The Sons, The tribes, The kingdoms
The 12 tribes, southern tribes, northern tribes …
It can be confusing!
So who are the Tribes of Judah, and was Judah a person, a tribe or a kingdom?”
The equally confusing answer is: Yes. Judah is all three. Judah, son of Jacob, founded the tribe of Judah, which in turn become the name of the Southern Kingdom of Judah, comprised of two family lines or the Tribes of Judah.
Let’s back up. Jacob – son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham – fathered 12 sons, including Judah. AHAYA later changed Jacob’s name to Israel (Genesis 32:25‒32), and the descendants of his sons became known as the 12 Tribes of Israel.
The Two Kingdoms
The tribes lived as a united nation through the reign of King David’s son, Solomon. After Solomon died, the Israelites divided into two separate kingdoms, each with its own king. The Southern Kingdom was called Judah and included the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. The Northern Kingdom was called Israel and comprised the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, Manasseh, Issachar, Zebulun, Ephraim, Dan, Asher, Naphtali and Gad.
The Tribe of Judah Scattered
In 722 B.C.E., Assyria conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel, either taking captive or driving out members of the 10 Tribes. Although there are other terms used, this is commonly referred to as the Assyrian exile. Some accounts say that the 10 Tribes, at this time, were “lost to history.” In reality, they were scattered throughout the known world, including the significant number who settled in the Northern Kingdom.
Then, in approximately 586 B.C.E, the Southern Kingdom fell to Babylon. The Temple was destroyed, and the Tribes of Judah were removed from the Land, largely to Babylon. Around 445 B.C.E., Nehemiah led a remnant of the people back to Jerusalem and rebuilt its walls and gates.
Then, more than 500 years later after the time of Yasha Christ, in 70 C.E., the Romans destroyed the Second Temple and, again, The Hebrew people scattered into the world at large. Before the Assyrian invasion of Israel, some from the Northern Tribes had migrated to the Southern Kingdom and joined the Tribes of Judah. This remnant was eventually taken captive or scattered along with the Southern Tribes.
The Most High promised the Hebrew (Not Jewish) people that He would make the two nations one again and bring them back into the Land of Israel.
Judah and Benjamin – the linked brothers
Judah was Jacob’s fourth son, born to Leah. Benjamin was the youngest, and his mother, Rachel, died moments after he was born. When the families of Israel suffered a great famine, Judah promised his father that he would protect Benjamin on the journey to Egypt for grain. When Joseph threatened to keep Benjamin as a slave for stealing the planted silver cup, Judah pleaded to be held instead so the youngest brother could return to their father. After Joshua led the Israelites in conquering the Promised Land, the Tribes of Judah and Benjamin settled near each other. Benjamin’s descendants took up residence in a small area northwest of the Dead Sea. Judah’s large territory was south of Benjamin’s, west of the Dead Sea, and included Jerusalem.
Tribe of Benjamin history
Benjamin’s was the smaller of the two Tribes of Judah and the least of the 12 Tribes as well. When Jacob neared his death, he pronounced blessings on each of his sons. He declared Benjamin a “ravening wolf devouring spoils and dividing plunder” – a fighter and warrior Genesis 49:27.
Ehud, a Benjamite in the period of the judges, was a mighty warrior who freed Israel from the Moabites when he rallied the people to take control of the Jordan River’s crossings and strike down the men of Moab. With this, Ehud won 80 years of peace for Israel Judges 3:12‒20.
Saul, Israel’s first king, was from the Tribe of Benjamin 1 Samuel 9:15‒27, as were Mordecai and Esther 2:5‒7 and the apostle Paul (Romans 11:1.
Tribe of Judah history
Judah was considered the foremost of the 12 Tribes of Israel. Jacob’s blessing on Judah identified his family as the royal line that would rule Israel eternally. “The scepter will not pass from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs will come. To him will be the obedience of the peoples” Genesis 49:10.
This Messianic prophecy declares that the Messiah would come from Judah’s line. Yasha, who descended from the tribe of kings through David and Solomon, fulfilled this prophecy, being the King of Kings who will reign forever.
Jacob’s blessing also referred to Judah as a lion’s cub Genesis 49:9. This is the origin of one of Yasha Christ titles; in Revelation 5:5, He is called the Lion of Judah.
Revelation 5:5
5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.
Where are the Tribes of Judah today?
Ancient conquests by Assyria, Babylon and Rome dispersed Hebrew people from their Land, and intense persecution in the following centuries scattered the Hebrew people further. Today, members of the Tribes of Judah and Israel reside all around the world. Hebrew Israelite populations live on every major continent and have been found in Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Mexico, South America, China, India, Somaliland, Afghanistan, Nigeria and beyond, and predominately in The United States is the biggest mix of all the tribes together in one nation.
The nation of Israel was made up of tribes—the families descended from Jacob’s sons (and grandsons). To the earliest readers of the Old Testament, these names were common knowledge. Which means when words like “Levi,” “Judah” and “Ephraim” show up in the Bible, they usually don’t come with an explanation—the authors assumed the first readers understood. Kind of like how I can assume my readers in the US immediately know what I’m talking about if I reference “D.C.,” “Houston,” or “Chicago.” But we’re not from ancient Israel. So sometimes it helps to get a little backstory on those tribes—since we didn’t grow up hearing about them all the time in the christian church.
