Judah (Biblical figure)

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Judah or Yehuda (Hebrew: יְהוּדָה, Standard Yəhuda Tiberian Yəhûḏāh, "God" + "Thanks") is the fourth son of Jacob and Leah described in the Hebrew Bible Book of Genesis. Founder of the Hebrew tribe that bears his name, he was born in Padan-aram.<ref>Genesis 29:35</ref>

1 Name
2 Background
3 In rabbinic literature
- 3.1 Preeminence of Judah's Tribe in rabbinic literature
4 Judah as a legendary hero
5 Historical view
6 Publications
7 See also
8 References
9 External links

[edit] Name

Judah's name is interpreted as a combination of "Yhwh" (given as a reward for his public confession, Genesis 38:26) with the letter "dalet," the numerical value of which is 4, Judah being the fourth son of Jacob.<ref>Sotah 10b</ref>

[edit] Background

It was Judah who suggested the sale of Joseph to the Ishmaelite traders. It is unclear from the record whether he did this out of protection or spite—in order to save the life of his brother, or because it was the next-worst thing he could think of since Reuben had prevented them from killing Joseph. Judah may have been especially resentful of Joseph because Judah was expecting to receive the birthright, since his three older brothers (Reuben, Simeon, and Levi) had disqualified themselves through sin. He may have seen Joseph as a competitor for the birthright and thus may have wanted to oust him.

Judah becomes surety for his brother Benjamin, and prevails upon his father to let him go down to Egypt according to the request of Joseph, after Reuben has failed.<ref>Genesis 43:3–14</ref>

In subsequent interviews with Joseph, Judah takes a leading part among the brethren (e.g., "Judah and his brethren," Gen. xliv. 14), and makes a most touching and persuasive plea for the release of Benjamin.<ref>Genesis 44:16–34</ref> In Jacob's blessing, he seems to be exalted to the position of chief of the brethren, owing apparently to the misconduct of Reuben and the treacherous violence of Simeon and Levi (see Genesis 34, 35:22, 49:2–10), who thereby forfeit their birthright.

According to Genesis 38, Judah married the daughter of the Canaanite Shuah, by whom he had three sons, Er, Onan, and Shelah. Er married Tamar, but died childless. According to custom his widow was given in marriage to his brother Onan, who was slain for misconduct; and she was then promised to the third son, Shelah. This promise not having been fulfilled, she resorted to stratagem, and became by Judah the mother of Pharez and Zarah. Pharez (or "Perez") was ancestor of the royal house of David.<ref>Ruth 4:18–22</ref><ref>I Chronicles 2:3–15</ref>

[edit] In rabbinic literature

With reference to I Chronicles 5:2, Judah is represented in rabbinical literature as chief over his brothers, who obeyed him and who did nothing without his approval; he is styled "the king."<ref>Genesis Rabbah 84:16</ref><ref>Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, Judah, 1</ref> He is therefore held responsible by the rabbis for the deception that his brothers practised upon their father by sending to him Joseph's coat dipped in the blood of a young lamb.<ref>Genesis 37:31–32</ref> Judah was punished for it in a similar manner, Tamar sending to him his pledge, saying, "Discern, I pray thee, whose are these."<ref>Genesis 38:25</ref><ref>Genesis Rabba 84:19, 85:12</ref> The death of his wife and his two sons<ref>Genesis 38:7–12</ref> is also considered by Midrash Tanhuma<ref>Tanhuma, Vayiggash, 10</ref> as a divine retribution for the suffering which he caused his father by selling Joseph.

According to Midrash Genesis Rabbah 95:1 and Midrash Tanhuma, l.c., Jacob suspected Judah of having killed Joseph; Tanhuma even adds that it was Judah himself who brought Joseph's coat to Jacob. Judah's attempt to rescue Joseph<ref>Genesis 37:26</ref> is considered insufficient; for, as he was the chief, he should have brought Joseph on his shoulders to his father.<ref>Genesis Rabbah 85:4</ref> His brothers, on seeing their father's grief, deposed Judah and excommunicated him, saying: "If he, our chief, had ordered us to bring Joseph home, we would have done so" (Midrash Exodus Rabbah 42:2; Tanhumah, Vayeshev, 12). Judah atoned for that fault by confessing that it was he who had given Tamar the pledge; and he was rewarded for that confession by a share in the future world.<ref name= "sotah 7b">Sotah 7b</ref>

Bat Shua (Genesis 38:12), according to Jubilees 34:20, was the name of Judah's wife, while in Sefer ha-Yashar (section Vayeshev) her name is given as Illit.

