difference is very jiointcdly remarked by different trav- ellers; and lord Lindsay ])lainly declares that "all Ju- dtea, except the hiUs (;f Hebron and the vales immedi- ately about Jerusalem, is barren and desolate. But the prospect brightens as soon as you quit it, and Samaria and Galilee still smile like the land of promise." But there is a season — after the spring rains, and before the summer heat has absorbed all the moistui-e left l)y them — when even the desert is clothed with verdure, and at that season the valleys of Judaea present a refreshingly green appearance. This vemal season, however, is of short duration, and by the beginning of ]\Iay the grass upon the mountains, and every vestige of vegetation upon the lower grounds, have in general completely dis- appeared. (See Kitto, Pictorial History of Palestine, Introduct. p. 39,40,119, 120; and the rrore'^s of Nnu, p. 4.39; Roger, p. 182; Mariri,ii. 362; Lindsay, ii, 70 ; Ste- phens, ii, 249 ; Elliot, p. 408. 409 ; Olin, ii, 323 ; Stanlej-, p. 161,173. For a general discussion, see Reland,/'a- last. p. 31, 174, 178; lio^umWMex. Bill. Geogr. II, ii, 149; \V\itfir, Erdk. xiv, 81, 1064, 1080, 1088; xv, 25, 125, 131, 655 ; xvi, 1 sq., 21 sq., 33 sq., 35 sq., 509 sq., 26, 114 sq., 547.)— Kitto. See Judah, Tribe of.
Ju'dah (Heb. Yehudah', tTlW;', celebrated; comp. Gen. xxix, 35 ; xlix, 8 , Chald. n!in"i, Yehud', Ezra v, 1 ; vii, 14; Dan. ii, 25; v, 13, vi, 13; "Judaea," Ezra v, 8; " Jewrj'," Dan. v, 13 ; Sept. and N. T. generally 'loi'^of [as also Josephus] ; but comp. 'Ioi;^a, Luke iii, 26, 30;
JUDAH
1047
JUDAH
for Luke i, 39, see Juttaii), the name of several per- sons, etc., in Scripture. See also JuuAs; Jude.
1. The fourth son of Jacob by Leah, born B.C. 191G (Gen. xxix, 35), being the last before the tem])orary cessation in the births of her children. His whole-broth- ers were Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, elder than himself— Issachar and Zebulun younger (see xxxv, 28). Tlie name is explained as having originated in Leah's excla- mation of " praise" at this fresh gift of Jehovah— " She said, ' Now will I praise (fTlIX, odeh) Jehovah,' and she caUed his name Yehudah" (xxix, 35). The same play is preserved in the blessing of Jacob— " Judah, thou whom thy brethren shall praise !" (xlix, 8).
The narrative in Genesis brings this patriarch more before the reader, and makes known more of his histo- ry and character than it does in the case of any other of the twelve sons of Jacob, with the single exception of Joseph. It was Judah's advice that the brethren followed when they sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites in- stead of taking his" life. By the light of his subsequent actions we can see that his conduct on this occasion arose from a generous impulse, although the form of the question he put to them has been sometimes held to suggest an interested motive : " What profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood ? Come, let us sell him" (xxxvii, 26, 27). Though not the first-born, he "prevailed above his brethren" (1 Chron. v, 2), and wo find him subsequently taking a decided lead in all the affairs of the family. When a second visit to Egypt for corn had become inevitable, it was Judah who, as the mouthpiece of the rest, headed the remonstrance against the detention of Benjamin by Jacob, and finally undertook to be responsible for the safety of the lad (Gen. xliii, 3-10). When, through Joseph's artifice, the brothers were brought back to the palace, he is again the leader and spokesman of the band. In that thor- oughly Oriental scene it is Judah who unhesitatingly acknowledges the guilt which had never been commit- ted, throws himself on the mercy of the supposed Egyp- tian prince, offers himself as a slave, and makes that wonderful appeal to the feelings of their disguised broth- er which renders it impossible for Joseph any longer to conceal his secret (xliv, 14, 16-34). So, too, it is Judah who is sent before Jacob to smooth the way forliim in the land of Goshen (xlvi, 28). This ascendencj'over his brethren is reflected in the last words addressed to him by his father^— Thou whom thy brethren shall praise ! thy father's sons shall bow down before thee ! unto him shall be the gathering of the people (xlix, 8- 10 ). In the interesting traditions of the Koran and the Midrash his figure stands out in the same prominence. Before Joseph his wrath is mightier and his recognition heartier than the rest. It is he vv'ho hastens in advance to bear to Jacob the fragrant robe of Joseph (Weil's Bib- lical Legends, p. 88-90).
Not long after the sale of Joseph, Judah had with- drawn from the paternal tents, and gone to reside at Adidlam, in the country which afterwards bore his name. Here he married a woman of Canaan, called Shu- ah, and had by her three sons. Er, Onan, and Shelah. When the eldest of these sons became of fit age, he was married to a woman named Tamar, but soon after died. See Er. As he died childless, the patriarchal law, af- terwards adopted into the Mosaic code (Deut. xxv, 6), required Judah to bestow upon the widow his second son. This he did; but as Onan also soon died childless [see Oman], Judah became reluctant to bestow his only sur- viving son upon this woman, and put her off with the excuse that he was not yet of sufficient age. Tamar accordingly remained in her father's house at Adullam. She had the usual passion of Eastern women for off- spring, and could not endure the stigma of having been twice married without bearing children, while the law precluded her from contracting any alliance but that which Judah withheld her from completing. :\Iean- while Judah's wife died, and, after the time of mourn- ing had expired, he went, accompanied by his friend