People of the Bible · Tribe of Judah

Judah, son of Israel

The name Judah means “the praise of the Lord; confession.” Judah is mentioned in 245 verses of the Bible, first in Genesis 29:35.

Family of Judah

Father

Israel

Mother

Leah

Siblings

Half-siblings

Children

Who was Judah?

Praise, the fourth son of Jacob by Leah. The name originated in Leah’s words of praise to the Lord on account of his birth: “Now will I praise [Heb. odeh] Jehovah, and she called his name Yehudah” (Gen. 29:35).

It was Judah that interposed in behalf of Joseph, so that his life was spared (Gen. 37:26, 27). He took a lead in the affairs of the family, and “prevailed above his brethren” (Gen. 43:3-10; 44:14, 16-34; 46:28; 1 Chr. 5:2).

Soon after the sale of Joseph to the Ishmaelites, Judah went to reside at Adullam, where he married a woman of Canaan. After the death of his wife Shuah, he returned to his father’s house, and there exercised much influence over the patriarch, taking a principal part in the events which led to the whole family at length going down into Egypt. We hear nothing more of him till he received his father’s blessing (Gen. 49:8-12).

Biography adapted from Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897), public domain, linked via Theographic Bible Metadata.

Key verses about Judah

Genesis 29:35
And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the Lord: therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing.
Genesis 38:8
And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother’s wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother.
Genesis 49:10
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
Joshua 14:6
Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that the Lord said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadesh–barnea.
Joshua 15:21
And the uttermost cities of the tribe of the children of Judah toward the coast of Edom southward were Kabzeel, and Eder, and Jagur,
2 Kings 23:24
Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord.

Timeline of Judah's life

Date	Event
1754 BC	Birth of Judah
1727 BC	Joseph sold to Egypt
1720 BC	Birth of Perez
1707 BC	7 years of famine
1705 BC	Joseph's brothers return to Egypt

All 245 verses mentioning Judah