Judah

The tribe descended from Judah, the son of Jacob. When Joshua led the Israelites into Canaan, the tribe of Judah was assigned the land between the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. It was one of the largest territories, nearly forty-five miles wide and fifty miles long. The tribe of Simeon was assigned a large area south of Judah, but a lot of it was almost desert land. Over a period of hundreds of years, the tribe of Simeon became a part of Judah. King David came from the tribe of Judah, and so did Mary and Joseph.

Judah was the southern kingdom when the Israelites divided into two separate kingdoms after the death of King Solomon (around 930 BC). It was composed of Judah and Simeon, plus a small part of Benjamin, and also the kingdom of Edom. The southern kingdom was less than half the size of the northern kingdom, and much of its land was desert. It had a population of only about three hundred thousand.

At first Judah tried to force the northern kingdom to reunite with it but could not. This kingdom lasted until the capital city, Jerusalem, fell to the Babylonians in 586 BC. About forty years later, Babylonia was conquered by Persia. The Persian king, Cyrus, allowed the Jews to return to their own land. At least forty-three thousand went back to live and to rebuild the city of Jerusalem.