Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Tribe of Judah and Jewish Kings


 Tribe of Judah 
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Judah (Hebrew: שבט יְהוּדָה, Modern Shevet Yehuda, Tiberian Shevaṭ Yəhûḏā ; "Praise") was one of the twelve Tribes of Israel.
Biblical account
The Tribe of Judah (Yehudah), its conquests, and the centrality of its capital in Jerusalem for the worship of the god Yahweh figure prominently in the Deuteronomistic history, encompassing the books of Deuteronomy through II Kings, which most scholars agree was reduced to written form, although subject to exilic and post-exilic alterations and emendations, during the reign of the Judahist reformer Josiah from 641–609 BCE.[1]
According to the account in the Book of Joshua, following a partial conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes shortly before 1200 BCE (the Jubusites still held Jerusalem),[2] Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes. Judah's divinely ordained portion is described in Joshua 15 as encompassing most of the southern portion of the Land of Israel, including Jerusalem.
The Book of Samuel describes God's repudiation of a monarchic line arising from the northern Tribe of Benjamin due to the sinfulness of King Saul, which was then bestowed onto the Tribe of Judah for all time in the person of King David. In Samuel's account, after the death of Saul, all the tribes other than Judah remained loyal to the House of Saul, while Judah chose David as its king. However, after the death of Ish-bosheth, Saul's son and successor to the throne of Israel, all the other Israelite tribes made David, who was then the king of Judah, king of a re-united Kingdom of Israel.
The Book of Kings follows the expansion and unparalleled glory of the United Monarchy under King Solomon. However, on the accession of Rehoboam, Solomon's son, in c. 930 BCE, the ten northern tribes under the leadership of Jeroboam from the Tribe of Ephraim split from the House of David to create the Northern Kingdom in Samaria. The Book of Kings is uncompromising in its low opinion of its larger and richer neighbor to the north, and understands its conquest by Assyria in 722 BCE as divine retribution for the Kingdom's return to idolatry.[3]
The tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained loyal to the House of David. These tribes formed the Kingdom of Judah, which existed until Judah was conquered by Babylon in c. 586 BCE and the population deported.
When the Jews returned from Babylonian exile, residual tribal affiliations were abandoned, probably because of the impossibility of reestablishing previous tribal land holdings. However, the special religious roles decreed for the Levis and Kohanim were preserved, but Jerusalem became the sole place of worship and sacrifice among the returning exiles, northerners and southerners alike.
Territory and main cities
According to the biblical account, at its height, the Tribe of Judah was the leading tribe of the Kingdom of Judah, and occupied most of the territory of the kingdom, except for a small region in the north east occupied by Benjamin, and an enclave towards the south west which was occupied by Simeon. Bethlehem and Hebron were initially the main cities within the territory of the tribe.
The lion is the symbol of the Tribe of Judah. It is often represented in Jewish art, such as this sculpture outside asynagogue
The size of the territory of the tribe of Judah meant that in practice it had four distinct regions:
  • The Negev (Hebrew: south) – the southern portion of the land, which was highly suitable for pasture
  • The Shephelah (Hebrew: lowland) – the coastal region, between the highlands and the Mediterranean sea, which was used for agriculture, in particular for grains.
  • The wilderness – the barren region immediately next to the Dead Sea, and below sea level; it was wild, and barely inhabitable, to the extent that animals and people which were made unwelcome elsewhere, such as bears, leopards, and outlaws, made it their home. In biblical times, this region was further subdivided into three sections – the wilderness of En Gedi,[4] the wilderness of Judah,[5] and the wilderness of Maon.[6]
  • The hill country – the elevated plateau situated between the Shephelah and the wilderness, with rocky slopes but very fertile soil. This region was used for the production of grain, olives, grapes, and other fruit, and hence produced oil and wine.
