JUDEA jōō de’ ə (̓Ιουδαία, G2677). KJV JUDAEA (except in Ezra 5:8 where it has Judea for יְהוּדָ֑ה). The name for the southern division of Pal. after the end of the kingdom of Judah.
1. The name. Judea is the Graeco-Roman designation of an area earlier included in the former kingdom of Judah, and to which the Hebrews of the Babylonian captivity returned. Added to this is the fact that most of the returnees from the Exile were of the tribe of Judah. The name is used first in Tobit 1:18 where it is used of the Davidic kingdom of Judah. The name is sometimes used freely to designate western Pal. (Luke 23:5; Acts 10:37). Used strictly, it specified the southernmost of the three traditional divisions of ancient Pal. The other two were Samaria (in the center) and Galilee (in the N).
2. The nature of Judea’s territory. The geographical area of Judea seems to have varied somewhat in different periods. There was no clearly marked boundary to divide Judea from Samaria. The N—E line separating the two regions customarily was thought to run a little to the N or S of Bethel (the present site of Beitin). There is no valley or any sharp break in the terrain to separate the two areas, since the hill country of southern Samaria levels to a plateau. The line of this northern boundary of Judea extended approximately from a little N of Joppa to the Jordan River at a point about thirteen m. N of the Dead Sea.
The S boundary of Judea was even more nebulous than the N boundary. Beersheba was considered to be at the southern limit of Judea, as it was the traditional southern boundary of Israel as a people (Judg 20:1). Beyond that point, to the S was the dry Negev wilderness that without irrigation could support little life. The western boundary of Judea was the Mediterranean Sea from a little below Gaza northward to Joppa. The eastern boundary was the Dead Sea from about Masada northward to the southern reaches of the Jordan River and a little N of Jerusalem. Thus Judea resembled a square of about forty-five m. on each side.
The heart of Judea was the upper hill country, a plateau extending from Bethel to Beersheba and including Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Hebron. Near Jerusalem the plateau rises to an altitude of 2,693 ft. and at Hebron, to 3,346 ft. This was the center of the life of the people of this area from the earliest times. The plateau gently slopes downward to the W through the Shephelah to the maritime plane and finally the Mediterranean. Clouds moving eastward in from the sea supplied rainfall sufficient to sustain the farming and pastoral life of the people. It is estimated that c. 200,000 Jews lived in Judea, half of whom were in Jerusalem.
Eastward from the plateau, the terrain slopes rapidly down toward the Dead Sea and the Jordan River. This eastern area is known as the Wilderness of Judea because the rain clouds empty their moisture on the plateau and its western slope, leaving little for the eastern section of the country. It was in the Wilderness of Judea that John the Baptist appeared as the forerunner of Christ (Matt 3:1; cf. Mark 1:4; Luke 3:2). The most important city in this eastern area was Jericho. There was also Masada, the site of Herod the Great’s fortress, where the Jews made a heroic last defense in a.d. 73 against the Romans who had destroyed Jerusalem three years before. There is also En-gedi, an oasis of fresh-water springs, and Qumran, the center of the discoveries of the DSS.
Judea depended upon the natural resources of her territory for some of her wealth. Grain was grown in the valleys, and grapes, figs, olives, and citrus fruits were an important part of the annual crop. The importance of the pastoral life in Judea is reflected everywhere in the Bible. From the Dead Sea came salt, potash, and other minerals. Perhaps the most important source of income for Judea was due to the location of the Temple in Jerusalem. The annual half-shekel tax paid by all adult male Jews, even those of the Diaspora, brought large regular sums to Jerusalem. Added to this were the pilgrims who contributed to the income of the government. Contributing also to the influence of Judea was the Sanhedrin, which sat in Jerusalem. It ruled over all Judea. but its influence was also felt in areas of Pal. outside of Judea.
It should be noted that along the Mediterranean coast, and within Judea’s territory, was Philistia with its powerful cities. Among these were Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, Ashdod, and Gath. These cities were a constant source of difficulty for Judea, and even during the Rom. domination of Judea, much of the maritime plane was governed separately from Judea proper by the Romans. In this area also was Jabneel, later called Jamnia, the center of important rabbinical activity after the fall of Jerusalem in a.d. 70.
3. History of Judea. The history of Judea may be said to begin when Cyrus, the first Pers. emperor, gave the captive Hebrews permission to return to their native land to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple. Later, after the fragmentation of the empire of Alexander the Great, Pal. was eventually ruled by the Seleucids. The attempt of the Seleucids to destroy the religion of the Jews was thwarted by the courage of the Hasmoneans, which initiated events leading to a short period of Jewish independence. Palestine came under Rom. control in 63 b.c., and Antipater, called Procurator of Judea, was its nominal ruler under Julius Caesar in 47-43 b.c. Herod the Great who rebuilt the Temple, was king of all Pal. from 40 b.c. to 4 b.c. His son Herod Archelaus ruled Pal. from 4 b.c. to a.d. 6. He was deposed by the Romans, who then appointed a series of Rom. governors who ruled Judea, Samaria, and Idumaea from a.d. 6 to a.d. 41. The most familiar of these is Pontius Pilate (a.d. 26-36), under whom Jesus was crucified. Herod Agrippa I, grandson of Herod the Great, was king of all Pal. from a.d. 41 to a.d. 44, after which Rom. governors again ruled Judea and the surrounding areas until the Jewish rebellion of a.d. 66-73. The Romans destroyed Jerusalem in a.d. 70, and in a.d. 135 crushed another Jewish revolt. Jerusalem was soon rebuilt, under the Rom. emperor Hadrian, and called Aelia Capitolina, but Jews were forbidden to live there.
It is notable that in the following period in Judea, many Christian churches were built, not only in Jerusalem and Bethlehem but also in various Christian settlements, e.g., Eleutheropolis (Beit Jibrin) and at Messana (’Auja el-Hafir). Constantine the Great reorganized the area and called Judea and Samaria by the name of Palestina Prima. The Moslems took Judea in 637 and held it (except for the Crusader kingdom from 1099 to 1187) until it was made part of the British mandate of Pal. after World War I. Judea was partitioned between Israel and the Hashemite kingdom of the Jordan in 1948 by the United Nations, after the 1947-1948 war between the Jews and the Arabs. As a result of the Six Day War of June, 1967, the whole of Judea is again in the control of the Jews.
Bibliography G. A. Smith, Historical Geography of the Holy Land (1931), 237-315; H. Daniel-Rops, Israel and the Ancient World (1964), 279-358.