Judaea

[JUDEA]

Judae’a. Judae’a or Jude’a See Judea.

Judæa (ju-dç’ah), or Judea, Province of. A name applied to that part of Canaan occupied by those who returned after the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities, The word first occurs, Dan 6:13 (A. V. "Jewry"), and the first mention of the "province of Judæa" (R. V. "Judah") is in Ezr 5:8; it is alluded to in Neh 11:3(A. V. "Judah"); in the Apocrypha the word "province" is dropped, and throughout it and in the New Testament the expressions are the "land of Judæa" and "Judæa." In a wider and more improper sense "Judæa" was sometimes applied to the whole country of the Canaanites, its ancient inhabitants, and even in the gospels we read of the coasts of Judæa "beyond Jordan." Mat 19:1; Mar 10:1. Judæa was strictly the southern district, west of the Jordan, and south of Samaria. It was made a portion of the Roman province of Syria after Archelaus was deposed, a.d. 6, and was governed by a procurator, who was subject to the governor of Syria. See Canaan, Palestine, and Judah.

JUDaeA.—1. In its earlier signification the term ‘Judaea’ (Ἰουδαία) was applied to a limited district, of which Jerusalem was the centre, occupied by the captives who returned from Babylon after the decree of Cyrus. The scattered remnants of the Israelites who availed themselves of this opportunity, representing most, if not all, of the several tribes, joined forces with the men of Judah in rebuilding the Temple and its defences; and from this date, except on the lists of the genealogical and tribal records, they were not distinguished from them. Hence the tribe of Judah, which, according to Josephus, arrived first in those parts, gave name both to the inhabitants and the territory, the former being designated as Jews and the latter as ‘Judaea’ or ‘Jewry’ (Ant. xi. v. 7). At a later date both names were used in a wider sense, including all the Israelites who returned, and also their settlements or possessions in other sections of the land. Under Persian rule the land of Judah was designated as a province of the Empire, and was administered by a governor, who resided at Jerusalem (Ezr 5:8; Ezr 5:14, Neh 11:3, Hag 1:1; Hag 1:14). During the period of the Roman occupation the term was sometimes used as a general expression for Palestine as a whole (BJ i. viii. 2; Strabo, xvi. 2. 21; Tacitus, Hist. v. 6; Luk 1:5, Act 28:21), also to include a portion, apparently, of the trans-Jordanic country (Ant. xii. iv. 11; Mat 19:1, Mar 10:1; Ptol. v. 16. 9). Apart from this exceptional usage, the name ordinarily—as we find it in the NT and the writings of Josephus—is applied to the southernmost of the three districts—Galilee, Samaria, Judaea—into which Western Palestine was divided in the time of Christ. With some variations on the north and west borders at different periods, Judaea covered all of the territory south of the Wady Ishar and the village of Akrabbeh (PEFS^{t [Note: EFSt Quarterly Statement of the same.]} , 1881, p. 48), from the Mediterranean to the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea. According to Josephus, its limits extended from a village on the north called Annath, or Borkeos, identified with Aina Berkit, to Iardas (possibly Tell Arad), on the edge of the desert, to the south. Its breadth he defines, in general terms, as extending from the river Jordan to Joppa (BJ iii. iii. 5). In other words, its area practically corresponded with the area of the kingdom of Judah in the period of its greatest enlargement. As thus defined it included the tribal possessions of Simeon, Judah, Benjamin, Dan, and, to some extent at least, of Ephraim.

A distinction should be noted here between the use of the word Judaea to designate strictly Jewish territory, from which the outlying Hellenistic or Gentile towns were excluded, and the Roman usage of the word to designate a political division, which for administrative purposes included all the coast towns south of Mt. Carmel, the chief of which in the time of Christ was Caesarea, the residence of its Procurator. In the one case its northern limit was Antipatris, on the plain of Sharon; in the other it extended to Acre (Ptolemais) beyond Mt. Carmel. The S.E. portion of Judaea has sometimes been designated as a separate district under the name Idumaea, but this term properly describes a settlement of the Edomites in Judaea, and not a separate division of the country. Idumaea, according to Josephus, was one of the eleven toparchies into which Judaea proper was divided for administrative purposes under Roman rule (BJ iii. iii. 5). See Idumaea.

