Eusebius of Caesarea

In his own words on Judges

• Judges 1:1-2

  And in the Book of Joshua, son of Nave, when the land of promise was divided by lot among the other tribes, the tribe of Judah took its own portion of the land without casting lots, and first of all. And, moreover, "After the death of Joshua the children of Israel inquired of the Lord, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanite, leading our fighting against him? And the Lord said, Judah shall go up. Behold, I have given the land into his hands." These words, then, make it clear that God ordained the tribe of Judah to be the head of all Israel, and the account goes on: "And Judah went up, and the Lord delivered the Canaanite and Perizzite into his hand." And also: "And the children of Judah fought against Jerusalem and took it, and the sons of Judah came down from fighting against the Canaanite." And again: "And Judah went up with Symeon, his brother." And then: "And the Lord was with Judah, and gave him the Mount as his portion." And after this: "And the sons of Joseph went up, they also who were in Bethel, and Judah with them." And in the Book of Judges, when different men at different times were at the head of the people, though individually the Judges were of different tribes, yet speaking generally the tribe of Judah was head of the whole people, and much more so in the times of David and his successors, who belonged to the tribe of Judah, and continued to rule until the Babylonian Captivity, after which the leader of those who returned from Babylon to their own land was Zerubbabel, the son of Salathiel, of the tribe of Judah, who also built the Temple. Hence, too, the Book of Chronicles, when giving the genealogies of the twelve tribes of Israel, begins with Judah. And you will see it follows from this that, in the days that succeeded, the same tribe had the headship, although different individuals had temporary leadership, whose tribes it is impossible to decide with accuracy, because there is no sacred book handed down to give the history of the period from then to the time of our Saviour.

  THE PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 8.1