Editing Tribe of Judah

{{Short description|One of the 12 Tribes of Israel}}
{{Distinguish|Kingdom of Judah}}
{{About|the Hebrew tribe|the musical band|Tribe of Judah (band)}}

{{Infobox archaeological culture
|name = Tribe of Judah
|map  = 12 Tribes of Israel Map.svg
|mapcaption = Map of the twelve tribes of Israel before the move of Dan to the North. (The text is partially in German.)
|map_type = 
|latitude = 
|longitude = 
|mapalt =
|altnames =
|horizon  =
|region = [[West Asia]]
|period =
|dates = 
|typesite =
|majorsites = [[Hebron]], [[Bethlehem]]
|extra =
|precededby = [[New Kingdom of Egypt]]
|followedby = [[Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)]]
}}

{{Tribes of Israel}}

According to the [[Hebrew Bible]], the '''tribe of Judah''' ({{Script/Hebrew|שֵׁבֶט יְהוּדָה}}, ''Shevet Yehudah'') was one of the [[twelve Tribes of Israel]], named after [[Judah (son of Jacob)|Judah]], the son of [[Jacob]]. Judah was one of the tribes to take its place in [[Canaan]], occupying its southern part. [[Jesse (biblical figure)|Jesse]] and his sons, including King [[David]], belonged to this tribe.

The Tribe of Judah played a central role in the [[Deuteronomistic history]], which encompasses the books of [[Book of Deuteronomy|Deuteronomy]] through [[Books of Kings|II Kings]]. After the death of [[King Solomon]], the Tribe of Judah, along with the Tribe of [[Tribe of Benjamin|Benjamin]], the [[Tribe of Dan]], and the Levites formed the Southern [[Kingdom of Judah]], with [[Jerusalem]] and [[Hebron]] as its capital. The kingdom lasted until its conquest by [[Babylon]] in {{circa|586}} BCE.

The tribe's symbol was the lion, which was often represented in Jewish art. After the [[Babylonian captivity]], the distinction between the Tribes was largely lost, but the term "Judah", via ''Yehudi'' ({{langx|he|יהודי}}), gave rise to the word "[[Jew (word)|Jew]]" (pl. {{lang|he|יהודים}}, ''Yehudim''). In later traditions, including [[Christianity]] and [[Beta Israel|Ethiopian Judaism]], the "[[Lion of the Tribe of Judah]]" became a messianic symbol.

