Literally, Praise to the Lord. Fourth son of Jacob, born of Leah; founder of the tribe of Judah, whose emblem was the lion. Just as Judah came to be the leader of all the sons of Jacob, so the tribe of Judah took the leading role in the life of the people. Much of Chapter 15 in Joshua is devoted to a description of Judah’s territory, which extended from the end of the Salt Sea in the south to the Great Sea in the west and was crowned with Jerusalem on its heights. Judah was also the name of the southern kingdom, which included the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and part of Benjamin. This kingdom came into being after the northern tribes had seceded at the death of Solomon, forming their own northern kingdom of Israel.