JUDAH. — Fourth son of Jacob, born of Leah, called *fēhūdhāh* “praise” (Gen. 29:35; 49:8). He sought, together with Reuben, to save Joseph (Gen. 37:26–27). From Tamar he had Phares (Gen. 38; cf. Revue biblique, 34 [1925], pp. 524–46), ancestor of Jesus (Matt. 1:3–5). A man of strong and faithful character; through his eloquence and nobility of feeling he held a preeminent place in the family of Jacob (Gen. 43:3–10; 44:14–34; 46:28), a position that passed also to the tribe descended from him (Gen. 49:8–12).
The tribe of Judah was the most numerous (Num. 1:26–27; 26:19–21); its principal families are listed in Num. 26:19–21; 1 Chron. 2. In the desert it held the first place in the order of encampment and march (Num. 2:3–9; 10:14) and in the offering of sacrifices (Num. 7:12–17). It received the first and most important allotment in the division of the Promised Land (Josh. 15; cf. 14:6–15). After the death of Joshua it was chosen to lead the attack against the Canaanites (Judg. 1:1–19) and against Gibeah of Benjamin (Judg. 20:18).
The territory assigned to Judah bordered on Dan and Benjamin to the north (Josh. 18:15–19; 19:40–46): an irregularly curved line running from the mouth of the Jordan to Me Jorubbin on the sea; the Dead Sea formed the eastern boundary, the Mediterranean the western; to the south it extended as far as Kadesh-barnea (Josh. 15:1–12; F.-M. Abel, [V. BIBLICA.], II, pp. 46–50). It comprised four topographical regions: the *Negeb* (dry, sun-scorched land), the southern district from the sources of the Wadi el-Halil to Kadesh; the wilderness of Judah, along the entire length of the Dead Sea; the hill country of Judah, a plateau region contiguous to the foregoing, running in a north-south direction from Hebron; and the *Shephelah*, the foothills descending to the coastal plain along the Mediterranean. The *Negeb* was ceded to Simeon (Josh. 19:2–7). The territory was fertile, renowned for its vineyards (Num. 13:23–25; Cant. 1:13; 2 Chron. 26:10; cf. Gen. 49:11–12), its extensive pastures, and numerous flocks (1 Sam. 25:2; Amos 1:1–2). The Bible names in all 134 cities of Judah (Josh. 15:21–62; including those of Simeon which were later added to it: Josh. 19:1–7; F.-M. Abel, II, pp. 86–93).
During the period of the Judges, Judah remained in the background; through its adaptability, it was the tribe that accommodated the largest number of foreigners (cf. 2 Chron. 2). But with Saul and especially with David, and thereafter, Judah fills the history of the Old Testament. From this point onward the progress of its influence and the vicissitudes of its dominion form the very substance of the history of the people of God.
At the schism after Solomon, Judah stood alone with the tribe of Benjamin, which it absorbed (1 Kings 12:20). And it alone survived after the exile (Ezra–Nehemiah). While the ten northern tribes, through the schism, moved toward their definitive disappearance, the importance of Judah increased.
Its supremacy appears preeminently in the religious sphere: from Judah must come the Messiah. The words of Jacob (Gen. 49:10) are illumined by prophetic teaching (Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel), by the Chronicler’s work (1–2 Chronicles, Ezra–Nehemiah), and by later prophets (Haggai, Zechariah, Joel, Malachi).
The covenant of Sinai, centered in the Decalogue (Ex. 19–20), the essence of Yahwism, made of the twelve tribes the people of Yahweh, heirs of the divine promises. The northern tribes, fallen into the grossest syncretism, were no longer part of II. The covenant of Sinai was further defined in the covenant of God with David and his descendants and was restricted to the tribe of Judah, to which was exclusively attributed the name “Israel,” the elect (1–2 Chron.). Judah could not disappear, for from the line of David the Messiah was to be born (cf. Isa. 7–12). Its infidelity would be severely punished: destruction of Jerusalem and the kingdom, yet a “remnant” would always be left. From this “remnant” (the exiles of 597: Jer. 24:5; 29; Ezek. 11:14–20) there would arise the new Israel, which would finally fulfill the conditions of the covenant of Sinai and be elevated and absorbed into the kingdom of the Messiah (Isa. 40–66; Jer. 30–31, 33; Ezek. 34:40–48).
The exiles who returned from the exile rebuilt the Temple, resumed the cult, renewed the covenant, and were of the tribe of Judah; the new community formed by them was the elect Israel, the legitimate heir of the divine promises, the immediate prologue and 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 A.D. 70 was the clearest sign that the old covenant had now ended and that the Messiah had already come (Gen. 49:10). Judah had lost its supremacy; now there was neither Jew nor Greek, but only those reborn in Christ (Gal. 3:26–29; Col. 3:10–11).