Origin
According to the Torah, the tribe consisted of descendants of Judah, the fourth son of Jacob and of Leah. Some Biblical scholars view this as an etiological myth created in hindsight to explain the tribe's name and connect it to the other tribes in the Israelite confederation.[7] [8] With Leah as a matriarch, Biblical scholars regard the tribe as having been believed by the text's authors to have been part of the original Israelite confederation.[8]
Like the other tribes of the kingdom of Judah, the tribe of Judah is entirely absent from the ancient Song of Deborah, rather than present but described as unwilling to assist in the battle between Israelites and their enemy. Traditionally, this has been explained as being due to the southern kingdom being too far away to be involved in the battle, but Israel Finkelstein et al. claim the alternative explanation that the southern kingdom was simply an insignificant rural backwater at the time the poem was written.[9]
Character
As depicted by the Deuteronomists and post-exilic writers, the tribe of Judah was the leading tribe of the Kingdom of Judah. David and the royal line belonged to the tribe, and the line continued after the fall of the Kingdom of Judah in the Exilarchs. The traditional Jewish belief was that the (Jewish) Messiah would be of the Davidic line, based on the LORD's promise to David of an everlasting throne for his offspring (Isaiah 9:6–7, Jeremiah 33:15-21, 2 Samuel 7:12–16, Psalms 89:35–37).
Indeed, many of the Jewish leaders and prophets of the Hebrew Bible claimed membership in the tribe of Judah. For example, the literary prophets Isaiah, Amos,Habakkuk, Joel, Micah, Obadiah, Zechariah, and Zephaniah, all belonged to the tribe. Later, during the Babylonian Exile, the Exilarchs (officially recognized community leaders) claimed Davidic lineage, and when the Exile ended,Zerubbabel (the leader of the first Jews to return to Yehud province) was also said to be of the Davidic line, as were Shealtiel (a somewhat mysterious figure) and Nehemiah (one of the earliest and most prominent Achamenid-appointed governors of Yehud). In the time of Roman rule, all the holders of the office of Nasi (prince) after Shemaiah, claimed Davidic lineage, through Hillel, who was rumored have maternal lineage from the Davidic line.
In Matthew 1:1–6 and Luke 3:31–34 of the New Testament, Jesus is described as a member of the tribe of Judah by lineage. Revelation 5:5 also mentions an apocalyptic vision of the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
Fate
The Lion of Judah on the municipal emblem of Jerusalem
As part of the kingdom of Judah, the tribe of Judah survived the destruction of Israel by the Assyrians, and instead was subjected to the Babylonian captivity; when the captivity ended, the distinction between the tribes were lost in favor of a common identity. Since Simeon and Benjamin had been very much the junior partners in the Kingdom of Judah, it was Judah that gave its name to the identity—that of the Jews.
After the fall of Jerusalem, Babylonia (modern day Iraq), would become the focus of Jewish life for 1000 years. The first Jewish communities in Babylonia started with the exile of the Tribe of Judah to Babylon by Jehoiachin in 597 BCE as well as after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 586 BCE.[10] Many more Jews migrated to Babylon in AD 135 after the Bar Kokhba revolt and in the centuries after.[10]
Ethiopia's traditions, recorded and elaborated in a 13th-century treatise, the "Kebre Negest", assert descent from a retinue of Israelites who returned with the Queen of Sheba from her visit to King Solomon in Jerusalem, by whom she had conceived the Solomonic dynasty's founder, Menelik I. Both Christian and Jewish Ethiopian tradition has it that these immigrants were mostly of the Tribes of Dan and Judah;[11]hence the Ge'ez motto Mo`a 'Anbessa Ze'imnegede Yihuda ("The Lion of the Tribe of Judah has conquered"), one of many names for Jesus of Nazareth. The phrase "The Lion of the Tribe of Judah has conquered" is also found in the Book of Revelation.
[12]
See also
References
  1. Finkelstein, Israel (2002). The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Sacred Texts. Simon & Schuster. pp. 369–373.
  2. Kitchen, Kenneth A. (2003), On the Reliability of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company) (ISBN 0-8028-4960-1)
  3. Finkelstein, Israel (2002). The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Sacred Texts. Simon & Schuster. pp. 261–265.