2. When our Lord was born, Judaea constituted a part of the dominion of Herod the Great, who accordingly is called by the Evangelists ‘king of Judaea’ (Luk 1:5, cf. Mat 2:1). After the death of Herod, the Roman emperor assumed the right to settle the dispute which had arisen among his sons concerning the division of the kingdom, and by his decree Judaea and Samaria were in the partition assigned to Archelaus. The sovereignty of Rome was more fully asserted also at this time in refusing to any of Herod’s sons the title ‘king.’ When by the same authority Archelaus was deposed (a.d. 6), the territory over which he held rule was attached to the province of Syria, and thus for the first time came under immediate Roman rule. From this date it was administered by a governor or procurator, who was chosen from the equestrian order. Following Archelaus the province was administered by five procurators during the life and ministry of Jesus, viz. Coponius (circa (about) a.d. 6–9), Marcus Ambivius (circa (about) 9–12), Annius Rufus (circa (about) 12–15), Valerius Gratus (15–25), Pontius Pilate (26–36). It was during Pilate’s rule that the word of God came to John the Baptist in the wilderness, and some years later this Roman procurator made his name for ever infamous by giving sentence that the Christ, whom he had openly declared to be innocent of crime, should be led away to be crucified.

3. The physical features of Judaea are sharply outlined and singularly diversified. Its distinctive characteristics fall naturally into five subdivisions, originally suggested by the OT writers, viz. the ‘Plain of the Coast,’ the ‘Shephelah’ or region of the low hills, the ‘Hill country,’ the ‘Negeb’ or dry country, and the ‘Wilderness.’

The Maritime Plain varies in width from 10 to 16 miles. It is for the most part flat or rolling, and rises gradually toward the base of the mountains. The upper portion (Sharon) is noted for its rich pasturage; the lower (Philistia) for its vast grain-fields, which have yielded enormous crops without the use of fertilizers, except such as nature has distributed over its surface from the wash and waste of the mountains, for forty centuries. The international highway which follows the line of the coast inside the region of the sand-dunes is one of the oldest caravan and military roads in the world. Most of the noted towns of the Plain are on or near this ancient highway. This section of Judaea has no associations with the life or ministry of Jesus, but in the Acts there are several references to visits which were made, or events which took place, in its towns, in connexion with the work of the Apostles or their associates (chs. 8–10 and 18–21).

The ‘Shephelah’ belongs to the plain rather than to the central ridge of the mountains, from which it is distinctly separated by a series of almost continuous breaks or depressions. It has been aptly described as ‘a loose gathering of chalk and limestone hills, round, bare, and featureless, but with an occasional bastion flung well out in front of them.’ There are several noted valleys, which begin their courses as wadis in the central range, and cut their way through the Shephelah to the plain. Each of these affords a passage-way into the heart of the mountain stronghold of Judaea, and each has its distinct characteristics and historical associations. Apostles and evangelists entered this region soon after the dispersion of the believers at Jerusalem, and in its limestone grottoes, in the days of the persecutions, multitudes of hunted and outlawed Christians found refuges and hiding-places (HGH^{L [Note: GHL Historical Geog. of Holy Land.]} , ch. 11.).

The ‘Hill country’ or highland region fills most of the space between the Jordan Valley and the sea, and gives character to the district as a whole. In its present condition it is the most rugged and desolate section of the Lebanon range. In former times its hillsides were terraced, and every available break in its table-lands was carefully cultivated; and yet in every period of its history it has been regarded as a rough, stony land, more suitable for pastoral than for agricultural pursuits. Its watershed is an irregular, undulating plateau, which varies in width from 12 to 18 miles. The general direction of the numerous ravines or torrent-beds which diversify, and in some sections deeply corrugate, its sides, is east and west. On the east side they are short, direct, and deeply cleft; on the west, comparatively long and shallow, reaching the coast often by circuitous routes. The highest elevation (3564 ft.) is er-Ramah, a short distance north of Hebron. The general average of the plateau on which Jerusalem is located is about 2500 ft. South of Hebron there is a gradual descent by steps or terraced slopes to the region which for many centuries has borne the distinctive name ‘Negeb’ or dry country.

