Judah in the Gospel of Jesus

Genesis 37–50 is commonly known as “the Joseph story.” But this label is not entirely accurate. Genesis 37:2 introduces the section that runs from chapter 37 through chapter 50 in this way: “These are the generations of Jacob” (NIV). Of course, Joseph gets more attention and space than the other sons of Jacob. However, another brother emerges to play a surprising role in salvation history. This brother is Judah. While Genesis 37-50 does not devote as much space to Judah as it does to Joseph, the role of Judah is significant enough to call these chapters “A Tale of Two Brothers.” Both brothers contribute to God’s establishment of a family line through which God will bless “all the families of the earth” (Gen. 12:3). Yet Judah’s role in the gospel story eventually eclipses Joseph’s.

The purpose of this essay is to explore Judah’s role in salvation history by looking at three passages in Genesis 37–50 where Judah takes center stage—Genesis 38, 44:18-34, and 49:8–12. Each passage anticipates a wonderful aspect of God’s plan to bless all families of the earth and this plan’s culmination in the gospel of Jesus the Messiah.

Genesis 38

There is only one narrative in the book of Genesis where Judah is the main character: chapter 38. This narrative has frustrated a long line of interpreters who view it as a rude interruption of the Joseph story and argue that it serves no purpose other than to disturb it.

The account of Jacob’s family line begins in chapter 37 with the story of Joseph’s brothers selling him into slavery. Judah, whose name means “praise,” convinced his brothers to pursue this option rather than killing Joseph (37:26–27). They agreed and sold him to some Midianite merchants. Then, they deceived their father, Jacob, by giving him Joseph’s robe that they had dipped in blood. Jacob concluded that Joseph was killed by a ferocious animal. Genesis 37 ends with their father’s grief (37:34–35) and a report of Joseph’s sale by the Midianites to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials (37:36).

The tension is thick as we come to Genesis 38. What will happen to Joseph in Egypt? We do not find out, though, because the story turns to Judah. At one level, this is frustrating. Yet as Franz Delitzsch said, it is “historiographic art to break off in the history of Joseph” at 37:36, thus allowing us “to experience with him the comfortless darkness” of two decades between the events of chapters 37 and 39.[1]

Meanwhile, the narrative about Judah in Genesis 38 is anything but flattering. The narrative begins in 38:1 with Judah going down, away from his brothers, and turning aside to a man who lived in Adullam—a Canaanite city. The verb “went down” (Hebrew, yrd) is certainly a double entendre, referring both to Judah’s geographical movement away from his brothers and to his spiritual decline. Subsequent events provide ample evidence of his spiritual insensitivity and decline.

• Judah married a Canaanite woman (38:2) in violation of the instructions given by Abraham (24:3–4) and Isaac (28:1, 6). These patriarchs viewed such a marriage as a threat to the promises God made to Abraham.
• When the LORD put Judah’s first two sons to death (38:7, 10), Judah assumed his daughter-in-law, Tamar was to blame rather than discerning that his sons were the problem (38:11). When Judah’s third son grew up, Judah did not give him to Tamar to fulfill the levirate duty and provide for her future (38:14).
• After Judah’s wife died, he visited a prostitute, not realizing that it was daughter-in-law, Tamar, in disguise (38:13–23)! This was her way of forcing him to fulfill the levirate duty so that she would have an heir. She assumed that Judah would be vulnerable to sexual temptation given the loss of his wife and given that he was on his way to shear his sheep. Sheep-shearing was party time, much like Mardi Gras is today.

Tamar’s daring plan worked. She became pregnant. But then the narrative takes a dramatic turn. About three months later, when Judah received the news that his daughter-in-law was “guilty of prostitution” and pregnant, he said, “Bring her out and have her burned to death” (38:24). However, as she was being brought out, she produced the seal and staff and cord—the ancient equivalent of a driver’s license and a credit card—that Judah had left with her as a pledge since he did not have a means of payment at the time he slept with her.

Genesis 38:26 records his response: “Judah recognized them and said, ‘She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah.’ And he did not sleep with her again.” Thus, Judah declared her innocence and admitted his own guilt. Tamar was more faithful to the standards of her culture—in pursuing the levirate custom—than he was to his.

One more surprise awaits the reader of this narrative. Genesis 38:27 explains: “When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb.” At their birth, the younger one “broke out” ahead of the older one, whose hand came out first (38:28–30). The triumph of this younger son, Perez—whose name means “broken out,” over his older brother, Zerah, is reminiscent of his grandfather Jacob’s triumph over his older brother, Esau.

Genesis 38 offers the first significant contribution of the story of Judah to our understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Specifically, it confronts us with God’s grace. According to Bruce Waltke, Judah “stands as a witness to God’s amazing grace. He fails as a son of the covenant (i.e., intermarrying with Canaanites and behaving like them), as a father (i.e., his sons are wicked), and as a father-in-law (i.e., deceiving Tamar).”[2] Yet, God gave him two sons to continue his line—as well as to care for Tamar.

This gift of grace will result in even more stunning developments as the story continues. Eventually, the family line of Judah’s son, Perez, will lead to King David (Ruth 4:18–22). Ultimately, the line leads to Jesus, the one who came “to save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). Jesus’ family lineage is traced back to Perez and Judah, with Tamar showing up in his genealogy as well (Matt. 1:3).

But for now, we can summarize the theological message of Genesis 38 like this: God will carry out his purpose—to raise up a line through which he will bless all people—by his grace, overcoming his people’s unfaithfulness and the mess it creates. Thus, this sordid narrative reminds us that God’s grace is underserved, or unconditioned.

