Judah
son of Jacob
Fourth son of Jacob and Leah who proposed selling Joseph, fathered sons by Tamar, and offered himself in Benjamin's place before the ruler of Egypt.
Also called Juda.
10 passages · part 2 of 2
Jacob's Blessing: Lion's Whelp and Sceptre
8"Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies. Your father's children will bow down to you."
Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee.
Judah's name sounds like the word for praise. A hand on the neck means winning a fight. Bowing down showed that someone was the leader.
9"Judah is a young lion. My son, you have come up from the animal you caught. He bent down. He lay down like a lion, like an old lion. Who will wake him up?"
Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?
Nobody wants to wake a sleeping lion. Jacob means Judah's family will be strong and brave.
10"The scepter will not leave Judah. The one who gives the law will stay between his feet. This will last until Shiloh comes. The people will gather to him."
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.
A scepter is a fancy stick a king holds. It shows everyone that he is the king. Nobody is sure what the name Shiloh means here. It may mean the one it belongs to.
11"He ties his young donkey to the vine. He ties his donkey's colt to the best vine. He washed his clothes in wine. He washed his robes in the red juice of grapes."
Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes:
Wine is made from grapes. Washing clothes in wine sounds silly on purpose. It is a picture of having more grapes than you can use.
12"His eyes will be red from wine. His teeth will be white from milk."
His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
Plenty of wine and milk means the land grows lots of food. It is a picture of a rich, happy place.
Judah Prevails Above His Brethren
1Reuben was the oldest son of Israel, who is also called Jacob. But Reuben did a wrong thing with his father's wife. So the rights of the oldest son were given to Joseph's sons instead. That is why the family list does not put Reuben first.
Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright.
The oldest son had special rights called the birthright. He usually got a double share of the family's land and animals. He also became the leader of the family after his father.
2Judah became the strongest of the brothers. A ruler came from his family. But the rights of the oldest son still belonged to Joseph.
For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Joseph’s:)
Judah was one of Jacob's twelve sons. Long after this, the kings of the land came from his family.
Every passage here is the King James text. Nothing on this page retells the story; it only puts the pieces in order.