Introduction: Each of Jacob’s twelve sons was different from the others. That goes without saying, as any parent of more than one child will probably agree! Judah was the fourth son of Jacob and Leah and his name is related to the Hebrew word for “praise (Gen. 29:35)”. Some of his deeds might have caused his parents to do anything but praise, but at the end, Judah did indeed prove himself worthy.
1 His first failure: selling his brother to foreigners
Text, Genesis 37:25-28, KJV: 25 And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. 26 And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood? 27 Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content. 28 Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.
In the context (Genesis 37), Joseph had shared some of his dreams and, to put it mildly, none of his family believed him. They hated him, as he was the next to youngest, and also Dad’s favorite. Jacob sent Joseph from Hebron, where they were living, to Shechem, where the other ten brothers were feeding their flocks. Joseph arrived in Shechem and then discovered they were in Dothan, so he went there.
Before Joseph arrived, though, the brothers saw him and decided they wanted to kill him! To Reuben’s credit, he said “NO!” and planned to send him back. They found a pit (a dry well or some kind of hole) and then ate lunch! Chances are they didn’t share anything with Joseph.
About that time, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites and Midianites heading to Egypt. Now here was Judah’s first failure: he came up with the idea of selling Joseph to these foreign traders! He had said, “What profit is it if we kill our brother (he couldn’t even say his name!)? Let’s sell him, and that way we won’t have to worry about him anymore”. The Midianite merchantmen—not Joseph’s brothers—pulled Joseph out of the pit. They in turn sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. That wasn’t much of a profit. Each brother got, on average, two pieces. Small profit indeed for such an awful thing to do, and that to your own brother.
None of them ever forgot this, even years later when they came to Egypt and saw Joseph—whom they didn’t recognize—have Simeon bound and held hostage. This guilt may have led Judah to take a break from the family. At least, something happened, and that something led to more of Judah’s failures.
2 His next failures: the wasted years in Canaan
Text, Genesis 38:1-5, KJV: 1 And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. 2 And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah; and he took her, and went in unto her. 3 And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er. 4 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan. 5 And she yet again conceived, and bare a son; and called his name Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him.
Nothing is mentioned in the Scriptures about what the ten oldest sons of Jacob discussed as they made their way back home from Dothan. They had decided to lie to their father about Joseph, using his coat, dipped in animal blood, as “proof” he was dead; and they each had two pieces of silver, blood money from selling Joseph to foreign traders. Maybe there was nothing to say.
Judah, the one who had suggested the sale of Joseph, seems to have been affected the most. It was probably just after they arrived back home that Judah decided to leave home and settle somewhere else. He found a certain Adullamite, named Hirah, and stayed with him. He also married a Canaanite girl, the daughter of Shuah. She bore Judah three sons: Er, Onan, and Shelah; they had moved to Chezib (also called Achzib in some commentaries) before Shelah was born. Judah and his family seemed to be content, if not happy, as they lived there until Er, the oldest son, was married to a girl named Tamar (38:6).
If by now you haven’t noticed at least a couple of failures, apparently neither did Judah. First, he had no business leaving his family and second, he had no business moving 20-30 miles away from Hebron, Jacob’s residence at the time. Second, he had no business marrying a foreign woman, who may not have even been a believer in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Third, he had no business marrying his son to another Canaanite woman, Tamar, who again may have never been a believer in the God of Judah. Many years later, Paul the apostle would write these words: “Don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers (2 Corinthians 6:14-15, paraphrased).” Perhaps he had this episode in mind when the Holy Spirit guided him in his writings.
Sadly, Judah’s failures seem to have affected his two oldest sons, as well. Er, the first-born, “was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him (38:7)”. Then, Onan, the second-born, was told to marry his sister-in-law and have a child so that Er’s line wouldn’t die out. This became known as “levirate” marriage and several commentators observed that “levirate” is Latin for “brother-in-law.” Whether this was only a custom, or a command, in Canaan is not stated but later this concept became part of the Law of Moses (Deut. 25:5-15), and a further portrayal of this is found in Ruth 4.
Onan, though, wanted nothing to do with this and even though he did marry his sister-in-law, he did not fulfill his duties. To put things delicately, he did not provide his new wife with the material needed to produce a child. This refusal to have a child with his brother’s widow was enough reason for the Lord to take Onan’s life, too. Sin is sin, no matter who is involved.
Tamar, Judah’s daughter-in-law, has now been widowed twice with little if anything to show for it. He suggested she go back to her father’s house and remain a widow there until Judah’s third son, Shelah, was old enough to marry her. Judah was afraid Shelah might die, even as his two brothers had done. Judah had done some pretty bad things, but he had seen his two oldest sons die long before their time due to their wickedness. No wonder he wanted to protect his youngest. Perhaps, though, we could spot some irony: Judah wanted to protect his youngest son, but he sure didn’t want to protect his younger brother. Did he ever ponder this?
Judah’s next failures also come in Genesis 38:12-26 (omitted to save space). Time went by, and sadly, Judah’s wife died. He was comforted—thank goodness for those who wish to provide what’s needed during a time of grief like this—and went up to Timnath to visit his old friend, Hirah the Adullamite.
