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 JUDA

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JUDA

vol. I, fasc. I, pp. 15-54. The Greek fragments are scattered in the wTitings of various Byzantine chron- iclers such as Syncellus, Cedrenus, Zonoras, and Gly- cas. The incomplete Latin version, which like the Kthiopic was made from the Greek, was re-edited in 1874 by Ronsch, accompanied with a Latin render- ing by Dillmann of the corresponding portion in the Ethiopic version, with a very valuable commen- tary and several excursus ("Das Buch der Jubilaen oder die kleine Genesis etc.", Leipzig, 1874). In 1900 Dr. Littmann published a newer German ver- sion of the Ethiopic text in Kautzsch's "Apocry- phen und Pseudoepigraphen", 3rd ed., vol. Ill, pp. 274 sqq., and, in 1888, Dr. Schodde published the first English version of the book (" Book of Jubilees", Oberiin, Ohio, 1888). In 1895 the Ethiopic text was re-edited in a revised form by Charles, and by him translated into English in 1893-5 in the " Jewish Quar- terly Review" (Oct., 1893, July, 1894, January, 1895), and subsequently in a separate volume with many ad- ditional notes and discussions (" The Book of Jubilees", London, 1902). A French translation is promised by the Abb6 F. Martin, professor of Semitic lan- guages at the Catholic Institute of Paris, in his val- uable collection entitled "Documents pour I'Etude de la Bible".

The contents of the Book of Jubilees deal with the facts and events related in the canonical Book of Genesis, enriched by a wealth of legends and stories which had arisen in the course of centuries in the pop- ular imagination of the Jewish people, and written from the rigid Pharisaic point of view of the author and of his age; and as the author seeks to reproduce the history of primitive times in the spirit of his own day, he deals with the Bibhcal text in a very free fash- ion. According to him, Hebrew was the language originally spoken by all creatures, animals and man, and is the language of Heaven. After the destruction of the tower of Babel, it was forgotten until Abraham was taught it by the angels. Henoch was the first man initiated by the angels in the art of writing, and wrote down, accordingly, all the secrets of astronomy, of chronology, and of the world's epochs. Four cla.sses of angels are mentioned, viz. angels of the presence, angels of sanctifications, guardian angels over individuals, and angels presiding over the phe- nomena of nature. As regards demonology the writ- er's position is largely that of the New Testament and of the Old-Testament apocryphal writings.

All these legendary details, it claims, were re- vealed by God to Moses through the angel of the pres- ence (probably Michael) together with the Law, all of which was originally known to but few of the Old Testament patriarchs, such as Henoch, Methusala, Noe, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Levi. It is somewhat difficult to determine the particular Juda- istic school its author belonged to; he openly denies the resurrection of the body; he does not believe in the written tradition; he does not reprobate animal sacri- fices, etc. .. . and the fact that he wrote in Hebrew excludes the hypothesis of his Hellenistic tendencies. Equally untenable is the hypothesis advanced by Beer, that he was a Samaritan, for he excludes Mount Garizim, the sacred mount of the Samaritans from the list of the four places of God upon earth, viz. the Garden of Eden, the Mount of the East, Mount Sinai, and Mount Sion. If the author belonged to any par- ticular school he must have been in all probability a Pharisee (Hasidaean) of the most rigid type of the time of John Hyrcanus, in whose reign scholars gener- ally agree the book was written (135-105 B.C.). Dr. Hcadlam suggests that the author was a fervent opponent of the Christian Faith (see Hastings, "Dic- tionary of the Bible"). But if the author, as it is suggested in this rather improbable hypothesis, lived in early Christian times, he must have written his book Ijefore the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction

of the Temple, since the latter is assumed throughout to be still m existence as the great centre of Jewish worsliip.

Besides the literature mentioned in the body of the article, see the various articles on the subject in the Dictionaries of the Bible, and especially Schurer's History of the Jewish People in the Time of Christ, tr., V. 134-141. q^^j,,^^ OdsSANI.

Juda (mirr). the name of one of the Patriarchs, the name of the trilie reputed to be descended from him, the name of the territory occupied by the same, and also the name of several persons mentioned in the Old Testament.

I. Juda the Patriarch, the son of Jacob by Lia, whose exclamation on the occasion of his birth: " Now will I praise the Lord " is given as the etymological reason for the name "Juda", which is derived from the He- brew verb "to praise" (Gen., xxix, 35). It was Juda who interceded with his brethren to save the life of Joseph, proposing that he be sold to the Ismaelites (Gen., xxxvii, 20, 27). Though not the eldest son of Jacob, he is represented as assuming an important and predominating role in the family affairs. It is he who, on the occasion of the second journey to Egypt, persuades the afflicted Jacob to consent to the depar- ture of Benjamin (Gen., xliii, .3-10), for whom he pleads most touchingly before Joseph after the incident of the cup, offering himself to be retained as a slave in his stead (Gen., xliv, 18 sqq.). This earnest plea deter- mines Joseph to disclose his identity to his brethren (Gen., xlv, 1 sqq.). Juda is the one chosen by Jacob to precede him into Egypt and announce his coming (Gen., xlvi, 28), and his prestige is further emphasized in the famous prophecy enunciated by Jacob (Gen., xlix, 8-12). To Juda were born five sons, viz.. Her, Onan, and Sela by the daughter of Sue, and Phares and Zara by Thamar (Gen., xxxviii). It is through Phares, according to the First Gospel, that the Mes- sianic lineage is traced (Matt., i, 3).

II. Juda, a tribe of Israel, named after the son of Jacob. The unquestioned predominance and provi- dential mission of this tribe, foreshadowed in Gen., xlix, 8-10, appear from the time of the Exodus and throughout the subsequent Israelitish history. From the beginning Juda predominated in point of numbers. When the first census was taken after the departure from Egypt it numbered 74,600 fighting men, while Dan, the next largest tribe, counted only 62,700 and the smallest, Manasses, only 32,200. The chief of the tribe during the period of the wanderings was Nahas- son, son of Aminadab. Among the spies sent to ex- plore the Land of Chanaan, the tribe of Juda was represented by Caleb, son of Jephone (Num., xiii, 7). According to the second census of the Israelites taken on the plains of Moab, Juda numbered 76,500 fighting men. The names of the principal families of the tribe are given in Num., xxvi, 19-21, and more fully in I Par., ii. Caleb was one of the chiefs selected to settle the division of the land among the tribes, and on the occasion of the passing of the Jordan the tribe of Juda, together with those of Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Eph- raim and Manasses, was designated to "bless the people" from the top of Mount Garizim (Deut., xxvii, 12). After the death of Josue the tribe of Juda was chosen to be the vanguard in the war against the Chanaanites. This honour was probably less a recog- nition of the numerical strength of the tribe than of the promises it had received (Gen., xlix, 8-10) and the hopes for its glorious destiny founded on these prom- ises (Judges, i, 1-2). Juda was again chosen by the Divine oracle to head the attack against Gabaa and the Benjamites (Judges, xx, 18). The natural ramparts surrounding their country saved tlii' inlialiitants from many of the invasions that troubled t heir nort hern 1 )rct h- ren ; but the children of A,mmon, passing over the Jordan, wasted Juda, and the mountains proved ineffectual in keeping off the Philistines (Judg., x, 9; I Kings, xvii, 1). In the persecution of David by Saul the tribe