==Biblical account==
The tribe of Judah, its conquests, and the centrality of its capital in Jerusalem for the worship of [[Yahweh]] featured prominently in the [[Deuteronomist#Deuteronomistic history|Deuteronomistic history]], encompassing the books of [[Deuteronomy]] through [[Books of Kings|II Kings]], which most scholars agree was reduced to written form, although subject to exilic and post-exilic alterations and emendations, during the reign of the Judahite reformer [[Josiah]] from 641–609 BCE.<ref name="Finkelstein, pp. 369-373">{{cite book|last=Finkelstein|first=Israel|title=The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Sacred Texts|year=2002|publisher=Simon & Schuster|pages=369–373|isbn=9780743223386|url=https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=lu6ywyJr0CMC}}</ref>
[[File:Facial Chronicle - b.02, p.010 - Moses counting Judah's kin.jpg|thumb|Moses counting Judah's kin]]
According to the account in the [[Book of Joshua]], following a partial conquest of [[Canaan]] by the [[Israelite]] tribes (the [[Jebusites]] still held [[Jerusalem]]),<ref name="pnxthp">Kitchen, Kenneth A. (2003), ''On the Reliability of the Old Testament'' (Grand Rapids, Michigan. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company) ({{ISBN|0-8028-4960-1}})</ref> [[Joshua]] allocated the land among the twelve tribes. Judah's portion is described in Joshua 15<ref>{{bibleverse||Joshua|15|NKJV}}</ref> as encompassing all the Southern [[Land of Israel]], specially the [[Negev]], the [[Wilderness of Zin]] and Jerusalem. However, the consensus of modern scholars is that this conquest never occurred.<ref name="BakerArnold2004">"Besides the rejection of the Albrightian 'conquest' model, the general consensus among OT scholars is that the Book of Joshua has no value in the historical reconstruction. They see the book as an ideological retrojection from a later period—either as early as the reign of Josiah or as late as the Hasmonean period."
 {{cite book|editor1=David W. Baker|editor2=Bill T. Arnold|author=K. Lawson Younger Jr.|chapter=Early Israel in Recent Biblical Scholarship|title=The Face of Old Testament Studies: A Survey of Contemporary Approaches|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vO8XRZyhvpMC&pg=PA200|date=1 October 2004|publisher=Baker Academic|isbn=978-0-8010-2871-7|page=200}}</ref><ref name="Congress1999">"It behoves us to ask, in spite of the fact that the overwhelming consensus of modern scholarship is that Joshua is a pious fiction composed by the deuteronomistic school, how does and how has the Jewish community dealt with these foundational narratives, saturated as they are with acts of violence against others?" {{cite book|author=Carl S. Ehrlich|title=Jewish Studies at the Turn of the Twentieth Century, Volume 1: Biblical, Rabbinical, and Medieval Studies|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ZlRPQJ8Qd4C&pg=PA117|year=1999|chapter=Joshua, Judaism and Genocide|publisher=Brill|isbn=90-04-11554-4|page=117}}</ref><ref name="BerlinBrettler2014">"Recent decades, for example, have seen a remarkable reevaluation of evidence concerning the conquest of the land of Canaan by Joshua. As more sites have been excavated, there has been a growing consensus that the main story of Joshua, is that of a speedy and complete conquest (e.g. Josh. 11.23: 'Thus Joshua conquered the whole country, just as the {{Lord}} had promised Moses') is contradicted by the archaeological record, though there are indications of ''some'' destruction and conquest at the appropriate time. {{cite book|author1=Adele Berlin|author2=Marc Zvi Brettler|title=The Jewish Study Bible: Second Edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yErYBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT951|date=17 October 2014|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-939387-9|page=951}}</ref> Other scholars point to extra-biblical references to Israel and Canaan as evidence for the potential historicity of the conquest.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Görg|first1=Görg|title=Israel in Hieroglyphen|journal=Biblischen Notizen|volume=106|pages=21–27}}"</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Frendo|first1=Anthony|title=Two Long-Lost Phoenician Inscriptions and the Emergence of Ancient Israel|journal=Palestine Exploration Quarterly|year=2002|volume=134|pages=37–43|doi=10.1179/peq.2002.134.1.37|s2cid=161065442}}</ref>

In the opening words of the [[Book of Judges]], following the death of [[Joshua]], the Israelites "asked the Lord" which tribe should be first to go to occupy its allotted territory, and the Tribe of Judah was identified as the first tribe.<ref>{{bibleverse||Judges|1:1–2|NKJV}}</ref> According to the narrative in the Book of Judges, the Tribe of Judah invited the [[Tribe of Simeon]] to fight with them in [[Military alliance|alliance]] to secure each of their allotted territories. However, many scholars do not believe that the Book of Judges is a reliable historical account.<ref name="McNutt1999">“In any case, it is now widely agreed that the so-called ‘patriarchal/ancestral period’ is a later ‘’literary’’ construct, not a period in the actual history of the ancient world. The same is the case for the ‘exodus’ and the ‘wilderness period,’ and more and more widely for the ‘period of the Judges.’" {{cite book|author=Paula M. McNutt|title=Reconstructing the Society of Ancient Israel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hd28MdGNyTYC&pg=PA42|date=1 January 1999|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|isbn=978-0-664-22265-9|page=42}}</ref><ref>“The biblical text does not shed light on the history of the highlands in the early Iron I. The conquest and part of the period of the judges' narratives should be seen, first and foremost, as a Deuteronomist construct that used myths, tales, and etiological traditions in order to convey the theology and territorial ideology of the late monarchic author(s) (e.g., Nelson 1981; Van Seters 1990; Finkelstein and Silberman 2001, 72–79, Römer 2007, 83–90).” {{cite book|author=Israel Finkelstein|title=The Forgotten Kingdom: The Archaeology and History of Northern Israel.|url=https://www.sbl-site.org/assets/pdfs/pubs/9781589839106_OA.pdf|date=2013|publisher=Society of Biblical Literature|isbn=978-1-58983-912-0|page=24}}</ref><ref name="McCann2002">”In short, the so-called ‘period of the judges’ was probably the creation of a person or persons known as the deuteronomistic historian."{{cite book|author=J. Clinton McCann|title=Judges|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YV4kEFf6GpsC&pg=PA5|year=2002|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|isbn=978-0-8042-3107-7|page=5}}</ref>

