judah

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
Judah
    n 1: (Old Testament) the fourth son of Jacob who was forebear of
         one of the tribes of Israel; one of his descendants was to
         be the Messiah
    2: an ancient kingdom of southern Palestine with Jerusalem as
       its center [syn: {Judah}, {Juda}]
    
from Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
Judah
praise, the fourth son of Jacob by Leah. The name originated in
Leah's words of praise to the Lord on account of his birth: "Now
will I praise [Heb. odeh] Jehovah, and she called his name
Yehudah" (Gen. 29:35).

  It was Judah that interposed in behalf of Joseph, so that his
life was spared (Gen. 37:26, 27). He took a lead in the affairs
of the family, and "prevailed above his brethren" (Gen. 43:3-10;
44:14, 16-34; 46:28; 1 Chr. 5:2).

  Soon after the sale of Joseph to the Ishmaelites, Judah went
to reside at Adullam, where he married a woman of Canaan. (See
{ONAN}; {TAMAR}.) After the death of his wife
Shuah, he returned to his father's house, and there exercised
much influence over the patriarch, taking a principal part in
the events which led to the whole family at length going down
into Egypt. We hear nothing more of him till he received his
father's blessing (Gen. 49:8-12).
    
from Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (late 1800's)
Judah, the praise of the Lord; confession
    

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