Tribe of Judah

According to the Hebrew Bible, the tribe of Judah (שֵׁבֶט יְהוּדָה, Shevet Yehudah) was one of the twelve Tribes of Israel, named after Judah, the son of Jacob. Judah was one of the tribes to take its place in Judea, occupying its southern part. Jesse and his sons, including King David, belonged to this tribe.

Judah played a central role in the Deuteronomistic history, which encompasses the books of Deuteronomy through II Kings. After the death of King Solomon, the Tribe of Judah, the Tribe of Benjamin, the Tribe of Dan, and the Levites formed the Southern Kingdom of Judah, with Jerusalem and Hebron as its capital. The kingdom lasted until its conquest by Babylon in c. 586 BCE.

The tribe's symbol was the lion, which was often represented in Jewish art. After the Babylonian captivity, the distinction between the Tribes was largely lost, but the term "Judah", via Yehudi (Hebrew: יהודי), gave rise to the word "Jew" (pl. יהודים, Yehudim). In later traditions, including Christianity and Ethiopian Judaism, the "Lion of the Tribe of Judah" became a messianic symbol.

Biblical account

The tribe of Judah, its conquests, and the centrality of its capital in Jerusalem for the worship of Yahweh featured prominently in the Deuteronomistic history, encompassing the books of Deuteronomy through II Kings, which most scholars agree was reduced to written form, although subject to exilic and post-exilic alterations and emendations, during the reign of the Judahite reformer Josiah from 641–609 BCE.

According to the account in the Book of Joshua, following a partial conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes (the Jebusites still held Jerusalem), Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes.