Tribe of Judah

The Tribe of Judah (יהודה "Praise", Tiberian Hebrew Yəhûdhāh, Standard Hebrew Yəhuda) is one of the Hebrew tribes, founded by Judah son of Jacob. Together with the Tribe of Benjamin, Judah formed the Southern Kingdom, also known confusingly as the Kingdom of Judah, when the kingdom was divided. These two tribes were thus not carried into captivity with the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom, also known confusingly as the Kingdom of Israel, when it fell. This started the tradition (some say myth) of the ten Lost tribes of Israel. As Benjamin was always very much the minor partner, in time the tribe of Judah became identified with the entire Israelite nation, and even the entire Hebrew nation, and gave their name to the Jews, see Jews as Israelites. Tribe of Judah - Judah and his three surviving sons went down with Jacob into\nEgypt (Gen. 46:12; Ex. 1:2). At the time of the Exodus, when we\nmeet with the family of Judah again, they have increased to the\nnumber of 74,000 males (Num. 1:26, 27). Its number increased in\nthe wilderness (26:22). Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, represented\nthe tribe as one of the spies (13:6; 34:19). This tribe marched\nat the van on the east of the tabernacle (Num. 2:3-9; 10:14),\nits standard, as is supposed, being a lion's whelp. Under Caleb,\nduring the wars of conquest, they conquered that portion of the\ncountry which was afterwards assigned to them as their\ninheritance. This was the only case in which any tribe had its\ninheritance thus determined (Josh. 14:6-15; 15:13-19). The inheritance of the tribe of Judah was at first fully\none-third of the whole country west of Jordan, in all about\n2,300 square miles (Josh. 15). But there was a second\ndistribution, when Simeon received an allotment, about 1,000\nsquare miles, out of the portion of Judah (Josh. 19:9). That\nwhich remained to Judah was still very large in proportion to\nthe inheritance of the other tribes. The boundaries of the\nterritory are described in Josh. 15:20-63. This territory given to Judah was divided into four sections.\n(1.) The south (Heb. negeb), the undulating pasture-ground\nbetween the hills and the desert to the south (Josh. 15:21.)\nThis extent of pasture-land became famous as the favourite\ncamping-ground of the old patriarchs. (2.) The "valley" (15:33)\nor lowland (Heb. shephelah), a broad strip lying between the\ncentral highlands and the Mediterranean. This tract was the\ngarden as well as the granary of the tribe. (3.) The\n"hill-country," or the mountains of Judah, an elevated plateau\nstretching from below Hebron northward to Jerusalem. "The towns\nand villages were generally perched on the tops of hills or on\nrocky slopes. The resources of the soil were great. The country\nwas rich in corn, wine, oil, and fruit; and the daring shepherds\nwere able to lead their flocks far out over the neighbouring\nplains and through the mountains." The number of towns in this\ndistrict was thirty-eight (Josh. 15:48-60). (4.) The\n"wilderness," the sunken district next the Dead Sea (Josh.\n15:61), "averaging 10 miles in breadth, a wild, barren,\nuninhabitable region, fit only to afford scanty pasturage for\nsheep and goats, and a secure home for leopards, bears, wild\ngoats, and outlaws" (1 Sam. 17:34; 22:1; Gospel of Mark 1:13). It was\ndivided into the "wilderness of En-gedi" (1 Sam. 24:1), the\n"wilderness of Judah" (Judg. 1:16; Matt. 3:1), between the\nHebron mountain range and the Dead Sea, the "wilderness of Maon"\n(1 Sam. 23:24). It contained only six cities. Nine of the cities of Judah were assigned to the priests\n(Josh. 21:9-19). Judah, Tribe of