  4. 1 Samuel 24:1
  5. Judges 1:16; Matthew 3:1
  6. 1 Samuel 23:24
  7. Peake's commentary on the Bible
  8. Jewish Encyclopedia
  9. Finkelstein, Israel (2002). The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Sacred Texts. Simon & Schuster. pp. 138–140.
  10. [מרדכי וורמברנד ובצלאל ס רותת "עם ישראל - תולדות 4000 שנה - מימי האבות ועד חוזה השלום", ע"מ 95. (Translation: Mordechai Vermebrand and Betzalel S. Ruth - "The People of Israel – the history of 4000 years – from the days of the Forefathers to the Peace Treaty", 1981, pg. 95)
  11. 11.
  12. 11. Amos 9:7 http://biblehub.com/amos/9-7.htm. לוא כבני כשיים אתם לי בני ישראל נאם־יהוה הלוא את־ישראל העליתי מארץ מצרים ופלשתיים מכפתור וארם מקר׃ "Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the LORD. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?"
External links

 Lion of Judah 
The Lion of Judah is the symbol of the Hebrew tribe of Judah (theJewish tribe). According to the Torah, the tribe consists of the descendants of Judah, the fourth son of Jacob. The association between Judah and the lion, most likely the Asiatic lion, can first be found in the blessing given by Jacob to Judah in the Book of Genesis.[1] The Lion of Judah is also mentioned in the Book of Revelation, as a term representing Jesus, according to Christian theology.[2] The lion of Judah was also one of the titles of the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie and was depicted on the flag of Ethiopia from 1897-1974. Due to its association with Selassie, it continues to be an important symbol among members of the Rastafari movement.
History and usage
The lion of Judah on the coat of arms of Jerusalem
The biblical Judah (in Hebrew: Yehuda) is the original name of the Tribe of Judah, which is traditionally symbolized by a lion. In Genesis, the patriarch Jacob ("Israel") gave that symbol to his tribe when he refers to his son Judah as a Gur Aryeh גּוּר אַרְיֵה יְהוּדָה, "Young Lion" (Genesis 49:9) when blessing him.[3] 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.
Ethiopian history
Ethiopian Lion of Judah flag
Ethiopia's history as recorded and elaborated in a 13th-century treatise, the "Kebre Negest", asserts descent from a retinue of Israelites who returned with Makeda, the Queen of Sheba from her visit to King Solomon inJerusalem, by whom she had conceived the Solomonic dynasty's founder Menelik I. As Solomon was of the tribe of Judah, his son Menelik I would continue the line, which according to Ethiopian history was passed directly down from King to King until Emperor Haile Selassie I(ostensibly the 225th king from King David) was deposed in 1974. Both Christian andJewish Ethiopian history have it that there were also immigrants of the Tribes of Danand Judah that accompanied Makeda back from her visit to Solomon; hence theGe'ez motto Mo`a 'Anbessa Ze'imnegede Yihuda ("The Lion of Judah has conquered"), included among the titles of the Emperor throughout the Solomonic Dynasty. It is unknown whether John of Patmos was directly aware of this hereditary title when he penned it into the text of the prophecy.
1894 Ethiopian stamp "Lion of Judah"
The Lion of Judah motif figured prominently on the old imperial flag, currency, stamps, etc. and may still be seen gracing the terrace of the capital as a national symbol. After the collapse of theCommunist Derg in 1990 and the increase ofWestern-style political freedoms, a minor political party bearing the name Mo'a Anbessa made its appearance.
Rastafari movement
In the Rastafari movement "The Lion of Judah" mentioned in Genesis 49:9 and Revelation 5:5 is considered to be a reference to Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia. Emperor Haile Selasie is believed to be the biblical lion of Judah because he was crowned on November 2, 1930 with the titles "KING of Kings, LORD of lords, Conquering Lion of Judah, Elect of God, the Light of the World" and is a descendant of the tribe of Judah through the lineage of King David and King Solomon.
Christianity
The phrase appears in the New Testament in Revelation 5:5: "And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof." This is widely regarded as a reference to Jesus among Christians.
Many Christian organizations and ministries use the lion of Judah as their emblem or even as their name.
Inspired by the Lion of Judah, C. S. Lewis used a lion named Aslan to represent Jesus in The Chronicles of Narnia.[4] [5] [6] [7]
References
  1. "Genesis 49:9". Biblos. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  2. "Revelation 5:5". Bible Study Tools. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  3. "Genesis : Chapter 49". Bible.ort.org. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  4. "Liam Neeson says Narnia’s Aslan could be Muhammed | Christian News on Christian Today". Christiantoday.com. 2010-12-09. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  5. "C.S. Lewis: A Complete Guide to His Life & Works - Google Books". Books.google.com. 1998-06-23. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  6. "NarniaWeb Community Forums • View topic - Allegorical Aslan - C.S. Lewis Quote". Forum.narniaweb.com. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  7. "C S Lewis Letter Testifies Narnia’s Lion as Christ | Christian News on Christian Today". Christiantoday.com. 2005-12-07. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lion of Judah.

Solomonic dynasty 
The Solomonic dynasty, also known as the House of Solomon, is the former ruling Imperial House of theEthiopian Empire. Its members claim patrilineal descent from King Solomon of Israel and theQueen of Sheba. Tradition asserts that theQueen gave birth to Menelik I after herbiblically described visit to Solomon inJerusalem.[1]
History
The Solomonic dynasty was a bastion ofJudaism and later of Ethiopian OrthodoxChristianity. It is considered to have ruled Ethiopia in the 10th century BC. Records of the dynasty's history were reported to have been maintained by the Ethiopian Orthodox monasteries to near antiquity; however, if such records existed, most were lost as a result of the destruction of Orthodox monasteries by the resurgent JudaicJudith I. Yekuno Amlak I re-established the dynasty, tracing his ancestry to the last Solomonic King of Axum, Dil Na'od. The Dynasty re-established itself on 10 Nehasé 1262 EC[2] (10 August 1270 AD) when Yekuno Amlak overthrew the last ruler of theZagwe dynasty.
13th century Solomonic hand cross.
Yekuno Amlak claimed direct male line descent from the old Axumite royal house that the Zagwes had replaced on the throne.Menelik II, and later his daughter Zewditu I, would be the last Ethiopian monarchs who could claim uninterrupted direct male descent from Solomon of Israel and the Queen of Sheba (both Iyasu V and Haile Selassie Iwere in the female line, Iyasu V through his mother Shewarega Menelik, and Haile Selassie I through his paternal grandmother, Tenagnework Sahle Selassie). The male line, through the descendants of Menelik's cousin Dejazmatch Taye Gulilat, still existed, but had been pushed aside largely because of Menelik's personal distaste for this branch of his family.
The Solomonic Dynasty continued to rule Ethiopia with few interruptions until 1974, when the last emperor, Haile Selassie I, was deposed. The royal family is currently non-regnant. Members of the family in Ethiopia at the time of the 1974 revolution were imprisoned; some were executed and others exiled. In 1976, ten great grandchildren of Haile Selassie I were extracted from Ethiopia in an undertaking later detailed in a book by Jodie Collins titled Code Word: Catherine. The women of the dynasty were released by the regime from prison in 1989, and the men were released in 1990. Several members were then allowed to leave the country in mid 1990, and the rest left in 1991 upon the fall of the Communist Regime. Many members of the Imperial family have since returned to live in Ethiopia.
Imperial sarcophagus of the Solomonic dynasty King Haile Selassie I at the Holy Trinity Cathedral.
