Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
Judah and his three surviving sons went down with Jacob into Egypt (Gen. 46:12; Ex. 1:2). At the time of the Exodus, when we meet with the family of Judah again, they have increased to the number of 74,000 males (Num. 1:26, 27). Its number increased in the wilderness (26:22). Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, represented the tribe as one of the spies (13:6; 34:19). This tribe marched at the van on the east of the tabernacle (Num. 2:3-9; 10:14), its standard, as is supposed, being a lion’s whelp.
Under Caleb, during the wars of conquest, they conquered that portion of the country which was afterwards assigned to them as their inheritance. This was the only case in which any tribe had its inheritance thus determined (Josh. 14:6-15; 15:13-19). The inheritance of the tribe of Judah was at first fully one-third of the whole country west of Jordan, in all about 2,300 square miles (Josh. 15). But there was a second distribution, when Simeon received an allotment, about 1,000 square miles, out of the portion of Judah (Josh. 19:9).
That which remained to Judah was still very large in proportion to the inheritance of the other tribes. The boundaries of the territory are described in Josh. 15:20-63. This territory given to Judah was divided into four sections. ) This extent of pasture-land became famous as the favourite camping-ground of the old patriarchs. ) The “valley” (15:33) or lowland (Heb. shephelah), a broad strip lying between the central highlands and the Mediterranean. This tract was the garden as well as the granary of the tribe.
) The “hill-country,” or the mountains of Judah, an elevated plateau stretching from below Hebron northward to Jerusalem. “The towns and villages were generally perched on the tops of hills or on rocky slopes. The resources of the soil were great. ” The number of towns in this district was thirty-eight (Josh. 15:48-60).
) The “wilderness,” the sunken district next the Dead Sea (Josh. 15:61), “averaging 10 miles in breadth, a wild, barren, uninhabitable region, fit only to afford scanty pasturage for sheep and goats, and a secure home for leopards, bears, wild goats, and outlaws” (1 Sam. 17:34; 22:1; Mark 1:13). It was divided into the “wilderness of En-gedi” (1 Sam. 24:1), the “wilderness of Judah” (Judg. 1:16; Matt. 3:1), between the Hebron mountain range and the Dead Sea, the “wilderness of Maon” (1 Sam. 23:24). It contained only six cities.
Nine of the cities of Judah were assigned to the priests (Josh. 21:9-19).
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898)
JU'DAH, TRIBE OF, the largest of the tribes that came out of Egypt. Num 1:27. Judah, by reason of its size, and conscious, too, of the prophecy of the dying Jacob, Gen 49:8-12, assumed the position of leader. It was manifestly under the divine favor. When Moses gave his blessing upon the tribes, he said of Judah, "Hear, Lord, the voice of Judah, and bring him unto his people: let his hand be sufficient for him; and be thou a help to him from his enemies," Deut 33:7 — a prayer that God would help Judah successfully to lead the tribes.
The tribe sent as their spy the faithful Caleb, the son of Jephunneh. Num 13:6. In the conquest Judah led, but the history only touches upon three points which particularly affected this tribe: (1) Achan was of Judah, Josh 7:1, Josh 7:16-18; (2) Caleb's conquest of Hebron, Josh 14:6-15; and (3) Othniel's (the nephew and son-inlaw of Caleb) conquest of Debir. Josh 15:13-19. These are the only instances of the special reservation of any portion of the country to its conquerors. Judah received the first allotment on the partition of the territory. Josh 15:1.
Upon the death of Joshua, Judah undertook with Simeon the conquest of the interior. Jud 1:1-3. Judah seems to have been unmolested during the greater part of the period of the Judges. This state of things may have lessened its interest in the troubles of other tribes; at all events, Judah did not take much, if any, part in the different wars, except on the first occasion, when Othniel, who was a Judite, delivered Israel from Chushan-rishathaim. Jud 3:9. He was the only judge from this tribe, unless the Bethlehem from which Ibzan came be Bethlehem-Judah.
It is markworthy that although Judah did not assist Barak, Deborah does not rebuke them. In the destruction of the Benjamites, Judah was selected by God to head the other tribes. Jud 20:18. In fact, Judah was independent, self-contained, strong, and determined all through its history. It was a nation in itself. It absorbed some of the surrounding peoples, as the Kenites, Jud 1:16; cf. 1 Sam 15:6; 1 Sam 30:29, and the Jerahmeelites. 1 Sam 27:10; 1 Sam 30:29. From the Kenites came Jael, Jud 4:17, and the Rechabites. 1 Chr 2:55.
When the choice of the king fell upon a man of Benjamin, Judah may have been displeased; at all events, they preserved during Saul's reign a very independent position, but when Saul was dead they with others offered the crown to David, who was of their own flesh and blood. Under Solomon they were quiet, although heavily taxed, because they held the greater proportion of the state appointments. With the revolt of Jeroboam the history of Judah as a tribe ceases; their history as a kingdom begins, for which, see Judah, Kingdom AND Territory of.