JUDiEA.— 1. In its earlier signification the term ' Jud«a ' i'lovdaia) was applied to a limited district, of which Jerusalem was the centre, occupied by the captives who returned from Babylon after the decree of Cyrus. The scattered remnants of the Israelites who availed themselves of this oppor- tunity, representing most, if not all, of the several tribes, joined forces with the men of Judah in rebuilding the Temple and its defences ; and from this date, except on the lists of the genealogical and tribal records, they were not distinguished from them. Hence the tribe of .Judah, which, ac- cording to Josephus, arrived first in those parts, gave name both to the inhabitants and the terri- tory, the former being designated as Jews and the latter as ' Judaea ' or ' Jewry ' {Ant. XI. v. 7). At a later date both names were used in a wider sense, including all the Israelites who returned, and also their settlements or possessions in other sections of the land. Under Persian rule the land of Judah was designated as a province of the Empire, and was administered by a governor, who resided at Jerusalem (Ezr 5«- '^ Neh IP, Hag !'• '"). During the period of the Roman occupation the term was sometimes used as a general expression for Pales- tine as a whole {BJ I. viii. 2 ; Strabo, xvi. 2. 21 ; Tacitus, Hist. v. 6 ; Lk V, Ac 28-'), also to include a portion, apparently, of the trans- jordanic country {A7it. XII. iv. H ; Mt 19', Mk 10' ; Ptol. v. 16. 9). Apart from this exceptional usage, the name ordi- narily—as we find it in the NT and the writings of Josephus — is applied to the southernmost of the three districts — Galilee, Samaria, Judtea — into which Western Palestine was divided in the time of Christ. With some variations on the north and west borders at difl'erent periods, Judsea covered all of the territory south of the Wady Ishar and the village of AkrcMeh (PEFSt, 1881, p. 48), from the Mediterranean to the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea. According to Josephus, its limits extended from a village on the north called Anuath, or Borkeos, identified with 'Aina Berkit, to lardas (possibly Tell Arad), on the edge of the desert, to the south. Its breadth he defines, in general terms.
as extending from the river Jordan to Joppa (BJ
jtically responded with the area of the kingdom of Judah
i. 5). In other words, its area practically cor-
in the period of its greatest enlargement. As thus defined it included the tribal possessions of Simeon, Judah, Benio- n, Dan, and, to some extent at least, of Ephraim.
A distinction sliould be noted here between the use of the word Judsea to designate strictly Jewish territory, from which the outlying Hellenistic or Gentile toivns were excluded, and the Roman usage of the word to designate a political division, which for administrative purposes included all the coast towns south of Mt. Carmel, the chief of which in the time of Christ was Ciesarea, the residence of its Procurator. In the one case its northern limit was Antipatris, on the plain of Sharon ; in the other it extended to Acre (Ptole- mais) beyond Mt. Carmel. The S.E. portion of Judaea has sometimes been designated as a separate district under the name Idumwa, but this term properly describes a settlement of the Edomites in Judsea, and not a separate division of the country. Idumsea, according to Josephus, was one of the eleven toparchies into which Judrea proper was
divided for administrative puri)oses under Roman rule (BJ III. iii. 5). See Idumwa.
2. When our Lord was born, Judsea constituted a part of the dominion of Herod the Great, who accordingly is called by the Evangelists ' king of Juda-a' ( Lk 1^ cf. Mt 2'). After the death of Herod, the Roman emperor assumed the right to settle the dispute which had arisen among his sons con- cerning the division of the kingdom, and by his decree Judiea and Samaria were in the partition assigned to Archelaus. The sovereignty of Rome was more fully asserted also at this time in refus- ing to any of Herod's sons the title ' king.' When liy the same authority Archelaus was deposed (A.D. 6), the territory over which he held rule was attached to the province of Syria, and thus for the first time came under immediate Roman rule. From this date it was administered by a governor or procurator, who was chosen from the equestrian order. Following Archelaus the province was ad- ministered by five procurators during the life and ministry of Jesus, viz. Coponiu3(c. A.D. 6-9), Marcus Ambivius (c. 9-12), Annius Rufus (c. 12-15), Vale- rius Gratus (15-25), Pontius Pilat« (26-36). It was during Pilate's rule that the word of God came to John the Baptist in the wilderness, and some years later this Roman procurator made his name for ever infamous by giving sentence that the Christ, whom he had openly declared to be innocent of crime, should be led away to be crucified.
3. The physical features of Judcea are sharply outlined and singularly diversified. Its distinctive characteristics fall naturally into five subdivisions, originally suggested by the OT writers, viz. the ' Plain of the Coast,' the ' Shephelah ' or region of the low hills, the 'Hill country,' the 'Negeb' or dry country, and the ' Wilderness.'