The [[Book of Samuel]] describes God's repudiation of a monarchic line arising from the Southern [[Tribe of Benjamin]] due to the sinfulness of [[King Saul]], which was then bestowed onto the tribe of Judah for all time in the person of [[King David]]. In Samuel's account, after the death of Saul, all the tribes other than Judah remained loyal to the House of Saul, while Judah chose [[David]] as its king. However, after the death of [[Ish-bosheth]], Saul's son and successor to the throne of Israel, all the other Israelite tribes made David, who was then the King of Judah, king of a single Re-United Kingdom of Israel. The [[Books of Kings|Book of Kings]] follows the expansion and unparalleled glory of the [[United Monarchy]] under [[King Solomon]]. A majority of scholars believe that the accounts concerning David and Solomon's territory in the "united monarchy" are exaggerated, and a minority believe that the "united monarchy" never existed at all.<ref name="Faust2016">"Although most scholars accept the historicity of the united monarchy (although not in the scale and form described in the Bible; see Dever 1996; Na'aman 1996; Fritz 1996, and bibliography there), its existence has been questioned by other scholars (see Whitelam 1996b; see also Grabbe 1997, and bibliography there). The scenario described below suggests that some important changes did take place at the time." {{cite book|author=Avraham Faust|title=Israel's Ethnogenesis: Settlement, Interaction, Expansion and Resistance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MOHeCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT172|date=1 April 2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-94215-2|page=172}}</ref><ref name="VaughnKillebrew2003">"In some sense most scholars today agree on a 'minimalist' point of view in this regard. It does not seem reasonable any longer to claim that the united monarchy ruled over most of Palestine and Syria." {{cite book|author=Gunnar Lebmann|editor1=Andrew G. Vaughn|editor2=Ann E. Killebrew|title=Jerusalem in Bible and Archaeology: The First Temple Period|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yYS4VEu08h4C&pg=PA156|year=2003|publisher=Society of Biblical Lit|isbn=978-1-58983-066-0|page=156}}</ref><ref name="EdelmanZvi2014">"There seems to be a consensus that the power and size of the kingdom of Solomon, if it ever existed, has been hugely exaggerated." {{cite book|editor1=Diana Vikander Edelman|editor2=Ehud Ben Zvi|author1=Philip R. Davies|chapter=Why do we Know about Amos?|title=The Production of Prophecy: Constructing Prophecy and Prophets in Yehud|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zWTfBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA71|date=18 December 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-49031-9|page=71}}</ref> Disagreeing with the latter view, Old Testament scholar Walter Dietrich contends that the biblical stories of circa 10th-century BCE monarchs contain a significant historical kernel and are not simply late fictions.<ref>"Tracing the development of the Bible’s stories about kings from the earliest sources (now embedded in 1–2 Samuel) to the biblical books themselves, Dietrich argues that some of the stories are dated close to the time of the events they describe. His approach identifies a series of ideologies within the text, providing evidence for the development of Israelite ideas rather than grounds for dismissing the stories as fiction." {{cite book|last1=Dietrich|first1=Walter|title=The Early Monarchy in Israel: The Tenth Century B.C.E. Translated by Joachim Vette|date=2007|publisher=Brill|location=Leiden, The Netherlands}}</ref>