The ‘Wilderness’ includes the whole of the eastern slope or declivity of the Judaean mountains. It is a barren, uncultivated region, unique in its setting, and notable above all other sections of the land for its desolation, its loneliness, and its scenes of wild and savage grandeur. The variation in levels from the edge of the plateau to the surface of the Dead Sea is but little short of 4000 ft., nearly one half of which is a precipitous descent from sea-level to the margin of the deeply depressed basin amid the silent hills. In this ‘land not inhabited’ John the Baptist sought seclusion while preparing for his ministry as the forerunner of the Messiah; and here the Holy One, concerning whom he bore record, abode ‘forty days tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him’ (Mat 3:1-6 || Luk 3:2, Mat 4:1-11 || Mar 1:12-13).

4. The sacred memories and thronging events which have been, and for ever shall be, associated with these holy hills cannot be fittingly expressed by voice or pen. In the long ages past the highways of this Judaean plateau have been trodden by the feet of patriarchs, prophets, priests, and kings, and for centuries its sanctuary on Mt. Zion was the dwelling-place of Jehovah; but, more than all else in its wonderful history, it was the place of the incarnation, the self-denying ministry, the agony, the death, the resurrection, and the ascension of the Son of God, the Saviour of the world.

Literature.—Stanley, S^{P [Note: P Sinai and Palestine.]} pp. 227–233; Conder, Pal^{. [Note: Palestine, Palestinian.]} ch. 1. p. 221; Schürer, HJ^{P [Note: JP History of the Jewish People.]} , index; G. A. Smith, HGH^{L [Note: GHL Historical Geog. of Holy Land.]} , chs. 12.–15.; Neubauer, Géog. du Talm. p. 52 ff.; PE^{F [Note: EF Palestine Exploration Fund.]} Memoirs, vol. iii.; C. W. Wilson in Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible , vol. ii. p. 791; Smith, D^{B [Note: Dictionary of the Bible.] 2 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred]} , vol. ii. p. 1488; Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible , art. ‘Palestine’; Baedeker, Pal^{. [Note: Palestine, Palestinian.]} and Syria, lvi.

Robert L. Stewart.

JUDÆA.—A name first appearing in Tob 1:18 as applied to the old kingdom of Judah (of which Judæa is merely the Græco-Roman equivalent),—as it was reoccupied after the Captivity by the returned descendants of subjects of the Southern Kingdom. Though sometimes (as in Luk 23:5, and more definitely in Act 10:37; Act 26:10) loosely employed to denote the whole of Western Palestine, the name was properly confined to the southernmost of the three districts into which the Roman province of Western Palestine was divided—the other two being Galilee and Samaria. It lay between Samaria on the north and the desert of Arabia Petræa on the south; but its exact boundaries cannot be stated more definitely. After the death of Herod, Archelaus became ethnarch of Judæa, and after his deposition it was added to the province of Syria, and governed by a procurator with his headquarters in Cæsarea.

It was in the wilderness of Judæa that John the Baptist came forward as the forerunner of Christ (Mat 3:1; cf. Mar 1:4; and Luk 3:2, ‘the wilderness’). It is probably the same as the ‘wilderness of Judah’ (Jdg 1:16, Psa 63:1 [title], the desert tract to the W. of the Dead Sea. R. A. S. Macalister.

jōō-dē´a, jū-dē´a (Ἰουδαία, Ioudaı́a): The “land of the Jews,” the Greco-Roman equivalent of Judah. As most of the Israelites returning from the captivity belonged to the tribe of Judah, they came to be called Jews and their land Judea. In Tobit 1:18 the name is applied to the old kingdom of Judah. For a general description of the physical geography and early history of this region see JUDAH. The limits of this district varied greatly, extending as the Jewish population increased, but in many periods with very indefinite boundaries.

