Who was Judah in the Bible?

The fourth son of Jacob and Leah, and the head of the tribe bearing his name, which signifies 'praise.' It was Judah who advised the selling of Joseph rather than taking his life: so his descendants, the Jews, delivered the Lord into the hands of the Gentiles. He sinned in the matter of Tamar his daughter-in-law; was ready enough to have her punished till it was shown that he also was guilty. Thus is traced the terribly corrupt history of the family of whom according to election Christ was to be born. Though not the eldest son he began to take a chief place in the family. He was able to persuade his father to let Benjamin be taken into Egypt, and when appeals were to be made to Joseph it was Judah who made them. When Jacob blessed his sons, the predictions show that in Judah was centred the royal line. The sceptre should not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh came, etc. Gen. 49:8-12. From Judah sprang David and a long succession of kings. Christ as born of the tribe of Judah, is referred to as "the Lion of the tribe of Juda." Rev. 5:5. In Luke 3:33; Heb. 7:14; Rev. 5:5; Rev. 7:5, the name is given as JUDA: and in Matt. 1:2-3, it is JUDAS.

The prophecy as to Judah is in great contrast to that as to Simeon and Levi, for all is favorable. Though Judah had been guilty of very serious wrong too, his deeply felt repentance evident in Genesis 44:18-34 was such that God was free to bless him greatly. His brothers would praise him (Judah means “praise”). He would subjugate his enemies. His father's children would bow to his authority. He is likened to a lion, the king of beasts, feeding on the spoils of his conquest. The scepter of kingly authority would not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver, until the coming of Shiloh, the Lord Jesus. To Him (Shiloh) would be the obedience of the people.

Though Reuben (the firstborn) has been referred to first, the order of birth is not then followed, for Judah was actually fourth. But the Messiah was to come from Judah. God would hear Judah's voice, as indeed He hears every prayer of His beloved Son, and will bring Him to His people at the time they are reduced to utter helplessness. His hands will be sufficient for him. This can only be said of Christ, the works of whose hands are absolute perfection. God also would be His help against His enemies, defeating them in the day of His glory.

This order agrees with the rules of the birthright as they were set down by Moses later on (Deuteronomy 21:15-17). For the son of the loved wife could not be favoured at the expense of the first-born, who was the son of the unloved. The fact that Reuben did forfeit his birthright was entirely his own fault. He had gone up to his father's bed and committed adultery with Bilhah, his father's concubine and therefore he was deprived of his privileges (Genesis 35:22; Genesis 49:3-4; 1 Chronicles 5:1-2). The position linked with the birthright went to Judah, the fourth son of Leah (Simeon and Levi were passed over because of their violence against the inhabitants of Schechem: Genesis 34). The wealth linked with it, however — the first-born was entitled to a double portion of the inheritance — went to Joseph, the first son of Rachel, the loved one. Or rather it went to Ephraim and Manasseh, Joseph's sons, whom Jacob had blessed previously and more or less adopted as his own sons (Genesis 48). Thus Ephraim and Manasseh obtained a place of their own among the tribes of Israel (Deuteronomy 33:17). So we see that both Judah and Joseph are given a prominent place in the blessings of Jacob, Judah receiving the position of a ruler, and Joseph the wealth laid up for the first-born.

Judah and Reuben are mentioned in that order rather than the order in which they were born. The reason is found in 1 Chronicles 5 where it says that Reuben sinned against his father and lost his position as the firstborn. “And the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright. For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Joseph's” (1 Chron. 5:1b-2). In other words the birthright became Joseph's and the position of Reuben as chief among his brethren passed to Judah of whom came the royal tribe. Obviously those two names are beautiful emblems of the Lord Jesus Himself. The Lord Jesus is the Lion out of the tribe of Judah and He is also the true Joseph.

The fulfilment of God's purposes is connected with Judah, for from Judah the King who wields the sceptre, and the Judge who administers the law, would arise, and the gathering of the people will be to Him (verses 8-12).

