The tribe of Judah, its conquests, and the centrality of its capital in Jerusalem for the worship of
Yahweh featured prominently in the
Deuteronomistic history, encompassing the books of
Deuteronomy through
II Kings, which most scholars agree was reduced to written form, although subject to exilic and post-exilic alterations and emendations, during the reign of the Judahite reformer
Josiah from 641–609 BCE. According to the account in the
Book of Joshua, following a partial conquest of
Canaan by the
Israelite tribes (the
Jebusites still held
Jerusalem),
Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes. Judah's portion is described in Joshua 15 as encompassing all the Southern
Land of Israel, specially the
Negev, the
Wilderness of Zin and Jerusalem. However, the consensus of modern scholars is that this conquest never occurred. Other scholars point to extra-biblical references to Israel and Canaan as evidence for the potential historicity of the conquest. In the opening words of the
Book of Judges, following the death of
Joshua, the Israelites "asked the Lord" which tribe should be first to go to occupy its allotted territory, and the Tribe of Judah was identified as the first tribe. According to the narrative in the Book of Judges, the Tribe of Judah invited the
Tribe of Simeon to fight with them in
alliance to secure each of their allotted territories. However, many scholars do not believe that the Book of Judges is a reliable historical account. The
Book of Samuel describes God's repudiation of a monarchic line arising from the Southern
Tribe of Benjamin due to the sinfulness of
King Saul, which was then bestowed onto the tribe of Judah for all time in the person of
King David. In Samuel's account, after the death of Saul, all the tribes other than Judah remained loyal to the House of Saul, while Judah chose
David as its king. However, after the death of
Ish-bosheth, Saul's son and successor to the throne of Israel, all the other Israelite tribes made David, who was then the King of Judah, king of a single Re-United Kingdom of Israel. The
Book of Kings follows the expansion and unparalleled glory of the
United Monarchy under
King Solomon. A majority of scholars believe that the accounts concerning David and Solomon's territory in the "united monarchy" are exaggerated, and a minority believe that the "united monarchy" never existed at all. Disagreeing with the latter view, Old Testament scholar Walter Dietrich contends that the biblical stories of circa 10th-century BCE monarchs contain a significant historical kernel and are not simply late fictions. On the accession of
Rehoboam,
Solomon's son, in c. 930 BCE, the Ten Northern Tribes of Israel under the leadership of
Jeroboam from the
Tribe of Ephraim split from the
House of David to create the
Northern Kingdom in
Samaria. The Book of Kings is uncompromising in its low opinion of its larger and richer neighbor to the north and understands its conquest by
Assyria in 722 BCE as divine retribution for the Kingdom's return to idolatry. The Tribes of Judah, Southern Dan and Benjamin remained loyal to the House of David. These tribes formed the
Kingdom of Judah, which existed until Judah was conquered by
Babylon in c. 586 BCE and the population was deported. When the
Jews returned from Babylonian exile, residual tribal affiliations were abandoned, probably because of the impossibility of reestablishing previous tribal land holdings. However, the special religious roles decreed for the
Levites and
Kohanim were preserved, but Jerusalem became the sole place of worship and sacrifice among the returning exiles, northerners and southerners alike.
Territory and main cities According to the biblical account, at its height, the tribe of Judah was the leading tribe of the Kingdom of Judah, and occupied most of the territory of the kingdom, except for a small region in the northeast occupied by
Benjamin, and an enclave towards the south-west which was occupied by
Simeon.
Bethlehem and
Hebron were initially the main cities within the territory of the tribe. is the symbol of the tribe of Judah. It is often represented in
Jewish art, such as this
sculpture outside a
synagogue The size of the territory of the tribe of Judah meant that in practice it had four distinct regions: • The
Negev (Hebrew:
south) – the southern portion of the land, which was highly suitable for
pasture. • The
Shephelah (Hebrew:
lowland) – the coastal region, between the highlands and the
Mediterranean sea, which was used for
agriculture, in particular for
grains. • The
wilderness – the barren region immediately next to the
Dead Sea, and below
sea level; it was wild, and barely inhabitable, to the extent that animals and people which were made unwelcome elsewhere, such as
bears,
leopards, and
outlaws, made it their home. In biblical times, this region was further subdivided into three sections – the
wilderness of En Gedi, the
wilderness of Judah, and the
wilderness of Maon. • The
hill country – the elevated plateau situated between the Shephelah and the
wilderness, with rocky slopes but very fertile soil. This region was used for the production of grain,
olives,
grapes, and other fruit, and hence produced
oil and
wine. • In the
Tanakh, Shicron was one of the landmarks at the western end of the north boundary of the Tribe of Judah (Joshua 15:1). It was probably located near
Ekron. Judah had assigned him by lot the upper part of Judea, reaching as far as Jerusalem, and its breadth extended to the
Lake of Sodom. Now in the lot of this tribe there were the cities of
Askelon and
Gaza. ==Origin==