eponymous ancestor of the tribe of judah was lion of judah in the bible in relation to judah.
eponymous ancestor of the tribe of judah was lion of judah in the bible in relation to judah.
who is lion of judah in the bible in relation to judah?
eponymous ancestor of the tribe of judah
the biblical judah (in hebrew: "yehuda") is the eponymous ancestor of the tribe of judah, which is traditionally symbolized by a lion. in genesis, the patriarch jacob ("israel") gave that symbol to this tribe when he refers to his son judah as a "gur aryeh" גּוּר אַרְיֵה יְהוּדָה, "young lion" (genesis 49:9) when blessing him. in jewish naming tradition the hebrew name and the substitute name are often combined as a pair, as in this case. the lion of judah was used as a jewish symbol for many years, and as jerusalem was the capital of the kingdom of judah, in 1950 it was included in the emblem of jerusalem.
lion of judah
the midrash and the talmud differed over which five brothers joseph presented to pharaoh in and each source employed the farewell of moses in to make its argument. the midrash read the word “from among” (, "mikzeh") in “and from among (, "mikzeh") his brethren he took five men,” to mean “from the end,” implying inferiority. the midrash thus concluded that they were not the strongest of the brothers, and named them as reuben, simeon, levi, benjamin, and issachar. the midrash explained that joseph took these five brothers, because he reasoned that if he presented the strongest to pharaoh, then pharaoh would on make them his warriors. therefore, joseph presented these five, who were not mighty men. the midrash taught that we know that they were not strong from the blessing of moses in where every brother whose name moses repeated in his blessing was mighty, while every brother whose name moses did not repeat was not mighty. judah, whose name he repeated, was mighty, for says, “and this for judah, and he said: ‘hear, lord, the voice of judah’”; therefore joseph did not present him to pharaoh. likewise naphtali, as says, “and of naphtali he said: ‘o naphtali, satisfied with favor.’” likewise asher, of whom says, “and of asher he said: ‘blessed be asher above sons.’” likewise dan, of whom says, “and of dan he said: ‘dan is a lion’s whelp.’” zebulun too, of whom says, “and of zebulun he said: ‘rejoice, zebulun, in your going out.’” gad too, of whom says, “and of gad he said: ‘blessed be he that enlarges gad.’” therefore joseph did not present them to pharaoh. but the others, whose names were not repeated, were not mighty, therefore he presented them to pharaoh. in the babylonian talmud, however, rava asked rabbah bar mari who the five were. rabbah bar mari replied that rabbi johanan said that they were those whose names were repeated in the farewell of moses, (and thus the mightier of the brothers). besides judah, the five whose names moses repeated were dan, zebulun, gad, asher and naphtali. explaining why moses repeated judah’s name in but joseph nonetheless excluded him from the five, rabbah bar mari explained that moses repeated judah’s name for a different purpose, which rabbi samuel bar nahmani recounted that rabbi johanan said. rabbi johanan interpreted the words of “let reuben live and not die, in that his men become few, and this is for judah,” to teach that during the 40 years that the israelites were in the wilderness, the bones of judah rolled around detached in the coffin that conveyed the bones of the heads of the tribes from egypt to the promised land along with joseph's remains. but then moses solicited god for mercy by noting that judah brought reuben to confess his own sin in and (lying with bilhah) by himself making public confession in (when judah admitted that tamar was more righteous than he was). therefore, in moses exhorted god: “hear lord the voice of judah!” thereupon god fitted each of judah's limbs into its original place as one whole skeleton. judah was, however, not permitted to ascend to the heavenly academy, until moses said in “and bring him in to his people.” as, however, judah still did not know what the rabbis were saying in that assembly and was thus unable to argue with the rabbis on matters of the law, moses said in “his hands shall contend for him!” as again he was unable to conclude legal discussions in accordance with the law, moses said in “you shall be a help against his adversaries!”
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