[edit] Preeminence of Judah's Tribe in rabbinic literature

The tribe of Judah had the preeminence over the other tribes in that Elisheba, the mother of all the priests; Othniel, the first judge; Bezaleel, the builder of the Tabernacle; and Solomon, the builder of the First Temple in Jerusalem; and all the pious kings were of the tribe of Judah, as will be the Messiah. This distinction was given to the tribe of Judah as a reward for its zeal in glorifying God at the passage of the Red Sea.

When the children of Israel were about to cross, a dispute arose among the tribes, each desiring to be the first to enter the water. The tribe of Benjamin sprang in first, for which act the princes of Judah threw stones at it.<ref>Sotah 37a</ref> In Exodus Rabbah 24:1, it is stated, on the contrary, that the other tribes refused to enter the slimy bed of the sea until the tribe of Judah set them the example by plunging in.

According to R. Judah, the Temple in Jerusalem was erected on Judah's land — another reward to the tribe;<ref>Midrash Genesis Rabbah 99:1</ref> but a different opinion is that only the whole eastern side of the edifice, including the courtyards and the altar, was on Judah's ground, while the Temple proper was on land belonging to Benjamin.<ref>Yoma 12a; Zevahim 53b</ref>

The people of Judah are said to have been versed in the laws of the Torah (bene Torah), because in the wilderness the tribe was placed on the east side of the camp,<ref>Numbers 2:3</ref> being thus near to Moses and Aaron.<ref>Numbers Rabbah 18:4</ref> It seems that the soil of Judah's territory was remarkable for the excellent quality of its grain, one measure of Judean grain being worth five measures of that produced in Galilee.<ref>Bava Batra 122a</ref>

[edit] Judah as a legendary hero

Judah is represented as a man of extraordinary physical strength. When he shouted his voice was heard at a distance of 400 parasangs; when he became angry the hair of his chest became so stiff that it pierced his clothes; and when he took into his mouth lumps of iron he reduced them to dust. According to others, blood flowed from his two bucklers.<ref>Genesis Rabbah 93:6–7</ref>

He was a prominent figure in the wars between the Canaanites and his father's family after the latter had destroyed Shechem. These wars are alluded to by Pseudo-Jonathan (on Genesis 48:22) and in Midrash Vayissa'u,<ref>Jellinek, "B. H." 3.1–5</ref> and are described at great length in Sefer ha-Yashar, section Vayishlah.<ref>see also Jubilees, 34:1–9; Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, Judah, 3–7)</ref>

Judah's first remarkable exploit was the killing of Jashub, King of Tappuah. The latter, clad in iron armor, came riding on a horse and shooting arrows with both hands. While still at a distance of thirty cubits from him, Judah threw at Jashub a stone weighing sixty shekels, unhorsing him. Then in a hand-to-hand fight Judah killed his adversary. While he was stripping the armor from the body, he was assailed by nine of Jashub's companions, of whom he killed one and put to flight the rest. Of Jashub's army he killed 1,000 men,<ref>compare Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, l.c.</ref> or, according to Sefer ha-Yashar (l.c.), forty-two men.

Great exploits were said to be performed by him at Hazar and Gaash, where he was the first to jump upon the wall and create havoc among the enemy. Midrash Vayissa'u describes also the battle between the children of Jacob and those of Esau, in which the chief part was taken by Judah. When Judah interfered on behalf of Benjamin (Genesis 44:18–34), he at first had a heated discussion with Joseph, which is given at great length in the Sefer ha-Yashar (section Vayiggash, agreeing in many points with Genesis Rabbah 93:7).

The following incidents may be mentioned: When Joseph retained Benjamin, Judah shouted so loudly that Hushim, the son of Dan, who was in Canaan at a distance of 400 parasangs from him, heard his voice. Hushim came immediately to Egypt, and with Judah desired to destroy the land. In the Sefer ha-Yashar it is stated that Judah lifted a stone weighing 400 shekels, threw it into the air, and finally ground it to dust with his foot. He then told Naphtali to count the districts of Egypt, and when the latter reported that there were twelve of them, he said to his brothers: "I take three for myself and let each one of you take one, and we shall destroy the whole of Egypt." It was this decision that induced Joseph to disclose himself to his brothers.

Because Judah had pledged himself to bring Benjamin back to his father, saying, "If I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever,"<ref>Genesis 43:9</ref> his bones were rolled about without rest in the coffin during the forty years that the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness. Moses then prayed to God, arguing that Judah's confession had induced Reuben to confess his sin with Bilhah.<ref name= "sotah 7b"><ref>Bava Kamma 92a</ref><ref>Makkot 11b</ref> Judah's name was engraved on the emerald in the high priest's breastplate.<ref>Numbers Rabbah 2:6</ref>

[edit] Historical view

It is generally maintained by historical critical studies of the Bible that Judah is the eponymous ancestor of the tribe of that name, and that the narrative in Genesis gives the history of the tribe in the form of personal history.