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Judah

He suggested selling Joseph, and later offered himself as a slave to save Benjamin.

Old and New Testament · Patriarchal era · Genesis, Matthew, Revelation · Also known as Son of Jacob

About Judah

Judah was Leah’s fourth son. When his brothers wanted to kill Joseph, Judah suggested selling him instead. Years later he was humbled by his daughter-in-law Tamar, admitting, "She hath been more righteous than I." When famine drove the brothers to Egypt, Judah pledged his own life for his youngest brother Benjamin, and when Benjamin was accused of theft, Judah offered to stay as a slave in his place. His words broke Joseph’s silence. Jacob blessed him as a lion, from whom the sceptre would not depart, and from his tribe came David, and Jesus.

The tribe of Judah gave its name to the southern kingdom of Judah, and later to the words "Judea" and "Jew." Revelation calls Jesus "the Lion of the tribe of Juda," echoing Jacob’s blessing.

The story

What profit?

When the brothers plotted against Joseph, Judah said, "What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood? Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh."

Genesis 37:23-28

I will be surety for him

In the famine, Jacob refused to let Benjamin go down to Egypt. Judah said, "I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee… then let me bear the blame for ever."

Genesis 43:1-14

Instead of the lad

When Benjamin was accused of stealing Joseph’s cup, Judah stepped forward and pleaded for his father’s sake: "let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren." Joseph could hold back no longer.

Genesis 44:18-34; 45:1-3

A lion’s whelp

Blessing his sons, Jacob said, "Judah is a lion’s whelp… The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come." Christians have long read this as pointing to the royal line of David and to Jesus, "the Lion of the tribe of Juda."

Genesis 49:8-10; Revelation 5:5

Key moments

Questions about Judah

In meetBible these answers are given in Judah’s voice. They are written by hand and checked against Scripture.

Why did you suggest selling Joseph?

My brothers wanted to kill him. I said, "What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood? Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites… for he is our brother and our flesh." So I stopped the killing, but for silver. Scripture records both the "profit" and the "brother" in my words, and leaves my motives mixed.

How did you change?

The man who once sold a favoured brother later begged to become a slave so another favoured brother could go free. I told Joseph, not yet knowing him, that our father’s "life is bound up in the lad’s life," and asked, "let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord." Genesis shows the change through what I did, rather than explaining it.

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Read it yourself

Start with Genesis 37; 43–44; 49.

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