the son of Jacob and Leah, who was born in Mesopotamia, Genesis
xxix, 35. It was he who advised his brethren to sell Joseph to the
Ishmaelite merchants, rather than stain their hands with his blood, Gen.
xxxvii, 26. There is little said of his life, and the little that is
recorded does not raise him high in our estimation. In the last
prophetic blessing pronounced on him by his father Jacob, Gen. xlix, 8,
9, there is a promise of the regal power; and that it should not depart
from his family before the coming of the Messiah. The whole southern
part of Palestine fell to Judah’s lot; but the tribes of Simeon and Dan
possessed many cities which at first were given to Judah. This tribe was
so numerous, that at the departure out of Egypt it contained
seventy-four thousand six hundred men capable of bearing arms, Num. i,
26, 27. The crown passed from the tribe of Benjamin, of which Saul and
his sons were, to that of Judah, which was David’s tribe, and the tribe
of the kings, his successors, until the Babylonish captivity.
xxix, 35. It was he who advised his brethren to sell Joseph to the
Ishmaelite merchants, rather than stain their hands with his blood, Gen.
xxxvii, 26. There is little said of his life, and the little that is
recorded does not raise him high in our estimation. In the last
prophetic blessing pronounced on him by his father Jacob, Gen. xlix, 8,
9, there is a promise of the regal power; and that it should not depart
from his family before the coming of the Messiah. The whole southern
part of Palestine fell to Judah’s lot; but the tribes of Simeon and Dan
possessed many cities which at first were given to Judah. This tribe was
so numerous, that at the departure out of Egypt it contained
seventy-four thousand six hundred men capable of bearing arms, Num. i,
26, 27. The crown passed from the tribe of Benjamin, of which Saul and
his sons were, to that of Judah, which was David’s tribe, and the tribe
of the kings, his successors, until the Babylonish captivity.