以色列人十二支派之一，雅各的第四子犹大的后代。犹大支派进入上帝所应许之地迦南，和其他以色列人逃出埃及后定居在耶路撒冷以南地区。实际上，这个支派是最有势力的一派，相继产生了大卫和所罗门两位国王，并预言弥赛亚将从该支派产生。因西元前721年亚述人征服使得北部的十支派消失后，犹大支派和便雅悯支派是仅存的摩西圣约的后继者。犹大国繁盛至西元前586年，亡于巴比伦，许多人被迫流亡。居鲁士大帝于西元前538年允许犹太人返回故土，耶路撒冷圣殿得以修复。此后犹太人和犹太教的历史基本上就是犹大支派的历史。犹大王国后由犹太继承。

One of the 12 tribes of Israel, descended from Judah, the fourth son of
Jacob. The tribe of Judah entered Canaan with the other Israelites after the
escape from Egypt and settled in the region south of Jerusalem. It eventually
became the most powerful tribe, producing the kings David and Solomon, and it
was prophesied that the messiah would come from among its members. After the 10
northern tribes were dispersed by the Assyrian conquest of 721 BC, the tribes of
Judah and Benjamin were left as the sole inheritors of the Mosaic covenant.
Judah flourished until 586 BC, when it was overrun by the Babylonians and many
of its people were carried into exile. Cyrus the Great allowed them to return in
538 BC, and the Temple of Jerusalem was rebuilt. The history of Judah from that
time forward is the history of the Jews and Judaism. The kingdom of Judah was
succeeded by Judaea.

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