On the accession of [[Rehoboam]], [[Solomon]]'s son, in c. 930&nbsp;BCE, the Ten Northern Tribes of Israel under the leadership of [[Jeroboam]] from the [[Tribe of Ephraim]] split from the [[Davidic line|House of David]] to create the [[Northern Kingdom]] in [[Samaria]]. The Book of Kings is uncompromising in its low opinion of its larger and richer neighbor to the north and understands its conquest by [[Assyria]] in 722 BCE as divine retribution for the Kingdom's return to idolatry.<ref name="Finkelstein, pp. 261-265">{{cite book|last=Finkelstein|first=Israel|title=The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Sacred Texts|year=2002|publisher=Simon & Schuster|pages=261–265|isbn=9780743223386|url=https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=lu6ywyJr0CMC}}</ref>

The Tribes of Judah, Southern Dan and Benjamin remained loyal to the House of David. These tribes formed the [[Kingdom of Judah]], which existed until Judah was conquered by [[Babylon]] in c. 586&nbsp;BCE and the population was deported.

When the [[Babylonian captivity|Jews returned from Babylonian exile]], residual tribal affiliations were abandoned, probably because of the impossibility of reestablishing previous tribal land holdings. However, the special religious roles decreed for the [[Levites]] and [[Kohen|Kohanim]] were preserved, but Jerusalem became the sole place of worship and sacrifice among the returning exiles, northerners and southerners alike.

===Territory and main cities===
{{Further|Twelve Tribes of Israel#Land allotment}}
[[File:Elah Valley below Adullam.jpg|thumb|upright|The Valley of Elah, near Adullam, in the territorial boundary of Judah]]

According to the biblical account, at its height, the tribe of Judah was the leading tribe of the Kingdom of Judah, and occupied most of the territory of the kingdom, except for a small region in the northeast occupied by [[Tribe of Benjamin|Benjamin]], and an enclave towards the south-west which was occupied by [[Tribe of Simeon|Simeon]]. [[Bethlehem]] and [[Hebron]] were initially the main cities within the territory of the tribe.

[[File:Lion of Judah.jpg|upright|thumb|The [[Lion of Judah|lion]] is the symbol of the tribe of Judah. It is often represented in [[Jewish art]], such as this [[sculpture]] outside a [[synagogue]]]]

The size of the territory of the tribe of Judah meant that in practice it had four distinct regions:{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}
* The [[Negev]] (Hebrew: ''south'') – the southern portion of the land, which was highly suitable for [[pasture]].
* The [[Shephelah]] (Hebrew: ''lowland'') – the coastal region, between the highlands and the [[Mediterranean]] sea,{{dubious|In the modern meaning it stops short of the coastal plain; pls. bring proof that it was different in biblical meaning.|date=August 2018}} which was used for [[agriculture]], in particular for [[grain]]s.
* The ''wilderness'' – the barren region immediately next to the [[Dead Sea]], and below [[sea level]]; it was wild, and barely inhabitable, to the extent that animals and people which were made unwelcome elsewhere, such as [[bear]]s, [[leopards]], and [[outlaw]]s, made it their home. In biblical times, this region was further subdivided into three sections – the ''wilderness of [[En Gedi]]'',<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Samuel|24:1}}</ref> the ''wilderness of Judah'',<ref>{{bibleverse|Judges|1:16}}</ref> and the ''wilderness of [[Ma'on (Judea)|Maon]]''.<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Samuel|23:24}}</ref>
* The ''hill country'' – the elevated plateau situated between the Shephelah and the ''wilderness'',{{dubious|In unsourced explanation used here, it would include the western slopes = modern-Hebrew Shfela, not just the "plateau".|date=August 2018}} with rocky slopes but very fertile soil. This region was used for the production of grain, [[olive]]s, [[grape]]s, and other fruit, and hence produced [[oil]] and [[wine]].
* {{anchor|Schicron}}In the [[Tanakh]], Shicron was one of the landmarks at the western end of the north boundary of the Tribe of Judah (Joshua 15:1). It was probably located near [[Ekron]].

