People of the Bible

Judah (patriarch)

1754 BC – · Genealogy of Jesus · Tribe of Judah

Family

Father: Jacob (Israel)
Mother: Leah
Brothers and sisters: Dinah, Issachar, Levi (patriarch), Reuben, Simeon, Zebulun
Half-brothers and sisters: Asher, Benjamin (patriarch), Dan, Gad, Joseph (son of Jacob), Naphtali
Children: Er, Onan, Pharez, Shelah, Zerah

In the story

A dot is a moment; a bar is something that lasted, drawn to its length.

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

Easton’s Bible Dictionary

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).

From M. G. Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary (1893), in the public domain.

Named in 245 verses

Genesis: 29:35, 35:23, 37:26, 38:1, 38:2, 38:6, 38:7, 38:8, 38:11, 38:12, 38:15, 38:20, 38:22, 38:23, 38:24, 38:26, 43:3, 43:8, 44:14, 44:16, 44:18, 46:12, 46:28, 49:8, 49:9, 49:10
Exodus: 1:2, 31:2, 35:30, 38:22
Numbers: 1:7, 1:26, 1:27, 2:3, 2:9, 7:12, 10:14, 13:6, 26:19, 26:20, 26:22, 34:19
Deuteronomy: 27:12, 33:7, 34:2
Joshua: 7:1, 7:16, 7:17, 7:18, 11:21, 14:6, 15:1, 15:12, 15:13, 15:20, 15:21, 15:63, 18:5, 18:11, 18:14, 19:1, 19:9, 19:34, 20:7, 21:4, 21:9, 21:11
Judges: 1:2, 1:3, 1:4, 1:8, 1:9, 1:10, 1:16, 1:17, 1:18, 1:19, 10:9, 15:9, 15:10, 15:11, 17:7, 18:12, 20:18
Ruth: 1:7, 4:12
1 Samuel: 11:8, 15:4, 17:1, 17:52, 18:16, 22:5, 23:3, 23:23, 27:6, 27:10, 30:14, 30:16, 30:26
2 Samuel: 1:18, 2:1, 2:4, 2:7, 2:10, 2:11, 3:8, 3:10, 5:5, 6:2, 11:11, 12:8, 19:11, 19:14, 19:15, 19:16, 19:40, 19:41, 19:42, 19:43, 20:2, 20:4, 20:5, 21:2, 24:1, 24:7, 24:9
1 Kings: 1:9, 1:35, 2:32, 4:20, 4:25, 12:17, 12:20, 12:21, 12:23, 12:27, 12:32, 13:1, 13:12, 13:14, 13:21, 14:21, 14:22, 14:29, 15:1, 15:7, 15:9, 15:17, 15:22, 15:23, 15:25, 15:28, 15:33, 16:8, 16:10, 16:15, 16:23, 16:29, 19:3, 22:2, 22:10, 22:29, 22:41, 22:45, 22:51
2 Kings: 1:17, 3:1, 3:7, 3:9, 3:14, 8:16, 8:19, 8:20, 8:22, 8:23, 8:25, 8:29, 9:16, 9:21, 9:27, 9:29, 10:13, 12:18, 12:19, 13:1, 13:10, 13:12, 14:1, 14:9, 14:10, 14:11, 14:12, 14:13, 14:15, 14:17, 14:18, 14:21, 14:22, 14:23, 14:28, 15:1, 15:6, 15:8, 15:13, 15:17, 15:23, 15:27, 15:32, 15:36, 15:37, 16:1, 16:19, 17:1, 17:13, 17:18, 17:19, 18:1, 18:5, 18:13, 18:14, 18:16, 18:22, 19:10, 19:30, 20:20, 21:11, 21:12, 21:16, 21:17, 21:25, 22:13, 22:16, 22:18, 23:1, 23:2, 23:5, 23:8, 23:11, 23:12, 23:17, 23:22, 23:24
Psalms: 69:35
Jeremiah: 32:2, 38:22

The family, dates and events on this page come from Theographic, a knowledge graph of the Bible by Robert Rouse, used and shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. It is a work in progress, and its dates follow one reconstruction of biblical chronology among several. The dictionary article above is separately in the public domain.