What wondrous truths are wrapped up in Joseph's dreams! For their fulfilment in his own person is but the type of a still more wonderful but blessed fulfilment in Him in Whom all the honours and glories of birthright and chief rule will be united. It was the will of God then to give the birthright to Joseph and the royalty to Judah. Therefore we read, "Judah prevailed above his brethren and of him came the chief ruler". For a brief space both are seen in Joseph.

"Judah prevailed." What a gracious way of declaring God's pre-determined purpose! Historically, in what did Judah prevail so as to obtain this honour? He was one with his brethren in their hatred of Joseph. If he shrank from shedding his brother's blood, it was he who suggested his sale to the slave-dealing Midianites after Reuben had interposed to save his life. As to plotting against his birthright, they were all equally guilty, with perhaps the exception of Reuben who well knew the birth-right was lost for him, and therefore would not consent to Joseph's death. Judah's prevailing is simply the will of God. Hence he prevailed, not by his goodness. The Holy Spirit has given a sketch from his domestic, or private, life; and his character and sin are plainly told. (Gen. 38) No other of Jacob's sons is so brought out into the light. Moreover, from his evil connection sprang Pharez through whom the genealogy is traced.

Other striking facts come to our knowledge when we go through the list of the generations, each one is highly significant. We mention a few only. Judah is mentioned, because the prophecy of Jacob makes it clear that from him the Shiloh would come (Gen. 49:10). We are reminded of something else in the phrase, Judah and his brethren, namely, of Judah's sin and his brethren's in selling their own brother, and all that is connected with it.

Here we would notice two points connected with this part of our subject. First, in the grouping of the tribes into four great camps we may observe a plan. The four leaders were Judah, Reuben, Ephraim, and Dan. After their standards the tribes annexed to each moved, and in each case, Manasseh excepted, the younger followed the elder. To this one exception no just cause of complaint could be found, for Jacob had settled the precedence of Ephraim over Manasseh, when he blessed them, guiding, we read, his hands wittingly. Judah led the way; not Reuben the first-born, though the latter tribe was chief of the second camp. Reuben had lost his place as the eldest ere Jacob died, and to Judah the aged patriarch prophetically declared that his father's brethren should bow down. For that tribe to lead the way would seem natural; and to us, who are acquainted with its subsequent history, as the tribe to which the Lord belonged, its place as leader was but fitting. Dan, the chief of the last camp, had Asher and Naphtali attached to his standard - all three were children of handmaids, but Dan was the eldest son of the three, so fittingly he had here the pre-eminence. No tribe, then, could complain of its place in the order of march. No jealousy arising out of it could have been engendered in the breast of any. Jacob's dying words and dying act settled questions which might otherwise have arisen. Surely divine wisdom was displayed in these different groupings, which were intended only for the wilderness journey: for the arrangement of the tribes in the land, we may remark, was very different to their wilderness association. Issachar and Zebulun were then far removed from Judah; and Simeon and Gad were separated by the Jordan, and by a great part of the territory of Judah as well.

The kingship is established according to God's counsels, the character which it always bears in Chronicles. Judah, from whom comes the Lawgiver, is presented first. But Judah is chosen by pure grace; his history teaches us this here. His wife, a Canaanite, gives him a first-born, Er, whom the Lord slew on account of his wickedness. Thus, just as in 1 Chronicles 1, we find the natural man here first, the man whose whole history begins with the fall and judgment. Nonetheless, God gives Judah the preeminence because according to His counsels the Prince is to come forth from him (1 Chron. 5: 2), and not for any other reason. Also from the beginning of this chapter we see Judah's posterity traced down to David, the Beloved (vv. 13-17). In the enumeration of the other tribes, Levi occupies an important place (1 Chron. 6) on account of the major and indispensable role given him under the kingship for the worship and the service of the temple.