<blockquote>Judah had assigned him by lot the upper part of Judea, reaching as far as Jerusalem, and its breadth extended to the [[Dead Sea|Lake of Sodom]]. Now in the lot of this tribe there were the cities of [[Askelon]] and [[Gaza City|Gaza]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Josephus |author-link=Josephus |title=Josephus Complete Works |publisher=Kregel Publications |translator=[[William Whiston]] |date=1981|location=Grand Rapids, Michigan |page=108 (''Antiquities'' 5.1.22.) |language=en |isbn=0-8254-2951-X }}</ref></blockquote>

==Origin==
According to the [[Torah]], the Tribe consisted of Descendants of [[Judah (biblical person)|Judah]], the fourth son of [[Jacob]] and of [[Leah]]. Some [[Biblical studies|biblical scholars]] view this as an [[etiological myth]] created in hindsight to explain the tribe's name and connect it to the other tribes in the Israelite confederation.<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia">''Jewish Encyclopedia''</ref> With Leah as a matriarch, biblical scholars regard the tribe as having been believed by the text's authors to have been part of the original Israelite confederation.<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia"/>

Like the other tribes of the Kingdom of Judah, the Tribe of Judah is entirely absent from the ancient [[Song of Deborah]]. Traditionally, this has been explained as being due to the southern kingdom being too ''far away'' to be involved in the battle, but [[Israel Finkelstein]] et al. claim the alternative explanation that the southern kingdom was simply an insignificant rural backwater at the time the poem was written.<ref name="Finkelstein, pp. 138-140">{{cite book|last=Finkelstein|first=Israel|title=The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Sacred Texts|year=2002|publisher=Simon & Schuster|pages=138–140|isbn=9780743223386|url=https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=lu6ywyJr0CMC}}</ref>

{{Tribe of Judah}}Professor Aaron Demsky argues that the genealogical record of Shelah and his sons was an allegory of the history of Shelanite clans in  [[Shephelah]] (i.e. Judean foothills). These clans established cities such as Lecah (or [[Lachish]]) and [[Maresha|Mareshah]]. They also worked as potters and craftsmen for the king, particularly [[Hezekiah]]. After the Assyrians destroyed their cities, survivors fled to Jerusalem and fully assimilated with the inhabitants by 538 BC, when the Babylonian exiles returned to Jerusalem.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Demsky |first=Aaron |date=December 26, 2016 |title=Who Was "Shelah Son of Judah" and What Happened to Him? |url=https://www.thetorah.com/article/who-was-shelah-son-of-judah-and-what-happened-to-him |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240208082856/https://www.thetorah.com/article/who-was-shelah-son-of-judah-and-what-happened-to-him |archive-date=February 8, 2024 |website=TheTorah.com}}</ref>

==Character==
Many of the Jewish leaders and prophets of the Hebrew Bible claimed membership in the tribe of Judah. For example, the [[literary prophets]] [[Isaiah]], [[Amos (prophet)|Amos]], [[Joel (prophet)|Joel]], [[Micah (prophet)|Micah]], [[Obadiah]], [[Zechariah (Hebrew prophet)|Zechariah]], and [[Zephaniah]], all belonged to the tribe.<ref>{{Cite web |last=TOW Project |date=9 December 2010 |title=Situating the Prophets in Israel's History |url=https://www.theologyofwork.org/old-testament/introduction-to-the-prophets/situating-the-prophets-in-israels-history |access-date=26 October 2022 |website=Theology of Work}}</ref>

The genealogies given in Matthew 1:1–6 and Luke 3:23–34 in the [[New Testament]] describe [[Jesus]] as a Descendant of David, Matthew through [[Solomon]] and Luke through [[Nathan (son of David)|Nathan]].<ref>{{bibleref2|Matthew|1:1–6}}, {{bibleref2|Luke|3:23–31}}</ref>

