JUDEA. – The term (Greek Ἰουδαῖος, Latin *Judaea*) used absolutely or with γή (Jn 3:22) or γάρα (Mk 1:5), employed from the early Hellenistic period (F.-M. Abel [q.V. bibliography], I, pp. 314–315) in pagan writings, the Maccabean books, Flavius Josephus, and the New Testament (Mt 2:1, 5, 12, etc.; Lk 1:65; etc.), designates the region west of the Jordan, comprising the territories of the ancient tribes of Judah, Benjamin, Dan, and part of Ephraim (cf. Pliny, *Natural History*, V, 14). In a broader sense, the term *Judea* was applied to all of Palestine, following Roman usage (Lk 1:5; 4:44; etc.; cf. Tacitus, *Histories*, II, 78; V, 9; Suetonius, *Claudius*, 28).
Properly speaking, Judea lay between Idumea to the south (following a line from the sea between Azotus and Ascalon, through Bethzur, ending at Engedi), Samaria to the north, and between the Jordan and the Mediterranean.
The region is largely mountainous (cf. Lk 1:65), rising between 700 and 1,000 meters above sea level; rugged, with ravines; it slopes gently westward toward the fertile plain known as Ἀμφίλαθι. The eastern slopes, however, which often descend precipitously to the Dead Sea from el-ʿAṣūr to its southern extremity (ca. 80 km), passing near Ephraim, Bethel, Jericho, and Bethlehem, form the "Wilderness of Judea" (Mt 3:1), covering about 1,700 km² (F.-M. Abel, I, pp. 104–105, 436).
Upon returning from exile, the approximately 50,000 repatriates—nearly all from the tribe of Judah (whence the term "Jew," used by Jeremiah only as a simple synonym for "people of Israel" [Jer 31:12] and in contrast to the Moabites [ibid., 40:11–12], Chaldeans [ibid., 38:19; 41:1], and Egyptians [ibid., 44:1])—settled within a radius of about 20 km around Jerusalem, with the exception of Lydda (ca. 44 km northwest of Jerusalem), Jericho, and Senua (on the strong position of Hirtbet el-ʿAvvā el-Fōqah: cf. F.-M. Abel, II, p. 455) to the east. To the south, they reached Nefūtah, about 7 km south of Bethlehem, while to the southeast they stopped at Hebron. To the north, after Anathoth, Ramah, and the four cities of the Gibeonite confederation—Gibeon (el-Jib), Kiriath-jearim, Chephirah (Kefirah), and Beeroth—they extended as far as Bethel (Beitin) with nearby Ai (Ezra 2:20–25).
The reforms of Ezra and Nehemiah eliminated foreign elements, and Judea, with Jerusalem, remained the true heartland of Judaism; the center of religious and national life. The wealthiest and most illustrious families, the priestly and lay aristocracy, dwelt there. By the time of Jesus, the region was almost entirely populated by Israelites of race and religion, who felt a sense of superiority; they were exclusive and rigid observers of the Law and tradition, harsh and severe like their land, narrow-minded and contentious, suspicious of others (L. Szczepanski [q.V. bibliography], p. 218).
Little is known of the territorial development of the restored nation until the glorious Maccabean revolt. The valiant Judas Maccabeus led his warriors into Idumea and against other neighbors (cf. 1 Macc 5:3–6, 65; 2 Macc 10:16) only to liberate or avenge persecuted Yahwists. Jonathan was able to annex to Judea the three districts of Ephraim, Lydda, and Ramathaim, bordering Samaria (1 Macc 11:34), and that of Accaron (ibid., 57; cf. 10:89). The fortunate John Hyrcanus (135–104 BC) conquered Idumea in 126 BC and forced its last inhabitants to assimilate with the Jews; in 109 BC, Samaria was destroyed and Scythopolis (Beisan) captured, whose possession gave Hyrcanus control of the Plain of Esdraelon and access to Galilee (Flavius Josephus, *Antiquities of the Jews*, XIII, 250–280). The impetuous Alexander Jannaeus (103–76 BC) annexed a large strip of Transjordan as far as the Sea of Galilee and conquered Galilee.
Thus, when Herod (37–4 BC) received the kingdom granted him by the Romans, it already extended from Idumea to Galilee. In 30 BC, Augustus granted him the cities of Jericho, Gadara, Hippos, Samaria, Anthedon, Joppa, and Strato’s Tower (Caesarea of Palestine); in 23 BC, he received Trachonitis and Batanea (with annexed regions); in 20 BC, the tetrarchy of Zenodorus north of the Sea of Galilee. His kingdom (Judea in the broad sense: Lk 1:5) thus embraced all Cisjordanian Palestine (excepting the districts of Ascalon and Scythopolis) and extended northward to the Wadi el-Karn, from which the border reached Banyas to the east. In Transjordan, it included all the region between Hermon and the Yarmuk, as well as Perea (from the city of Pella to the Arnon). It thus comprised six regions: Idumea, Judea, Samaria, Galilee, Batanea, and Perea.
At Herod’s death, Archelaus (4 BC–6 AD) received the first three regions with the title of ethnarch; Herod Antipas (4 BC–39 AD) received Galilee and Perea with the title of tetrarch; Philip (4 BC–34 AD), as tetrarch, received Batanea (with Trachonitis, Auranitis, Gaulanitis, and Ulata, i.e., Utura in Lk 3:1). Salome (4 BC–10 AD) received the cities of Azotus, Jamnia, Archelais, and Phasaelis. After Archelaus was deposed, his territories were organized into the province of Judea, a district dependent on the imperial province of Syria but governed directly by Roman procurators (6–41, 44–66 AD). Herod Agrippa I, with the title of king (37–44 AD), received Batanea (from 37 AD), Galilee and Perea (from 39 AD), and finally Idumea, Judea, and Samaria with all the coastal cities (from 41 AD); thus he held the entire kingdom of Herod, though for only a few years.
From the death of Herod Agrippa I (44 AD) onward, all the territory passed to Roman procurators, except for Chalcis, given to Herod’s brother (41–48 AD), and then to Agrippa II (50–100 AD), who from 53 AD until his death also held Batanea with Abilene. After the Jewish revolt and the victory of Titus (66–70 AD), the province of Judea, made independent of Syria, was governed by a *legatus Augusti pro praetore* of senatorial rank (cf. Flavius Josephus, *Antiquities of the Jews*, XIII–XVII). – See plate LI.