During much of the dynasty's existence, its effective realm was the northwestern quadrant of present-day Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Highlands. The Empire expanded and contracted over the centuries, sometimes incorporating parts of modern-day Sudan and South Sudan, and coastal areas of the Red Seaand Gulf of Aden. Southern and eastern regions were permanently incorporated during the last two centuries, some by Shewan kings and some by Emperors Menelek II and Haile Selassie I; although much of the central and southern regions were previously incorporated into the empire under Amda Seyon Iand Zara Yaqob, peripheral areas were lost after the invasion of Ahmad Gragn.[3]
In the modern era, the Imperial dynasty has several cadet branches. The elder Gondarine line, starting with Susenyos in 1606 (although often credited to his sonFasilides who established his capital at Gondar) ended its rule with the fall of the largely powerless Yohannes III in 1855 and the coming to power of Tewodros II, whose later claims of Solomonic descent were never widely accepted. The Tigrean line came to power briefly with the enthronement of Yohannes IV in 1872, and although this line did not persist on the Imperial throne after the Emperor was killed in battle with the Mahdists in 1889, the heirs of this cadet branch ruled Tigre until the revolution of 1974 toppled the Ethiopian monarchy.
The Tigrean Cadet branch (along with its various sub-branches) traces its lineage to the main Solomonic line of Emperors through at least two female links. The more recent link was through Woizero Aster Iyasu (wife of Ras Mikael Sehul, daughter ofMentewab and her lover, Melmal Iyasu, a Solomonic prince and nephew of Mentewab's late husband Bakaffa).
Prince Asfa-Wossen Asserate, a member of the Solomonic dynasty.
The Shewan line was next on the Imperial throne with the coronation of Menelik II, previously Menelik King of Shewa, in 1889. The Shewan Branch of the Imperial Solomonic dynasty, like the Gondarine line, could trace uninterrupted male line descent from King Yekonu Amlak, though Abeto Negassi Yisaq, the grandson of Dawit II by his youngest son Abeto Yaqob. The direct male line ended with Menelik II – who was succeeded first by the son of his daughter Lij Iyasu from 1913 to 1916, then by his daughter Zewditu until 1930, and finally by the son of a first cousin in the female line, Haile Selassie I. Haile Selassie's reign lasted until 1974, when the dynasty was removed from power. His grandsonPrince Zera Yacob is his legal heir and therefore the current head of the imperial dynasty. The Shewan branch has several sub-branches, most notably the Selalle line established by Menelik II's uncle Ras Darge.
The oldest junior cadet branch of the Solomonic Dynasty is the Gojjam branch which traces its ancestry to Woizero Romanework, daughter of Na'od and sister ofDawit II. Its most prominent recent members include Tekle Haimanot King of Gojjam, his son Leul Ras Hailu Tekle Haimanot, who was the most senior Ethiopian noble who submitted to the Italian occupation of 1936–1941; and his nephew Ras Hailu Belew who was a noted figure in the resistance against the Italian occupation.
Coat of arms
Lion of the Tribe of Judah
The Imperial Coat of arms was adopted by Haile Selassie I, and is currently held by his direct heir in the male line, Prince Zera Yacob, and by theCrown Council of Ethiopia. The arms are composed of an Imperial Throne flanked by two angels, one holding a sword and a pair of scales, the other holding the Imperial scepter. The throne is often shown with a Christian cross, and a Star of David, (representing the Christian and Jewish traditions). It is surmounted by a red mantle with the Imperial Crown, and before the throne is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. The Lion of Judah was the central emblem of the Ethiopian tri-color flagduring the reign of the monarchy, and now serves as the chief symbol of theEthiopian monarchist movement. The Lion of Judah has also been adopted as the leading religious symbol for the Rastafari movement that regards Emperor Haile Selassie as divine.
The phrase "Moa Ambassa ze imnegede Yehuda", (Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah) appeared on the arms, and always preceded the Emperor's official style and titles, signaling the Emperor's submission to Christ, to whom the title belonged. It was an often repeated mistake that the title of "Lion of Judah" referred to the Emperor himself. The official Imperial Dynastic motto was "Ityopia tabetsih edewiha habe Igziabiher" (Ethiopia stretches her hands unto God), a quote from the Psalm 68:31.
See also
References
  1. 1 Kings 10:1–10
  2. A. K. Irvine, "Review: The Different Collections of Nägś Hymns in Ethiopic Literature and Their Contributions." Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. School of Oriental and African Studies, 1985.
  3. Taddesse Tamrat, Church and State in Ethiopia (1270–1527) (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), p 275.
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