the advances of its influence and the vicissitudes of its dominion are, as it were, the background of the history of the people of God.
At the schism, after Solomon, J. remained alone with the tribe of Benjamin, which it absorbed (I Kings 12:20). And alone it rose again after the exile (Ezra-Nehemiah). While the 10 tribes of the north, with the split, headed toward definitive disappearance, the importance of J. increased.
Its supremacy appears eminently religious: from J. the Messiah must be born. The words of Jacob (Gen. 49:10) receive light in fact from prophetic teaching (Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel), from the work of the Chronicler (Chronicles, Ezra-Nehemiah), and from the later prophets (Haggai, Zechariah, Joel, Malachi).
The covenant of Sinai, centered on the Decalogue (Ex. 19-20), the essence of Yahwism, made of the 12 tribes the people of Yahweh, heir of the divine promises. The tribes of the north, fallen into the crudest syncretism, were no longer part of it. The covenant of Sinai was made precise in God's covenant with David and his descendants and was restricted to the tribe of J., to which was exclusively attributed the name "Israel," the elect (I-II Chron.). J. could not disappear, because from the stock of David the Messiah must be born (cf. Is. 7-12). Its infidelity will be severely punished: destruction of Jerusalem and of the Kingdom, but a "remnant" will always be left to it. From this "remnant" (the exiles of 597: Jer. 24:5; 29; Ezek. 11:14-20) the new Israel will rise again, which will finally fulfill the conditions of the covenant of Sinai and which will be raised up and absorbed into the Kingdom of the Messiah (Is. 40-66; Jer. 30-31, 33; Ezek. 34, 40-48).
The exiles who return from the exile, rebuild the Temple, resume worship, renew the covenant, are of the tribe of J.; the new community formed by them is the elect Israel, legitimate heir of the divine promises, prologue and immediate preparation for the messianic kingdom (Hag. 2:6-9, 20-23; Zech. 6:12-15; 8:6-8, 20-23; Mal. 1:11; 3:1). This spiritual supremacy was tangibly manifested in the Temple, the only place where external worship of Yahweh was permitted. Its destruction in 70 A.D. was the most manifest sign that the ancient covenant was by then finished, and that the Messiah had already come (Gen. 49:10). J. had lost its supremacy; henceforth there was no longer Jew nor Gentile, but only those reborn in Christ (Gal. 3:26-29; Col. 3:10 ff.).
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Francesco Spadafora