The Life of David Series: Hey Judah! Part 2

As we prepare to go in-depth into the life of the biblical David we are taking some time to set up some essential background. Last week we started by looking into the life of the founder of the Israelite tribe into which David was born, Judah. If you haven’t read that yet, I would highly recommend that you do so before continuing.

After the events covered in the previous post Jacob’s sons and their descendants settled and, in the beginning, flourished in Egypt. And as the history of the Israelite nation gathers steam, we begin to notice that Judah is given a position of prominence among the other tribes. What is less commented on, but quite as important for our later understanding of the life of David, are constant contrasts and comparisons to the tribe of Benjamin.

It will be remembered from our last post that, as they stood (unwittingly) before their brother Joseph, who was acting as judge, Judah exercised a redeeming role on behalf of his half-brother Benjamin. That was the first, but definitely not the last, time that Judah (collectively speaking) would play that role. Let’s follow the fortunes of the two tribes through the Old Testament.

A Fatherly Blessing

As he neared death, Jacob (aka Israel) called his sons to his bedside to give them the traditional blessing (Genesis 49). He does not speak to Judah first, but the three brothers who precede him in the birth order are told in no uncertain terms why they are not honored as firstborn. Then he comes to Judah, and his words to Judah bear a close look.

Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise;
Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
Your father’s children shall bow down before you.

From the very beginning we see the the tribe of Judah is destined for prominence among the other tribes

Judah is a lion’s whelp;
From the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He bows down, he lies down as a lion;
And as a lion, who shall rouse him?

Revelation 5:5 references this section, referring to Christ as “The Lion of the Tribe of Judah”. Interestingly, the same verse calls Him “The Root of David”. The Judaic tribe and Davidic lineage are important to Christ’s New Testament identity…which the next part of Jacob’s blessing makes abundantly clear.

The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
Until Shiloh comes;
And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.

Here Jacob foretells both Judah’s royal (scepter) and messianic (Shiloh) future.

Binding his donkey to the vine,
And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,

And of course this is a specific reference to the events of Matthew 21.

And finally…

He washed his garments in wine,
And his clothes in the blood of grapes.
His eyes are darker than wine,
And his teeth whiter than milk.

Read Revelation 4:19 to understand the christological overtones of this last part.

As you can see, the seeds of the foretelling of Christ, which we began to see in our last post, have begun to bloom. But what of Benjamin? Let’s look at his blessing, which is last on the list (he was, after all, the last born of Jacob’s sons, which offers perhaps our first contrast: Judah has, by default, the rights of the firstborn, while Benjamin is last).

Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
In the morning he shall devour the prey,
And at night he shall divide the spoil.

So what are we to make of this?

First, both blessings speak of “prey”, but one is devoured by a lion (or lion’s whelp) while the other, by a wolf. Benjamin’s wolf is seen as devouring the prey in the morning. He is by himself, a “lone wolf”, a renegade. But in the evening he is “dividing the spoil”. Who divides the spoil? A warrior who has participated in the battle with others. So a possible reading of this is that we see Benjamin outcast at first, then brought into the fold.

I think future events give credence to this interpretation.

Judah Goes Up First

Throughout the rest of the Pentateuch we see subtle tips of the hat to Judah’s preeminence, but the real distinction begins to show itself in the oft-ignored book of Judges. In fact, I would go so far as to say that this contrast is one of the more important themes in the book. Look at how it begins:

Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass that the children of Israel asked the Lord, saying, “Who shall be first to go up for us against the Canaanites to fight against them?” And the Lord said, “Judah shall go up. Indeed I have delivered the land into his hand.”

This further sign of Judah’s God-ordained dominance is followed by a less-than-stellar commentary on Benjamin:

But the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who inhabited Jerusalem; so the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

Interestingly enough, we read a few verses earlier that Judah had at one point conquered Jerusalem, but somehow (the details are sketchy) Benjamin was unable to capitalize on this, and so begins a sinful cohabitation with the idolatrous Jebusites. And THAT turns out to be near-fatal to Benjamin.

If Benjamin is not doing great at the beginning of Judges, their condition at the end is a total disaster. In chapter 19 we read how their cohabitation with the Jebusites has completely corrupted the morals of the men of the tribe, to the extent that they commit a crime reminiscent of that of the men of Sodom. In chapter 20 a morally outraged Israel goes to war with the tribe of Benjamin, and almost wipes them from the face of the earth.

So Judges begins with Judah successful in their battles (the lion at his prey), and ends with Benjamin an outcast (lone wolf?) from among his brethren.

But what about the second part of Jacob’s blessing? The one that talks about sharing the spoils? You’ll have to stay tuned for that, but here’s a hint: the story that is developing will take us through David’s reign all the way to the cross, and beyond.

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