JUDAH, Tribe of, one of the Israelitish clans most frequently mentioned in the Bible. It is supposed to have had a strong Canaamtish admixture; and by some critics the story of Judah's marriage to a Canaanitish woman is believed to be but an anecdotal method of re cordin,g this fact of the introduction of for eign blood into the family. In the days of David the tribe of Judah comes, for the first time, into prominence. The book of Joshua states that the land of Judah extended from the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea, including in its territory the plain of the Philistines. It bordered on the land of Benjamin on the north. The land of Judah, of a rugged, hilly character, tended to separate the tribe from the other Israelitish clans; and this may account for the fact that it does not receive prominence earlier in Biblical history. The kingdom of ludah, brought into prominence by David, does not correspond in extent to that recorded in the book of joshua, since the latter embraced the Jerahmeelites, Kenites, Kenizzites, part of the original tribe of Judah and some other small tubes. At no time in history is there a verified record of the tribe of Judah having actual possession of the plain of the Canaan ites; though they may have done so in prehis toric times and have still preferred a claim against it. This seems probable from the afore mentioned statement in the book of Joshua. The tribe of Judah, which was among the Jews who were carried into Egypt, seems to have prospered there, for when the Israelites left the latter country, it outnumbered all the other Jewish tribes, having 74,000 adult males, this being 12,000 more than Dan, the next most nu merous tribe. After the hardships of the long
journey home through the desert, the tribe of Judah still numbered 76,500 able-bodied men of fighting age. The clan totem of the tribe of Judah was a lion's whelp, which was later on converted into a standard with the motto ((Rise up, 0 Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered!' In the person of David, the tribe of Judah be came the ruling dan; but this superiority was disputed by .Ephraim, especially after the re moval of the head sacerdotal functionaries to Jerusalem; and the result was the setting up, by the latter, of a separate ecclesiastical estab lishment. Judah lost its identity as a tribe under Rehoboam and Jeroboam, when the ancient kingdom was divided and the clan of Judah became identified with the kingdom of Judah, which included the tribes of Judah and Benja min and a large body of Levite priests. Consult Haupt, 'Studien> (Giessen 1914) ; Meyer, E., 'Die Israeliten and ihre Nachtbarstarnme) (Halle 1906) ; Schmidt, N., 'The Jerahmeel Theory and the Historical Importance of the Ne/eb) (in the Hibbard Journal, 1908, pp. 322 342 ; Wellhausen, (De gentibus et familiis Ju morum) (Gottingen 1869) ; Winckler, 'Ge schichte Israels) (Berlin 1895). See JUDAH;