JUDAH

judah, a district of ancient palestine, to the south of the kingdom of israel, between the dead sea and the philistine plain. it falls physically into three parts: the hill-country from hebron northwards through jerusalem; the lowland (heb. _shephelah_) on the west; and the steppes or "dry land" (heb. _negeb_) on the south. the district is one of striking contrasts, with a lofty and stony table-land in the centre (which reaches a height of 3300 ft. just north of hebron), with a strategically important valley dividing the central mountains from the lowland, and with the most desolate of tracts to the east (by the dead sea) and south. some parts, especially around hebron, are extremely fertile, but the land as a whole has the characteristics of the southern wilderness--the so-called "desert" is not a sterile sahara--and was more fitted for pastoral occupations; see further g. a. smith, _hist. geog. holy land_, chs. x.-xv. life in ancient judah is frequently depicted in the bible, but much of the judaean history is obscure. in the days of the old hebrew monarchy there were periods of conflict and rivalry between judah and israel--even times when the latter incorporated, or at least claimed supremacy over, the former. later, from the 5th century b.c. there was a breach between the jews (the name is derived from judah) and the samaritans (q.v.). the intervening years after the fall of samaria (722 b.c.), and after the destruction of jerusalem (586 b.c.), were probably marked by closer intercourse, similar to the period of union in the popular traditions relating to the pre-monarchical age. the course of judaean history was conditioned, also, by the proximity of the philistines in the west, moab in the east, and by edom and other southern peoples extending from north arabia to the delta of the nile. judah's stormy history, continued under greek and roman domination, reached its climax in the birth of christianity, and ended with the fall of jerusalem in a.d. 70 (see jews, palestine). in conformity with ancient methods of genealogy (q.v.), judah is traced back to a son of jacob or israel by leah and along with other "tribes" (dan, levi, simeon, &c.) is included under the collective term israel. thus it shares the general traditions of the israelites, although judah appears as an individual in the story of his "brother" joseph (on ch. xxxvii. seq., see genesis). its boundaries in joshua xv. are manifestly artificial or imaginary; they include the philistines and number places which are elsewhere ascribed to simeon or dan. the origin of the name (_yehudah_) is quite uncertain; the interpretation "praised" is suggested in gen. xxix. 35 (cf; xlix. 8 seq.), but some connexion with allied names, as yehud (yahudiya, e. of jaffa), or ehud (a benjamite clan) seems more probable. that judah, whatever its original connotation, underwent development through the incorporation of other clans appears from 1 chron. ii., iv., where it is found to contain a large element of non-israelite population whose names find analogies or parallels in simeonite, edomite and other southern lists.[1] indeed, underlying the account of the israelite exodus (q.v.) there are traces of a separate movement of certain clans--apart from the israelite invasion of palestine--who are ultimately found in the south of judah; and the traditions in chronicles themselves allow the view that the incorporation of these elements began under david, when judah first occupies a prominent position in biblical history (cf. cheyne, _ency. bib._, col. 2618 seq., and see caleb, jerahmeel, kenites). but such movements were not necessarily limited to one single period, and the evidence connecting (a) the non-israelite clans of judah with levites, and (b) both with the south, is found in narratives referring to several different ages and might point to an unceasing relationship with the south. on the other hand, clans, which in the traditions of david's time were in the south of judah, about five hundred years later (in the exile) are found near jerusalem (e.g. caleb), so that either these survived the strenuous vicissitudes of half a millennium or all perspective of their early history has been lost. in gen. xxxviii. a curious narrative points to the separation of judah "from his brethren" and his marriage with shua the canaanite; two sons er and onan perish and the third shelah survives. from judah and er's widow tamar are derived perez and zerah, and these with shelah appear in post-exilic times as the three representative families of judah (neh. xi. 4-6; 1 chron. ix. 4-6). this story, amid a number of other motives, appears to reflect the growth of the tribe of judah and its fluctuations, but that the reference is to any very early period is unlikely, partly because the interest of the story is in post-exilic families, and partly because the scenes (adullam, chezib and timnah) overlap with david's own fights between hebron and jerusalem (2 sam. xxi. xxiii.; see david, _ad fin._).[2] even david's conquest of jerusalem (2 sam. v.) conflicts both with the statement of its capture by judah many years previously (judges i. 8), and with the traditions of the israelite heroes joshua and saul. consequently, the few surviving data are too uncertain for any decisive conclusions regarding the origin of the tribe of judah. judah as a kingdom may have taken its name from a limited district, in which case its growth finds a parallel in the extension of the name samaria from the city to the province. the location of yehud and ehud in the light of 1 kings iv. 8-19 (perhaps the subdivisions of the israelite kingdom, see solomon), would necessitate the assumption of a violent separation from the north; this, however, is quite conceivable (see jews, §§ 11-13). on the bearing of south judah upon the historical criticism of the old testament, see especially n. schmidt, _hibbert journal_ (1908), pp. 322-342, "the jerahmeel theory