Judah, Juda, Joda [JÔö╝┬¢’dah]
His name means: OBJECT OF PRAISE or PRAISE OF THE LORD. The fourth son of Jacob by Leah, and founder of a tribal family Gen. 29:35; Num.26:19-21; 1 Chron. 2:3-6,Genesis 37:26-363842-45
A Look at the ManThough not the firstborn, Judah was a leader among Jacob’s unruly sons. His leadership saved Joseph’s life, and probably the lives of his extended family as well, because he was able to persuade Jacob that Benjamin needed to come with him to procure more grain in Egypt. His most impressive act of leadership was offering his own life in pledge for Benjamin’s freedom, in a way reversing his earlier act of betrayal toward Joseph.
But Judah’s leadership was flawed by the act of selling his own flesh and blood into slavery and by lying to his father about what happened to Joseph. It was also marred by what happened between him and his daughter-in-law, Tamar. After Tamar had lost her second husband, Judah’s second son, he had promised to arrange a marriage with his youngest son, as the custom prescribed. But Judah failed to keep that promise and then falsely accused Tamar of being a prostitute, threatening her with death. To his credit, as soon as he discovered his error, he admitted that Tamar was more righteous than he.
Like so many of the Bible’s best-known characters, and like so many of us, Judah was a man in need of forgiveness. He was a leader who needed mercy, and he found it in the arms of his brother Joseph and in the providence of a God who knew the secret that he and his brothers had kept for so many years.
The Man Who Was Praised
His work: A leader among his brothers, he was head of the tribe from which both King David and Jesus would come.
His sorrow: To have lived for many years with the knowledge that he and his brothers had sold Joseph into slavery. His triumph: To have received a choice blessing from his father, Jacob, promising that Judah would be the greatest of the tribes of Israel.His character: he saved his brother Joseph’s life and offered to take his youngest brother Benjamin’s place as a slave in Egypt.His character is revealed in his confession of sin before Joseph (Gen. 44:18-34). This appeal has been described as "One of the noblest pieces of natural eloquence in any literature, sacred or profane." In the last words of Jacob much is said of Judah (Gen. 49:8). We have:
I. His praise. "Thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise." The origin of his name is to be found in the gratitude of his mother at the time of his birth (Gen. 29:35). A still more distinguished mother praised the Lord for a greater Son who came from the tribe of Judah (Luke 1:46, 47).
II. His conquests. "Thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies." Here we have the prophecy of a conqueror, the anticipation of the figure of the lion, which was emblazoned on the flag of Judah, and was symbolic of the strength of the tribe in battle. Judah was the first tribe called to fight the Canaanites after Joshua's death (Judg. 1:1, 2)-a battle ending in victory for Judah. See also Psalm 18:40.
III. His pre-eminence. "Thy father's children shall bow down before thee." The superiority of the tribe of Judah continued almost to the end of the Old Testament and passed on to Him who has the pre-eminence in all things. Judah was first in numbers, first in territory, first in marching order, first in prowess, first in war.
IV. His regal dignity. The lion-king of the forest became the symbol of Judah, as the king of the tribes (Num. 2:3, 4). "A lion's whelp," speaks of the first energy of youth, and the early days of Judah were full of vigor and energy.
How prophetic all this is of Him who came as the Lion of the tribe of Judah!
The old divines said that Christ was a lamb in His death, but a lion in His resurrection. How different is His prowess from the deadly power of him who is a roaring lion!
2. An ancestor of Kadmiel who helped to rebuild the Temple (Ezra 3:9).
3. A Levite who had taken a strange wife (Ezra 10:23).
4. A Benjamite, son of Senuah, second in authority over Jerusalem in Nehemiah's day (Neh. 11:9).
5. A Levite who returned from exile with Zerubbabel (Neh. 12:8).
6. A prince of Judah (Neh. 12:34).
7. A priest and musician (Neh. 12:36).
Reflect On:Genesis 44:14ÔÇô16Praise God: Because he knows the state of our hearts. Offer Thanks: For ways God has strengthened relationships in your family.Confess: Any sins against brothers or sisters, father or mother. Ask God: To show you how to make amends for anything you've done wrong