Judah

Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:

(praise). (1) Fourth son of Jacob (Gen. 29:35; 37:26-28; 43:3-10; 44:14-34). His tribe the largest (Num. 1:26-27). Allotted the southern section of Canaan (Josh. 15:1-63). (2) Kingdom of, formed on disruption of Solomon’s empire, out of Judah, Benjamin, Simeon, and part of Dan, with Jerusalem as capital, B. C. 975. Had 19 kings, and lasted for 389 years, till reduced by Nebuchadnezzar, B. C. 586. Outlived its rival, Israel, some 135 years. (3) City of Jerusalem (2 Chron. 25:28). (4) A town in Naphtali (Josh. 19:34). (5) Persons (Ezra 3:9; 10:23; Neh. 11:9).

“Judah” From Concise Bible Dictionary:

1. The fourth son of Jacob and Leah, and the head of the tribe bearing his name, which signifies “praise.” It was Judah who advised the selling of Joseph rather than taking his life: so his descendants, the Jews, delivered the Lord into the hands of the Gentiles. He sinned in the matter of Tamar his daughter-in-law; was ready enough to have her punished till it was shown that he also was guilty. Thus is traced the terribly corrupt history of the family of whom according to election Christ was to be born. Though not the eldest son he began to take a chief place in the family. He was able to persuade his father to let Benjamin be taken into Egypt, and when appeals were to be made to Joseph it was Judah who made them. When Jacob blessed his sons, the predictions show that in Judah was centered the royal line. The scepter should not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh came (Gen. 49:8-12). From Judah sprang David and a long succession of kings. Christ as born of the tribe of Judah, is referred to as “the Lion of the tribe of Juda” (Rev. 5:5). In Luke 3:33; Hebrews 7:14; Revelation 5:5 and Revelation 7:5, the name is given as JUDA: and in Matthew 1:2-3, it is JUDAS.
The tribe held a prominent position. In the journeyings of the Israelites, Judah took the lead, and at the first and second census their numbers were 74,600 and 76,500. Their allotted portion was large. Its east border embraced the whole of the Dead Sea, and extended to Gath and the land of the Philistines on the west. Its northern boundary was about 31° 48' N, and in the south it extended to the Desert of Paran. Jerusalem was near the border between Judah and Benjamin. In Joshua 18:28 it is one of the cities mentioned as falling to Benjamin; but in Joshua 15:63 and Judges 1:8 it is referred to Judah. David and his successors being of this tribe, Jerusalem became their dwelling place.
2. Ancestor of some Levites who helped to rebuild the temple (Ezra 3:9). Perhaps the same as HODAVIAH No. 3.
3. Levite who had taken a strange wife (Ezra 10:23).
4. Son of Senuah: he was an overseer in Jerusalem (Neh. 11:9).
5. Levite who returned from exile (Neh. 12:8).
6-7. A prince of Judah, and a priest and musician who assisted at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem (Neh. 12:34,36).

“Judah, the Kingdom of” From Concise Bible Dictionary:

On the separation of the ten tribes, Judah and Benjamin formed a kingdom under the name of Judah. Benjamin being but a small tribe, the kingdom of Judah is sometimes spoken of as one tribe. Doubtless the territory of Simeon was also attached to Judah—that tribe being as it were lost in the land. It was not named when Moses blessed the tribes (Deut. 33, compare Gen. 49:7). Bethel, out of the portion of Benjamin, fell to the kingdom of Israel.
The temple being at Jerusalem, with the priests and Levites, Judah represented God’s people and His government upon the earth; whereas the kingdom of Israel gave itself up at once to idolatry. God, according to His promise, still caused the lamp of David to shine at Jerusalem. Many of the kings served God with purpose of heart, though others embraced idolatry. (For the succession of the kings, see KINGS.) The kingdom of Judah continued from B.C. 975 to 606 when many of the people were carried captive, though Jerusalem was not destroyed till B.C. 588.
Seventy years of captivity had been foretold by Jeremiah (Jer. 25:11-12; Jer. 29:10): these began in B.C. 606 and ended in 536 when under Cyrus the Jews returned to build the house of Jehovah; but it was not finished and dedicated until B.C. 515 (Ezra 6:15). A commission was given to Ezra in B.C. 468 (Ezra 7); and one to Nehemiah to rebuild the city in 455. It could not however be called the kingdom of Judah; only a remnant of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin returned. They were first subject to the kingdom of Persia, then to the kingdom of Greece, and after a short time of freedom under JUDAS MACCABEUS and his successors they became subject to Rome.
In B.C. 65 Syria became a Roman province and in the year 40 Herod was appointed by Rome king of Judæa, and he continued on the throne to New Testament times. The children of Israel inhabiting Judæa in those days were the descendants of Judah and Benjamin (except any individuals who may have found their way there from the ten tribes). They were the people to whom the Messiah was presented, and who refused and crucified Him. They continued their persecution in the times of the apostles, and they will be dealt with separately from the ten tribes (compare Matt. 24:4-35; Matt. 27:25).
They revolted from Rome, and in A.D. 70 Jerusalem was taken and destroyed, some of its inhabitants were sold as slaves, and thousands were slain (Dan. 9:26; Luke 21:12-24). Their descendants are scattered over the earth; but when God’s set time is come they will be brought through the fire of judgment, and a remnant will be saved, restored to their own land, and blessed under their Messiah whom they now reject (Matt. 2:6; Heb. 8:8-12).

Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew Words:

Transliteration:
Yhuwdah
Phonic:
yeh-hoo-daw’
Meaning:
from 3034; celebrated; Jehudah (or Judah), the name of five Israelites; also of the tribe descended from the first, and of its territory
KJV Usage:
Judah

Jackson’s Dictionary of Scripture Proper Names:

he shall he praised

Potts’ Bible Proper Names:

Praise of God; celebrated:―name of five Israelites, also a tribe, and a territory, Gen. 35:23. {Celebratio Domini}