But what effect does God’s saving grace have in a person’s life? We see that in Judah as the story of Jacob’s sons continues.

Genesis 44:18–34

The narrative in Genesis 44:18–34 shows us that God’s grace in Judah’s life led to transformation. When Jacob sent his sons to Egypt to purchase grain, he did not send his son, Benjamin, out of fear that he might be harmed (42:1–4). In Egypt, the brothers appeared before Joseph, the governor who was selling grain (42:5–6). But the brothers did not recognize him. Joseph accused them of being spies and insisted that they return home with their youngest brother verify their truthfulness (42:7–25). Though Jacob was reluctant, he relented after Judah pledged Benjamin’s safety with his own life (43:1–10).

When the brothers completed their mission and prepared to return. Joseph instructed his steward to put the silver cup belonging to Joseph in the sack of the youngest son—Benjamin (44:1–2). Once the brothers were on the way home, Joseph instructed his steward to go after them and ask, “Why have you repaid evil for good?” The steward accused them of stealing and, after searching in the sacks of grain, found Joseph’s cup in Benjamin’s sack (44:6–13). Joseph then told his brothers that he would keep the perpetrator as his servant.

At this point, Judah made an impassioned plea, telling Joseph how such a development would serve as a death blow to the brothers’ father and how he (Judah) had pledged the safety of Benjamin (44:18–32). Then, he concluded: “Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord’s slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers. How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come on my father” (44:33–34).

According to Waltke, Judah’s speech demonstrates both the confession (44:16) and renunciation (44:33–34) of sin in order to experience God’s mercy (see Prov. 28:13).[3] Wenham comments on this event, “No more moving example of true contrition and repentance is to be found in Scripture, unless it be the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15).”[4]

Thus, Judah’s change of heart towards his father and towards another favored brother shows us in advance what the New Testament makes clear in Ephesians 2:8–10 and Titus 2:11–15: God’s “unconditioned” grace has a transforming effect in the lives of those who respond in repentance.

But where does Jesus the Messiah fit into Judah’s story? Do Judah and Jesus connect in any specific way? This brings us to a rather astounding moment near the end of Jacob’s life.

Genesis 49:8–12

When Jacob was about to die (Gen. 48:21), he called for his sons and said: “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in the days to come” (Gen. 49:1). Jacob’s words to his firstborn, Reuben, quickly turn critical and harsh (49:3–4). Then he blasts Simeon and Levi for their violence, promising to scatter them (49:5–6). Next, he speaks to Judah in 49:8–12. We might expect another blunt, negative message. Yet we are in for a surprise.

Jacob begins his words by saying that “your brothers will praise you” (a wordplay on Judah’s name), that you will triumph over your enemies, and that “your father’s sons will bow down to you” (49:8). The latter detail is surprising in light of the way the sons of Jacob had previously bowed down to Joseph (42:6; 43:26, 28) in fulfillment of Joseph’s dreams (37:5–10). Next, in 49:9, Jacob uses a series of images likening Judah to a fierce lion that seizes its prey, lies down in its den, and has no challengers.

Then, Jacob makes a remarkable statement (49:10):

            The scepter will not depart from Judah,

                nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,

            until he to whom it belongs shall come

               and the obedience of the nations shall be his.

The scepter and the ruler’s staff are symbols of kingship. But the next line contains the notoriously difficult Hebrew expression shiloh. Whether it is translated as “until Shiloh comes,” or “until tribute comes to him,” or “until he to whom it belongs shall come,” this line has long been understood as a prophecy of the Messiah—as far back as the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Aramaic Targums (translations and paraphrases of the Hebrew Bible).

Finally, in 49:11–12, Jacob describes the outlandish prosperity brought about by this king’s reign.   Ordinarily, no wise king would tether his animals to vines and branches where they could eat the fruit. Nor would he wash his garments in expensive wine. These are wasteful actions, except for those with unlimited wealth.

Thus, Genesis 49:8–12 reveals the outcome of the gospel of Jesus the Messiah. Jacob’s words establish that the gospel promises a lion-like king whose rule will be powerful and prosperous. This sets up the stunning apocalyptic vision in Revelation 5 where “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed” (5:5). He is able to open a scroll with seven seals and thus set in motion God’s plan for bringing judgment and salvation to the world.

Conclusion

In the final chapter of Genesis, Joseph once again takes center stage. Near its end, it contains Joseph’s dramatic recognition that God has used the circumstances his brothers intended to harm him for “the saving of many lives” (50:20) as well as his generous commitment to provide for them and their children (50:21). Then, the book ends with a report of Joseph’s death (50:22–26).

However, by the time we get to the end of Genesis 37–50, we are aware of a remarkable twist. While Joseph has protected the family line in the moment, Judah is the one who continued the family line.

Through Judah, a sinful man who was transformed by God’s grace, God continued the family line of the Lion of the tribe of Judah—the lion who is also the slain Lamb. As we contemplate Judah’s role in salvation history, may we join “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power for ever and ever!’” (Rev. 5:13).

[1] Franz Delitzsch, A New Commentary on Genesis, 2 vols. (New York: Scribner & Welford, 1889), 266-67.

[2] Bruce K. Waltke with Cathi J. Fredricks, Genesis: A Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001), 515.

[3] Waltke with Fredericks, Genesis, 559, 566.

[4] Gordon Wenham, Genesis 16-50, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word Books, 1994), 431.