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JUDAH

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Originally appearing in Volume V15, Page 535 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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JUDAH , a See also:

district of See also:ancient See also:Palestine, to the See also:south of the See also:kingdom of See also:Israel, between the Dead See also:Sea and the See also:Philistine See also:plain. It falls physically into three parts: the See also:hill-See also:country from See also:Hebron northwards through See also:Jerusalem; the See also:lowland (Heb. She'phelah) on the See also:west; and the See also:steppes or " dry See also:land " (Heb. Negeb) on the south. The district is one of striking contrasts, with a lofty and stony table-land in the centre (which reaches a height of 3300 ft. just See also:north of Hebron), with a strategically important valley dividing the central mountains from the See also:low-land, and with the most desolate of tracts to the See also:east (by the Dead Sea) and south.. Some parts, especially around Hebron, are extremely fertile, but the land as a whole has the characteristics of the See also:southern See also:wilderness—the so-called " See also:desert " is not a sterile See also:Sahara—and was more fitted for See also:pastoral occupations; see further G. A. See also:Smith, Hist. Geog. See also:Holy Land, chs. x.–xv. See also:Life in ancient Judah is frequently depicted in the See also:Bible, but much of the Judaean See also:history is obscure. In the days of the old See also:Hebrew See also:monarchy there were periods of conflict and rivalry between Judah and Israel—even times when the latter incorporated, or at least claimed supremacy over, the former.

Later, from the 5th See also:

century B.C. there was a See also:breach between the See also:Jews (the name is derived from Judah) and the See also:Samaritans (q.v.). The intervening years after the fall of See also:Samaria (722 B.C.), and after the destruction of Jerusalem (586 B.C.), were probably marked by closer intercourse, similar to the See also:period of See also:union in the popular traditions See also:relating to the pre-monarchical See also:age. The course of Judaean history was conditioned, also, by the proximity of the See also:Philistines in the west, See also:Moab in the east, and by See also:Edom and other southern peoples extending from North See also:Arabia to the See also:delta of the See also:Nile. Judah's stormy history, continued under See also:Greek and See also:Roman domination, reached its See also:climax in the See also:birth of See also:Christianity, and ended with the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 (see JEWS, PALESTINE). In conformity with ancient methods of See also:genealogy (q.v.), Judah is traced back to a son of See also:Jacob or Israel by Leah and along with other " tribes " (See also:Dan, See also:Levi, See also:Simeon, &c.) is included under the collective See also:term Israel. Thus it shares the See also:general traditions of the Israelites, although Judah appears as an individual in the See also:story of his " See also:brother " See also:Joseph (on ch. See also:xxxvii. seq., see See also:GENESIS). Its boundaries in See also:Joshua xv. are manifestly artificial or imaginary; they include the Philistines and number places which are elsewhere ascribed to Simeon or Dan. The origin of the name (Yehudah) is quite uncertain; the See also:interpretation " praised " is suggested in Gen. See also:xxix. 35 (cf. xlix. 8 seq.), but some connexion with allied names, as Yehud (Yahudiya, E. of Jaffa), or See also:Ehud (a Benjamite See also:clan) seems more probable. That Judah, whatever its See also:original See also:connotation, underwent development through the See also:incorporation of other clans appears from 1 Chron. ii., iv., where it is found to contain a large See also:element of non-Israelite See also:population whose names find analogies or See also:parallels in Simeonite, Edomite and other southern lists., Indeed, I See especially See also:Wellhausen, De gentibus et familiis Judaeorum (See also:Gottingen, 1869), the articles on the relative proper names in the Ency.

Bib., and E. See also:

Meyer, See also:Die Israeliten u. ihre Nachbarstamme, pp. 299–471 (much valuable See also:matter).underlying the See also:account of the Israelite See also:exodus (q.v.) there are traces of a See also:separate See also:movement of certain clans—apart from the Israelite invasion of Palestine—who are ultimately found in the south of Judah; and the traditions in See also:Chronicles themselves allow the view that the incorporation of these elements began under See also:David, when Judah first occupies a prominent position in biblical history (cf. See also:Cheyne, Ency. Bib., See also:col. 2618 seq., and see See also:CALEB, See also:JERAHMEEL, See also:KENITES). But such movements were not necessarily limited to one single period, and the See also:evidence connecting (a) the non-Israelite clans of Judah with See also:Levites, and (b) both with the south, is found in narratives referring to several different ages and might point to an unceasing relationship with the south. On the other See also:hand, clans, which in the traditions of David's See also:time were in the south of Judah, about five See also:hundred years later (in the See also:exile) are found near Jerusalem (e.g. Caleb), so that either these survived the strenuous vicissitudes of See also:half a See also:millennium or all See also:perspective of their See also:early history has been lost. In Gen. xxxviii. a curious narrative points to the separation of Judah " from his brethren " and his See also:marriage with Shua the Canaanite; two sons Er and Onan perish and the third Shelah survives. From Judah and Er's widow Tamar are derived See also:Perez and Zerah, and these with Shelah appear in See also:post-exilic times as the three representative families of Judah (Neh. xi. 4–6; 1 Chron. ix.

4–6). This story, amid a number of other motives, appears to reflect the growth of the tribe of Judah and its fluctuations, but that the reference is to any very early period is unlikely, partly because the See also:

interest of the story is In post-exilic families, and partly because the scenes (See also:Adullam, Chezib and Timnah) overlap with David's own fights between Hebron and Jerusalem (2 Sam. xxi. See also:xxiii.; see DAVID, ad fin.).2 Even David's See also:conquest of Jerusalem (2 Sam. v.) conflicts both with the statement of its See also:capture by Judah many years previously (See also:Judges i. 8), and with the traditions of the Israelite heroes Joshua and See also:Saul. Consequently, the few surviving data are too uncertain for any decisive conclusions regarding the origin of the tribe of Judah. Judah as a kingdom may have taken its name from a limited district, in which See also:case its growth finds a parallel in the See also:extension of the name Samaria from the See also:city to the See also:province. The location of Yehud and Ehud in the See also:light of 1 See also:Kings iv. 8-19 (perhaps the subdivisions of the Israelite kingdom, see See also:SOLOMON), would necessitate the See also:assumption of a violent separation from the north; this, however, is quite conceivable (see JEws, §§ 11–13). On the bearing of South Judah upon the See also:historical See also:criticism of the Old Testament, see especially N. See also:Schmidt, Hibbert See also:Journal (1908), pp. 322–342, " The Jerahmeel Theory and the Historic Importance of the Negeb, with some account of See also:personal exploration of the country "; also JEws, § 20. (S. A.

End of Article: JUDAH

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