==Fate==
[[File:Emblem of Jerusalem.svg|thumb|upright|The [[Lion of Judah]] on the [[Jerusalem Municipality#Municipal seal|municipal emblem]] of [[Jerusalem]] ]]

As part of the Kingdom of Judah, the tribe of Judah survived the [[Assyrian Captivity of Israel|destruction of Israel by the Assyrians]], and instead was subjected to the [[Babylonian captivity]]; when the captivity ended, the distinction between the tribes were lost in favour of a common identity. Since Simeon and Benjamin had been very much the junior partners in the Kingdom of Judah, it was Judah that gave its name to the identity—that of the ''[[Jews]]''.

After the fall of Jerusalem, [[Babylonia]] (modern-day Iraq), would become the focus of Judaism for 1,000 years. The first Jewish communities in Babylonia started with the exile of the tribe of Judah to Babylon by [[Jehoiachin]] in 597 BCE as well as after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 586 BCE.<ref name="Translation 1981, pg. 95">[מרדכי וורמברנד ובצלאל ס רותת "עם ישראל – תולדות 4000 שנה – מימי האבות ועד חוזה השלום", ע"מ 95. (Translation: Mordechai Vermebrand and Betzalel S. Ruth. "The People of Israel – the history of 4000 years – from the days of the Forefathers to the Peace Treaty", 1981, p. 95)</ref> Many more Jews migrated to Babylon in CE 135 after the [[Bar Kokhba revolt]] and in the centuries after.<ref name="Translation 1981, pg. 95" />

The triumph or victory of "the Lion of the Tribe of Judah", who is able to open the scroll and its [[seven seals]], forms part of the vision of the writer of the [[Book of Revelation]] in the New Testament.<ref>{{bibleref2|Revelation|5:5}}</ref>

[[Ethiopia]]'s traditions, recorded and elaborated in a 14th-century treatise, the "[[Kebre Negest]]", assert descent from a retinue of Israelites who returned with the [[Queen of Sheba]] from her visit to [[King Solomon]] in [[Jerusalem]], by whom she had conceived the Solomonic dynasty's founder, [[Menelik I]]. Both [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church|Christian]] and [[Beta Israel|Jewish]] Ethiopian tradition has it that these immigrants were mostly of the Tribes of [[Tribe of Dan|Dan]] and Judah;<ref>{{bibleverse||Amos|9:7|NKJV}}: לוא כבני כשיים אתם לי בני ישראל נאם־יהוה הלוא את־ישראל העליתי מארץ מצרים ופלשתיים מכפתור וארם מקר׃ "Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the LORD. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?"</ref> hence the [[Ge'ez language|Ge'ez]] motto ''Mo`a 'Anbessa Ze'imnegede Yihuda'' ("The Lion of the Tribe of Judah has conquered"), one of many names for Jesus of Nazareth.

==See also==
* [[History of ancient Israel and Judah]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{cite web|first1=Emil G. |last1=Hirsch|first2=George A. |last2=Barton|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=594&letter=J|title=Tribe of Judah|website=[[The Jewish Encyclopedia]]}}
* [http://primo.nli.org.il/primo_library/libweb/action/dlDisplay.do?vid=NLI&docId=NNL_MAPS_JER002368258 Map of the Tribe of Judah]{{dead link|date=January 2025}}, Adrichem, 1590. Eran Laor Cartographic Collection, The National Library of Israel.
* [http://primo.nli.org.il/primo_library/libweb/action/dlDisplay.do?vid=NLI&docId=NNL_MAPS_JER002368566 Map of the Tribe of Judah]{{dead link|date=January 2025}}, Fuller, 1650. Eran Laor Cartographic Collection, The National Library of Israel.

{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:Tribe of Judah| ]]
[[Category:Twelve Tribes of Israel|Judah]]
[[Category:Hebrew Bible places]]