Under the Persian empire, Judea (or Judah) was a district administered by a governor who, like Zerubbabel (Hag 1:14; Hag 2:2), was probably usually a Jew. Even as late as Judas Maccabeus, Hebron and its surroundings - the very heart of old Judah was under the domination of the Edomites, whom, however, Judas conquered (1 Macc 5:65); in the time of his brother Jonathan (145 BC), three tetrarchies of Samaria, Aphaerema, Lydda and Ramathaim, were added to Judea (1 Macc 10:30, 38; 11:34); in some passages it is referred to at this time as the “land of Judah” (Ἰούδα) (1 Macc 10:30, 33, 37). The land was then roughly limited by what may be called the “natural boundaries of Judah” (see JUDAH).

Strabo (xvi. 11, 21) extends the name Judea to include practically all Palestine; as does Lk (Luk 4:44 m; Luk 23:5; Act 2:9; Act 10:37, etc.). In several New Testament references (Mat 4:25; Mar 1:5; Mar 3:7; Luk 5:17; Joh 3:22; Act 1:8), Judea is contrasted with its capital Jerusalem. The country bordering on the shores of the Dead Sea for some miles inland was known as the Wilderness of Judea (see JUDAH; JESHIMON) (Mat 3:1), or “the wilderness” (Mar 1:4; Luk 3:2); here John the Baptist appeared as a preacher. According to Mat 19:1 (but compare Mar 10:1, where the Revised Version (British and American) has “Judaea and beyond Jordan”), some cities beyond Jordan belonged to Judea. That this was an actual fact we know from Ptolemy (Mar 10:16, Mar 10:9) and Josephus (Ant., XII, iv, 11).

According to Josephus (BJ, III, iii, 5), Judea extended from Anuath-Borkaeos (i.e. Khan Berkı̂t near Khan es Sâweh, close to the most northerly frontier of Judah as described in JUDAH (which see)) to the village Jordan, possibly Tell ‛Arād, near Arabia in the South. Its breadth was from Joppa in the West to Jordan in the East. The seacoast also as far north as Ptolemais (‛Akka), except Jamnia, Joppa and (according to the Talm) Caesarea, belonged to this province.

After the death of Herod the Great, Archelaus received Judea, Samaria and Idumea as his ethnarchy, but on his deposition Judea was absorbed into the Roman province of Syria, the procurator of which lived at Caesarea.

Of later history it is only necessary to notice that in the 5th century Judea became part of the land known as Palaestina Prima; that at the time of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem (12th century) all the hill country of Judah from Sinjil to Tekoa was the royal domain, while the southern section to Beersheba belonged to the Seigneur de Abraham (i.e. of Hebron); and lastly that a district, the rough equivalent of the kingdom of Judah, though larger, and of the Judea described by Josephus (BJ, III, iii, 5), though slightly smaller, forms today the Mutaserraflic of el Kuds, an administrative area where more than in any spot in the world the problem of the “land of the Jews” is today increasingly acute.

(Ἰïõäáßá, used by the Septuagint in later books of the OT [Ezr., Neh., Dan.] instead of Ἰïýäá, as the translation of éְäåּãָä or éְäåּã)

Judaea , the Graecized form of ‘Judah,’ was the most southern of the three districts into which Palestine was divided in the Greek and Roman periods, the other two being Samaria and Galilee. The territory occupied by the Jews who returned from Babylon was at first smaller than the ancestral kingdom of Judah, but it was gradually enlarged, e.g. by the Maccabaean capture of Hebron from the Edomites (1Ma_5:65), and the cession by Demetrius, king of Syria, of the Samaritan toparchies of Aphaerema, Lydda, and Ramathaim (11:34). According to Josephus (Bellum Judaicum (Josephus) iii. iii. 5), Judaea extended from Anuath-Borkaeos in the north (identified with ‘Aina-Berkît in PEFSt [Note: EFSt Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement.] , 1881, p. 48) to the village of Jordas (perhaps Tell ‘Arâd) on the confines of Arabia in the south, and from Jordan in the east to Joppa in the west. The sea-coast far as Ptolemais, with the coast towns, also belonged to Judaea .