and the historic importance of the negeb, with some account of personal exploration of the country"; also jews, § 20. (s. a. c.) footnotes: [1] see especially wellhausen, _de gentibus et familiis judaeorum_ (gottingen, 1869), the articles on the relative proper names in the _ency. bib._, and e. meyer, _die israeliten u. ihre nachbarstamme_, pp. 299-471 (much valuable matter). [2] for the principle of the levirate illustrated in gen. xxxviii., see ruth. lagarde (_orientalia_, ii.) ingeniously conjectured that the chapter typified the suppression of phoenician (viz. tamar, the date-palm) and the old canaanite elements (zerah = _indigena_) by the younger israelite invaders (perez = "branch"). for other discussions, apart from commentaries on genesis, see b. luther in meyer, _op. cit._, pp. 200 sqq. judas iscariot ([greek: ioudas iskariotes] or [greek: iskarioth]), in the bible, the son of simon iscariot (john vi. 71, xiii. 26), and one of the twelve apostles. he is always enumerated last with the special mention of the fact that he was the betrayer of jesus. if the generally accepted explanation of his surname ("man of kerioth"; see josh. xv. 25) be correct, he was the only original member of the apostolic band who was not a galilean. the circumstances which led to his admission into the apostolic circle are not stated; while the motives by which he was actuated in enabling the jewish authorities to arrest jesus without tumult have been variously analysed by scholars. according to some (as de quincey in his famous _essay_) the sole object of judas was to place jesus in a position in which he should be compelled to make what had seemed to his followers the too tardy display of his messianic power: according to others (and this view seems more in harmony with the gospel narratives) judas was an avaricious and dishonest man, who had already abused the confidence placed in him (john xii. 6), and who was now concerned only with furthering his own ends. as regards the effects of his subsequent remorse and the use to which his ill-gotten gains were put, the strikingly apparent discrepancies between the narratives of matt. xxvii. 3, 10 and acts i. 18, 19 have attracted the attention of biblical scholars, ever since papias, in his fourth book, of which a fragment has been preserved, discussed the subject. the simplest explanation is that they represent different traditions, the gospel narrative being composed with more special reference to prophetic fulfilments, and being probably nearer the truth than the short explanatory note inserted by the author of the acts (see bernard, _expositor_, june 1904, p. 422 seq.). in ecclesiastical legend and in sacred art judas iscariot is generally treated as the very incarnation of treachery, ingratitude and impiety. the middle ages, after their fashion, supplied the lacunae in what they deemed his too meagre biography. according to the common form of their story, he belonged to the tribe of reuben.[1] before he was born his mother cyborea had a dream that he was destined to murder his father, commit incest with his mother, and sell his god. the attempts made by her and her husband to avert this curse simply led to its accomplishment. at his birth judas was enclosed in a chest and flung into the sea; picked up on a foreign shore, he was educated at the court until a murder committed in a moment of passion compelled his flight. coming to judaea, he entered the service of pontius pilate as page, and during this period committed the first two of the crimes which had been expressly foretold. learning the secret of his birth, he, full of remorse, sought the prophet who, he had heard, had power on earth to forgive sins. he was accepted as a disciple and promoted to a position of trust, where avarice, the only vice in which he had hitherto been unpractised, gradually took possession of his soul, and led to the complete fulfilment of his evil destiny. this judas legend, as given by jacobus de voragine, obtained no small popularity; and it is to be found in various shapes in every important literature of europe. for the history of its genesis and its diffusion the reader may consult d'ancona, _la leggenda di vergogna e la leggenda di giuda_ (1869), and papers by w. creizenach in paul and braune's _beitr. zur gesch. der deutschen sprache und litteratur_, vol. ii. (1875), and victor diederich in _russiche revue_ (1880). cholevius, in his _geschichte der deutschen poesie nach ihren antiken elementen_ (1854), pointed out the connexion of the legend with the oedipus story. according to daub (_judas ischariot, oder betrachtungen uber das bose im verhaltniss zum guten_, 1816, 1818) judas was "an incarnation of the devil," to whom "mercy and blessedness are alike impossible." the popular hatred of judas has found strange symbolical expression in various parts of christendom. in corfu, for instance, the people at a given signal on easter eve throw vast quantities of crockery from their windows and roofs into the streets, and thus execute an imaginary stoning of judas (see kirkwall, _ionian islands_, ii. 47). at one time (according to mustoxidi, _delle cose corciresi_) the tradition prevailed that the traitor's house and country villa existed in the island, and that his descendants were to be found among the local jews. details in regard to some judas legends and superstitions are given in _notes and queries_, 2nd series, v., vi. and vii.; 3rd series, vii.; 4th series, i.; 5th series, vi. see also a paper by professor rendel harris entitled "did judas really commit suicide?" in the _american journal of philology_ (july 1900). matthew arnold's poem "st brandan" gives fine expression to the old story that, on account of an act of charity done to a leper at joppa, judas was allowed an hour's respite from hell once a year. (g. mi.) footnote: [1] other forms make him a danite, and consider the passage in genesis (xlix. 17) a prophecy of the traitor.