If you ask someone to name the most important person in the Bible, chances are they will say: Abraham, Moses, David or Jesus. But among the numerous figures in the Bible that have left their imprint on the identity of us modern readers of the Bible, perhaps none is as strong as Jacob’s fourth son: Judah. The descendants of Judah became more powerful than all their relatives and even gave their name to the religion of Judaism. Do you know what this name means?
FOURTH IN LINE, FIRST IN HONOR
The worldwide community of Bible followers – Jews and Christians alike – see themselves as descended from the sons of Jacob, the twelve tribes of Israel. Among these twelve sons, the most significant is certainly the fourth in line: Judah. He was not the oldest of the sons, but he was the most influential. His descendants founded the capital of their Kingdom of Judah in a small hilltop city called Jerusalem.
THE BIBLICAL ORIGIN OF THE NAME
Following the destruction of the Temple, the entire nation acquired the name of the “Judeans.” What does “Judean” mean? In Genesis, the matriarch Leah “conceived again and bore a son, and said, “This time I will praise the Lord, therefore she named him Judah” (Gen 29:35). In English this name is just a collection of arbitrary sounds. But in fact, the word for praising or thanking someone in Hebrew is “hodaya”. Leah says “I will praise” – odeh – and names Judah – Yehuda.
THE AUTHENTIC HEBREW MEANING
We can now understand that the entire nation of “Judeans”, and later on “Jews”, is built on praising and thanking the Lord. The original Hebrew language reveals strong connections between names, events and eventually history.
