4. The history of the Judges contains fewer facts re- specting this important tribe than might be expected. It seems, however, to have been usually considered that the birthright which Reuben forfeited had passed to Ju- dah under the blessing of Jacob; and a sanction was given to this impression when, after the death of Josh- ua, the divine oracle nominated Judah to take prece- dence of the other tribes in the war against the Canaan- ites (Judg. i, 2). It does not appear that any tribe was disposed to dispute the superior claim of Judah on its own account except Ephraim, although in doing this Ephraim had the support of other tribes. Ephraim ap- pears to have rested its claims to the leadership of the tribes upon the ground that the house of Joseph, whose interest it represented, had received the birthright, or double portion of the eldest, by the adoption of the two sons of Joseph, who became the founders of hco tribes in Israel. The existence of tbe sacerdotal establish- ment at Shiloh, in Ejdiraim, was doubtless also alleged by the tribe as a ground of superiority over Judah. When, therefore, Judah assumed the sceptre in the per- son of David, and when the sacerdotal establishment was removed to Jerusalem, Ephraim could not brook the eclipse it had sustained, and took the first opportunity of erecting a separate throne, and forming separate es- tablishments for worship and sacrifice. I'erhaps the separation of the kingdoms may thus be traced to the rivalry of Judah and Eiihraim. " After that separation tlie rivalry was between the two kingdoms, but it was still popidarly considered as reiircsenting the ancient rivalry of these great trilies; for the prophet, in foretel- ling tlie repose of a coming time, describes it by saying, "Tbe envy also of ICpliraim sliall depart, and the adver- saries of .hulah sliall 1,0 cut off: Kpliraim sliall not envy Jiidah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim" (Isa. xiii, 12). When the kingdom was divided under Rehoboam and Jeroboam, the history of Judah as a tribe lapsed into that of Judah us a kingdom. See Judah, kingdom of.
II. Gfof/nrphirril Dnta.—ln the first distribution of lauds, tlie tribe of Judah received the southernmost part of Palestine to the extent of fully one third of the whole eounrry west of the Jordan, which was to be distriliuted anioi,!; the nine and a half tribes for which provision was to be ma.le (Josh. xv). This oversight was dis- covered and rectified at the time of the second distribu-
tion, which w-as founded on an actual survey of the country, when Simeon received an allotment out of the territory Avhich had before been wholly assigned to Ju- dah (Josh, xix, 9). See Simeon. That which remain- ed was still very large, and more proportioned to the future greatness than the actual wants of the tribe. We now also know, through the researches of recent trav- ellers, that the extent of good land belonging to this tribe, southward, was much greater than had usually been supposed, much of that which had been laid down in maps as mere desert being actually composed of ex- cellent pasture-land, and in part of arable soil, stiU ex- hibiting some traces of ancient cultivation. Dan de- fended the western border against the inroads of the Philistines with a brave and well-trained band of sol- diers, having established, as it seems, a permanent camp on the commanding height between Zorah and Eshtaol (Judg. xiii, 25 ; xvi, 31 ; xviii, 12 ; see Dan). Simeon bore the brmit of all attacks and forays made on the southern border by the tribes of the great '• Wil- derness of Wandering;" and when the Edomites at- tempted to penetrate Judah, Simeon could always check them by an attack upon their flank. When Judah be- came a kingdom, the original extent of temtory assign- ed to the tribe was more than restored or compcnsatf d, for it must have embraced the domains of Simeon, and probably also of Dan, and we know that Benjamin -was likewise included in it. See Iskakl, kingdom of.
The boundaries and contents of the territory allotted to Judah are narrated at great length, and with greater minuteness than the others, in Josh, xv, 20-63. This may be due either to the fact that the lists were reduced to their present form at a later period, when the monar- chy resided with Judah, and when more care would naturally be bestowed on them than on those of any other tribe, or to the fact that the territory was more important and more thickly covered with towns and villages than any other part of Palestine. The greater prominence given to the genealogies of Judah in 1 Chron. ii, iii, iv, no doubt arises from the former reason. The towns are also specifically named, not only under the general divisions, but even in detailed groups. (See below.) The north boundarj- — coincident with the south boundary of Benjamin— began at the embouchure of the Jordan, entered the hills apparently at, or about the present road from Jericho, ran westward to en-She- mesh— probably the present Ain-H-aud, btlow Bethany —thence over the Mount of Olives to Enrogel, in the valley beneath Jerusalem; went along the ravine of Hinnom, under the precipices of the city, climbed the hill in a north-west direction to the water of Nephtoah (probably Lifta), and thence by Kirjath-jearini (proba- bly Kuriet el-Enab), Bethshemesh (Ain-Shems), Tim- nath, and Ekron to Jabneel on the sea-coast. On the east the Dead Sea, and on the west tbe IMediterranean, formed the boundaries. Tbe southern line is hard to determine, since it is denoted by places many of which have not been identified. It left the Dead Sea at its extreme south end, and joined the Mediterranean at the wady el-Arish ; but between these two points it passed through ;Maaleh Acrabbim, the- Wilderness of Zin, Hez- ron, Adar, Karkaa, and Azmon ; the Wilderness of Zin tbe extreme south of all (Josh, xv, 1-12). The coun- try thus defined was sixty-five miles long, and averaged about fifty in breadth. But while this large tract was nominally allotted to Judah, the portion of it available for actual settlement was comparatively small, not amounting to one third of the whole. From it must also be deducted a large section, stretching entirely across from the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea, being the part set off to the tribe of Simeon. The actual ter- ritory of Judsea therefore extended, on an average, only about twenty-five miles from north to south, by about forty from east to west. See Tribe. The whole of the above extensive region was from a very early date di- vided into four main regions.