Judah (biblical figure)

Judah (biblical figure), in the Old Testament, name of the fourth son of Jacob and of one of the 12 tribes of Israel; the early history of the tribe may be represented in the story of Jacob's son (see Genesis 29, 35, 38). According to the Book of Exodus the tribe formed the vanguard in the march through the wilderness out of Egypt, and the succeeding biblical books recording the later history of Israel portray Judah as predominant. After the reign of Solomon, king of Israel and Judah, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin formed a separate, southern kingdom (1 Kings 12-2 Kings 25).