Judah (name)

Judah (Hebrew: יהודה "Yahû'dâh", Akkadian: Yau'da, Greek: Ἰούδας "Ioudas" hispanized: Judas) is a theophoric masculine given name and means "Yahw praised". Its feminine variant is Judith (Hebrew: יהודית "Yahû'ḏîṯ").

Etymology

The origin of this name is derived from the Genesis chapter in the Tanakh. According to this text, Judah was the son of Jacob and Leah, born on the Hebrew calendar on Sivan 15, 2196 and dying 119 years on the same date in Egypt.

He conceived again and bore a son, and said, "I will praise the Lord this time." This is why Judah called him, and he ceased to give birth.

Genesis 29:35

Genesis relates that Jacob had two wives; Raquel, whom he loved madly, and Leah, whom he rejected. Yahveh looking at Jacob's attitude, decides that Raquel was barren. Every time Leah had a child, she exalted a condition, giving meaning to the name of her children. When her firstborn was born, she said: Since Yahveh has seen my affliction; now he [Jacob] will love me, so he called him Reuben.

Context

From this name is derived the term Jew (yejudi) which literally means man from Judea, and some consider that Judit or Yechudit; '"Jewish" or '"Judean woman", is the feminine version of Judas. In the Jewish community it is a fairly common name in the form of Yehudá.

Wikipedia references

Judah may refer to:

• The Kingdom of Judah or the Roman province of Judea whose name was taken from the tribe of Judah, the most numerous and powerful of Israel.

• The tribe of Judah one of the twelve tribes of Israel, made up of the descendants of Judah (patriarch), from it came King David and Jesus of Nazareth.

• Different historical or biblical characters who bear the name in any of their versions: Yejuda, Yehuda, Judah, Judah, Judas, Jude, Jehoudah, etc.

• Epistle of Judas, one of the Catholic letters of the New Testament.

Characters

Religious

• Judas Tadeo.
• Judas Iscariot.
• Judah (patriarch) son of Jacob.
• Judit.

Historicals

• Judas Macabeo.
• Yehudah Halevi, Spanish poet of the centuryXI.

Fictional

• Judah Ben Hur, protagonist of Ben-Hur (1959 film)