Josephus (loc. cit.) states that the country was divided into eleven toparchies (ôïðáñ÷ßáé or êëçñïõ÷ßáé), all west of Jordan: Jerusalem, Gophna, Akrabatta, Thamna, Lydda, Emmaus, Pella, Idumea, Engaddi, Herodium, and Jericho. Pliny (Historia Naturalis (Pliny) v. xiv. 70) gives a list which contains the seven names given here in italics, along with Jopica, Betholeptephene, and Orine. Schürer (History of the Jewish People (Eng. tr. of GJV).] ii. i. [1885] 157) thinks ‘we may obtain a correct list if we adopt that of Josephus and substitute Bethleptepha for Pella.’ The division was no doubt made for administrative purposes, and especially for the collection of revenue.

Judaea proper was a small country, its whole area not being more than 2,000 sq. miles. Apart from the Shephçlah and the Maritime Plain, it was a plateau of only 1,350 sq. miles. But the term was often loosely employed in a more comprehensive sense. Tacitus says that ‘eastward the country is bounded by Arabia; to the south lies Egypt; and on the west are Phœnicia and the Mediterranean; northward it commands an extensive prospect over Syria’ (Hist. v. vi.). Strabo very vaguely describes Judaea as being ‘situated above Phœnicia, in the interior between Gaza and Antilibanus, and extending to the Arabians’ (xvi. ii. 21). Herod the Great, who was called the king of Judaea , certainly had a territory much wider than Judaea proper. Ptolemy states that there were districts of Judaea beyond Jordan (v. xvi. 9), and it is difficult to obtain any other meaning from ‘the borders of Judaea beyond Jordan’ in Mat_19:1, though A. B. Bruce thinks ‘it is not likely that the writer would describe Southern Peraea as a part of Judaea ’ (Expositor’s Greek Testament , ‘The Synoptic Gospels,’ 1897, p. 244). There can be no doubt that St. Luke often extends the term Judaea to the whole of Palestine west of the Jordan (Luk_4:44 [?] 23:5, Act_2:9; Act_10:37; Act_26:20).

After the death of Herod, his son Archelaus became ethnarch of Judaea . He was never really its king, though royalty is implicitly ascribed to him in the âáóéëåýåé of Mat_2:23, and explicitly in Josephus (Ant. xviii. iv. 3). He was soon deposed, and from a.d. 6 till the overthrow of the State in 70 Judaea was under procurators, except during the brief reign of Agrippa I. (41-44). The procurators resided in Caesarea (Ant. xvii. xiii. 5; xviii. i. 1, ii. 1).

‘The statement of Josephus that Judaea was attached to the province of Syria and placed under its governor (Ant. xvii. xiii. 5; xviii. i. 1, iv. 6) appears to be incorrect; on the contrary, Judaea probably formed thenceforth a procuratorial province of itself’ (T. Mommsen, The Provinces of the Roman Empire2, Eng. translation , 1909, ii. 185 n. [Note: . note.] ; cf. Schürer, i. ii. 42f.). The governor was a man of equestrian rank, so that Judaea belonged to the third class of imperial provinces mentioned by Strabo (xvii. iii. 25). The usual designation for such a governor-ἐðßôñïðïò-occurs frequently in Josephus, though he occasionally uses ἔðáñ÷ïò or ἡãåìþí. The last term, which is equivalent to praeses, is the one most often employed in the NT.

It was usual to speak of Jerusalem and Judaea , instead of ‘and the rest of Judaea ’ (Mat_4:25, Mar_1:5, Act_1:8, etc.). The Talmud explains this practice by saying that the holy city formed a division by itself (A. Neubauer, La Géogr. du Talmud, 1868, p. 56). The occurrence of Judaea between Mesopotamia and Cappadocia in Act_2:9 is very peculiar. Jerome reads Syria instead; Tertullian suggests Armenia (e. Jud. vii.); and Bithynia, Idumea, and India have also been proposed (Expositor’s Greek Testament in loco). When Palestine wan divided into First, Second, and Third (Code of Theodosius, a.d. 409), Palestina Prima comprehended the old districts of Judaea and Samaria; and this division is still observed in the ecclesiastical documents of the Eastern Church.

James Strahan.