Who
The fourth son of Jacob and Leah, from whom the tribe and kingdom of Judah and the name of the Jews descend. He offered himself as a slave in Benjamin’s place (Genesis 44:33), and Jacob’s blessing gave him the royal promise: “The scepter will not depart from Judah … until he comes to whom it belongs” (Genesis 49:10), a text the Fathers read as a prophecy of Christ (Justin, First Apology 32). Christ is “the Lion who is of the tribe of Judah” (Revelation 5:5). By Tamar he was the father of Perez and Zerah (Genesis 38).
Key verses
- Genesis 29:35
She conceived again, and bore a son. She said, “This time I will praise the LORD.” Therefore she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing.
- Genesis 35:23
The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob’s firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
- Genesis 44:33
Now therefore, please let your servant stay instead of the boy, my lord’s slave; and let the boy go up with his brothers.
- Genesis 49:10
The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs. The obedience of the peoples will be to him.
- 1 Chronicles 2:1
These are the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun,
- 1 Chronicles 2:3
The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, and Shelah, which three were born to him of Shua’s daughter the Canaanitess. Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the LORD’s sight; and he killed him.
- Matthew 1:2
Abraham became the father of Isaac. Isaac became the father of Jacob. Jacob became the father of Judah and his brothers.
- Matthew 1:3
Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar. Perez became the father of Hezron. Hezron became the father of Ram.
- Luke 3:33
the son of Amminadab, the son of Aram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah,
- Revelation 5:5
One of the elders said to me, “Don’t weep. Behold, the Lion who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome: he who opens the book and its seven seals.”
Where the Bible names him
Named 41 times in 8 books.
- Only the man himself is counted, not the people or the tribe that bears his name.
Verse index: TIPNR, STEPBible.org (Tyndale House), CC BY 4.0.
Family
Discussed by
Comments on the verses that name him (8 of 114).
- A Greek expositor on Luke 2:1–5Catena Aurea on Luke
Christ is born also at a time when the princes of Judah had failed, and the kingdom was transferred to Roman governors, to whom the Jews paid tribute; and then was fulfilled the prophecy, saying, There shall not fail…
- Rabanus Maurus on Matthew 2:1–2Catena Aurea on Matthew
Otherwise, he mentions the foreign king to shew the fulfilment of the prophecy. “The Sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a Lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come.” [Gen 49:10]
- Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 1:2Catena Aurea on Matthew
Matthew, by beginning with Christ’s genealogy, shews that he has undertaken to relate Christ’s birth according to the flesh. But Luke, as rather describing Him as a Priest for the atonement of sin, gives Christ’s…
- Ambrose of Milan on Matthew 1:2Catena Aurea on Matthew
For Abraham was the first who deserved the witness of faith; “He believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” It behoved therefore that he should be set forth as the first in the line of descent, who…
- John Chrysostom on Matthew 1:2Catena Aurea on Matthew
Matthew then, desiring to preserve in memory the lineage of the Lord’s humanity through the succession of His parents, begins with Abraham, saying, “Abraham begat Isaac.” Why does he not mention Ismael, his…
- Glossa Ordinaria on Matthew 1:2Catena Aurea on Matthew
Yet he names all the brethren of Judah with him in the lineage. Ismael and Esau had not remained in the worship of the true God; but the brethren of Judah were reckoned in God’s people.
- John Chrysostom on Matthew 1:2 (2)Catena Aurea on Matthew
Or, he names all the twelve Patriarchs that he may lower that pride which is drawn from a line of noble ancestry. For many of these were born of maidservants, and yet were Patriarchs and heads of tribes.
- Glossa Ordinaria on Matthew 1:2 (2)Catena Aurea on Matthew
But Judah is the only one mentioned by name, and that because the Lord was descended from him only. But in each of the Patriarchs we must note not their history only, but the allegorical and moral meaning to be drawn…