The rest of the chapter deals with Judah’s additional failures. First, he decided to have sex with a prostitute (so he thought) and didn’t know she was Tamar, his own daughter-in-law! She became pregnant, out of wedlock, and when Judah found out about it, he demanded she be burned alive! What he didn’t know is that the items he had left the “harlot” as a “pledge.” This was a down payment or promise that he would give the woman an animal as payment for her service. In this case he promised to give her a “kid from the flock.” When confronted with the evidence that he was the guilty party, he said, “She is more righteous than I was. I didn’t give her my son like I was supposed to (paraphrased).” To his credit, he had no further relations with her.
Judah’s failures, while he lived in Canaan, should serve to remind us that first, anybody could fall to any temptation. Judah’s relationship with the LORD is not specified, but it’s my guess he wasn’t living as close to the LORD as he could have been. Second, he seems to have learned from these failures—there is no record he ever did anything like these ever again. Somehow he seemed to make peace with God and with his family. Although it’s never specified when, at some point after this he returned to his family.
And that was just the right time for him to display the kind of leadership the family needed at a very difficult period.
3 His future:
Text, Genesis 43:1-10, KJV: 1 And the famine was sore in the land. 2 And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food. 3 And Judah spake unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you. 4 If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food: 5 But if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down: for the man said unto us, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you. 6 And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother? 7 And they said, The man asked us straitly of our state, and of our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words: could we certainly know that he would say, Bring your brother down? 8 And Judah said unto Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones. 9 I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever. 10 For except we had lingered, surely now we had returned this second time.
Judah had apparently returned to Jacob’s household shortly before the famine, predicted by Joseph in Egypt, hit the land as far away as Canaan. The brothers, except Benjamin, went down to Egypt so they could buy grain (“corn”, KJV). While there, Joseph—whom they didn’t recognize—questioned them and bound Simeon before them, keeping Simeon as a hostage, more or less, until they brought Benjamin down to Egypt as well.
By the time of this episode, they were just about out of the grain they had purchased. Jacob wanted them to go back and buy some more. Nothing doing, said Judah, and he reminded Jacob of the conditions which “the man” had stated: no brother, no food. Judah even had the boldness to say “if you don’t send our brother, we won’t go down there—what would be the point?”
Jacob, of course, was upset, and blurted out, “Why did you tell him you had another brother?!” Then the brother said that “the man” had asked them do you have another brother, and is your father still alive; so we answered him. How could we know what he was going to say after that?
Now Judah stepped up again and took a leadership role. Briefly he said, “Let me take care of Benjamin, and we’ll go down and come back. That way none of us will die! If I don’t bring him back, then let me bear the blame for this forever. If we hadn’t waited, we could have gone down there and come back twice!”
The next verses show how Jacob realized what Judah had said was true. Clearly, he still didn’t want to send Benjamin, but he gave in and said, “Take some of the best of our land’s products and give them to the man as a gift”, plus other things. One of the saddest verses in the Bible is Genesis 43:14, especially the last part: note the resignation in Jacob’s voice as he said, “If I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.” Of note, compare the items Jacob suggested they bring down to Egypt, here (honey, balm, spices, myrrh, nuts and almonds) with the cargoes which the Ishmaelites and Midianites were taking to Egypt (“spicery”, balm, and myrrh) in Genesis 37. Did any of the brothers remember this from years gone by?
The nine brothers then left for Egypt and arrived there. This time they stood before Joseph, even though they didn’t know who he was (the last time, they all bowed down to the earth). Soon, they were brought to Joseph’s house where they had a meal with him. Simeon was released, and to their surprise, they were seated according to their birth order.
But Joseph wasn’t quite done with his brothers. There was one more test they were going to experience. The results wouldn’t be pretty.
Text, Genesis 44 (omitted to save space)
In brief, Joseph arranged to have each one of his brothers haul as much food as each could carry and to return each one’s money back in his sack. He also arranged to have his own silver cup placed in Benjamin’s sack. Then he had his men overtake the brothers and have them return to Joseph’s house. Joseph proposed they leave Benjamin with him and they could return in peace.
This was too much for Judah. In verses 18-34, he expresses in so many words that if Benjamin wasn’t allowed to return to Jacob, it would kill Jacob. He summarized the events of the last few years and how important it was to find food for Jacob’s household. He even offered to remain in Egypt, taking Benjamin’s place and Simeon’s place as a previous hostage, if that would mean Benjamin could return.
Now this was too much for Joseph! He, according to chapter 45, burst into tears, then composed himself before his brothers, and told them who he was! The brothers didn’t believe him until he told them to come near (the opinions of some teachers and commentators vary as to why). Eventually they believed him and made arrangements to have the whole family come to Egypt, where they all stayed for many years.
Text, Genesis 49:8-12, KJV: 8 Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee. 9 Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? 10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.11 Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: 12 His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
It seems they all lived in harmony for the rest of Jacob’s life. In Genesis 49, Jacob gave a prophecy for each son. He didn’t have much of anything positive for Reuben, Simeon, and Levi but gave a rather long prophecy about Judah. Some of this is clear, in that the true line of kings were descended from Judah, as well as, eventually, the Messiah! Some of this is admittedly hard to understand but if these prophecies were never fulfilled in the past, they will be in the future.
In summary, Judah failed many times, in more than one place, but eventually rose to a position of leadership when it was needed. This tells me that even though anyone has failed, nobody has to keep on failing, and the LORD is ready to restore anyone who genuinely wants His forgiveness. Just when this happened for Judah is anybody’s guess, but God chose him to be the ancestor of some of history’s greatest men. David, Solomon, Joseph, and even Jesus Himself can all trace their line back to Judah. Judah failed in the past, but God gave him a good future.
He can do the same thing for you, too!
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV).