The Bible speaks more about the tribe of Judah than any other single tribe of Israel.
Why is this tribe given so much attention, and what is Judah’s future?
Let’s look at the story of Judah in the Bible. The history of the tribe of Judah, which eventually became a nation, begins in the book of Genesis. Judah was the fourth son of the patriarch Jacob by his first wife Leah,
Genesis 29:35
"And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the Lord: therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing."
He grew up with his brothers, working in the family business tending cattle and sheep.
In time Judah and his brothers grew jealous and envious of their younger brother Joseph. Joseph was favored by his father, who gave him a special coat Genesis 37:3. But it was when Joseph told his brothers about his dreams, which indicated he would be greater than them, that their hatred of him intensified (verses 5-11).
The hatred grew to the point that the brothers wanted to actually kill Joseph; but Reuben, the firstborn, stepped in to stop them. Joseph was placed in a pit; and while Reuben was absent, Judah came up with the idea of selling Joseph to Midianite traders for 20 shekels of silver (verses 18-22, 26-29). The brothers killed a goat and covered Joseph’s coat with blood to deceive their father into believing a wild animal had killed him. Jacob could never get over his grief for the loss of his son.
Genesis 37:35
And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.
Judah suffers with family problems
Judah and his brothers thought they had taken care of the problem of their younger brother, but The Most High did not let that be the end of the story. The Most High preserved Joseph and blessed him in Egypt, where he had been sold as a slave. Meanwhile, Judah’s family suffered many trials over the next 20 years or more. Judah married a Canaanite woman, the daughter of Shua. They had three sons, Er, Onan and Shelah. Judah took a wife, Tamar, for his firstborn son, Er, but he was so evil that God took his life (Genesis 38:6-7). Judah commanded his second-born son, Onan, to marry Tamar and produce an heir for his deceased brother as AHAYA’s laws commanded in such circumstances. Onan would not carry through with this act because it would not be his heir. The Most High then took Onan’s life for his refusal to give his brother an heir.
Genesis 38:8-10
8 And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother.
9 And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother.
10 And the thing which he did displeased the Lord: wherefore he slew him also.
A strange event in Judah’s life
Following Onan’s death, Judah asked Tamar to not remarry, but to wait in her father’s house until Judah’s youngest son, Shelah, was old enough to marry. Tamar complied with Judah’s wishes. But quite a number of years went by, and Judah’s wife died. Tamar realized that she was not going to be given in marriage to Shelah, who was now grown (Genesis 38:11-14).
One day Tamar heard that her father-in-law was heading out to shear his sheep. She removed her widow’s garments and dressed to appear as a harlot as she sat along the road where Judah would pass by. Judah did not recognize her and propositioned her; and she demanded his signet, cord and staff for collateral. When it was later discovered that she was pregnant, Judah threatened her with death for harlotry. To save her life, she presented the items belonging to Judah and said, “By the man to whom these belong, I am with child” (Genesis 38:18, 24-26).
Tamar had twins. At delivery, one twin put out his hand first and the midwife tied a scarlet thread on it and said, “This one came out first.” But the other twin, Perez, came out unexpectedly followed by Zerah with the scarlet thread tied on his hand (Genesis 38:27-30).
The Most High would use the unusual birth of these twins to establish two lines of genealogy in the tribe of Judah.
The second great promise The Most High gave to Abraham stated, “And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). This promise would come through the line of Perez. King David and the kings of Judah would descend through the line of Perez. But most importantly, Christ would come through this line so “all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Matthew 1:3, 16).
As the apostle Paul wrote, “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed,’ who is Christ” (Galatians 3:16).
Why the tribe of Judah?
In looking at the life of Judah and his character, it is hard to see why the tribe of Judah should become so prominent among the tribes of Israel. On the one hand, Joseph lived a righteous life and was blessed with the birthright in place of Reuben, the firstborn. The name of “Israel” was passed on to Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.
Yet God also chose Judah and his descendants for a special place in His plan through the ages. The prophecy The Most High gave to Jacob at the end of his life concerning his sons’ descendants “in the latter days” reveals a special blessing for the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:1, 8-10).
In speaking of the tribe of Judah, Jacob said,
Genesis 49:8-10
“Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s children shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down as a lion; and as a lion, who shall rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people”
In this passage The Most High looked at Judah as a strong warrior and likened him to a young lion sleeping in its den after devouring its prey. Perhaps it was this strength of character and determination that The Most High foresaw in this tribe that influenced Him to choose Judah to be His lawgiver and the tribe from which His Son would later be born
(Hebrews 7:14). Christ is called “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” (Revelation 5:5).
Regarding Genesis 49:10, Expositor’s Bible Commentary says, “The word ‘Shiloh,’ found in some English versions, is simply an untranslated form of the Hebrew expression meaning ‘one to whom it belongs.’” Christ is the “one to whom it belongs” (Frank E. Gaebelein, ed.).
Judah is also described as a lawgiver in the Psalms. AHAYA inspired David to twice say that “Judah is The Most High's] lawgiver” (Psalms 60:7; 108:8).
The tribe of Judah has not only been a lawgiver, but a preserver of The Most High's written laws.
Judah prevails over his brothers