the son of Jacob and Leah, who was born in Mesopotamia, Genesis 29:35 . It was he who advised his brethren to sell Joseph to the Ishmaelite merchants, rather than stain their hands with his blood, Genesis 37:26 . There is little said of his life, and the little that is recorded does not raise him high in our estimation. In the last prophetic blessing pronounced on him by his father Jacob, Genesis 49:8-9 , there is a promise of the regal power; and that it should not depart from his family before the coming of the Messiah. The whole southern part of Palestine fell to Judah's lot; but the tribes of Simeon and Dan possessed many cities which at first were given to Judah. This tribe was so numerous, that at the departure out of Egypt it contained seventy-four thousand six hundred men capable of bearing arms, Numbers 1:26-27 . The crown passed from the tribe of Benjamin, of which Saul and his sons were, to that of Judah, which was David's tribe, and the tribe of the kings, his successors, until the Babylonish captivity.