Yehuda grew up with his brothers, working in the family business as a cattle and sheep herder. In time, he and his brothers became jealous and envious of their younger brother Joseph. Hatred intensified to the point where his brothers wanted to kill Joseph, but Reuben, the eldest, stepped in to stop them. Joseph was thrown into a pit and, while Reuben was away, it was Judah's idea to sell Joseph to Midianite merchants for 20 shekels of silver. We may speculate that it was Yehuda's suggestion that led to the enslavement of his descendants.

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in the The Testament of Judah (a document classified as apocryphal) it is written that, in his youth, he showed irreproachable obedience to his father Jacob and unfailing respect for his mother. Moreover, he was endowed with impressive strength and fought fiercely against the Canaanites, enemies of ELOHIM.

Later, however, he lacked wisdom by having sexual relations with Shua the Canaanite (Middle Eastern woman) under the influence of alcohol, and he was compelled to marry her, even though he had been formally forbidden to do so. He married the Canaanite woman and had three sons with her: Er, Onan and Shelah. He gave his eldest son Er a wife, whose name was Tamar. When Er died, Tamar became Onan's wife. However, ELOHIM had put Er and Onan to death because they only had sodomite intercourse with Tamar, so as to prevent her from becoming pregnant. As a result, Tamar remained a virgin after the death of the two brothers.

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After Shua's death, Judah acted shamefully when, under the influence of alcohol, he mistook Tamar, his daughter-in-law, for a prostitute, had sexual relations with her and impregnated her, for which he repented at length. According to the texts, one day, having learned that her father-in-law was going to shear his sheep, Tamar took off her widow's clothes and dressed as a prostitute went to sit by the side of the road that Judah was taking. The latter did not recognise her because of his alcohol, and made advances towards her. She demanded his staff, belt and royal headband as collateral, and they became intimate. When it was discovered that Tamar was pregnant, Judah threatened to kill her. In order to save her life, she presented the items belonging to Judah and said: ‘I am pregnant by the man to whom they belong’ (Genesis 38:18, 24-26). The Twins she bore were Zerah and Phares, from whom descended King David, ancestor of Joseph, the legal father of Jesus Christ. ​

• Hebrews 7:14 "For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood."

• Revelations 5:5 "Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

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The Bible doesn't say why the royal scepter was bestowed on Yehuda, or why divine kingship was to be born in his bloodline. But we can assume that his ability to take a leadership position over his older brothers predisposed him to kingship, notably when he opposed Joseph's murder, negotiated with his father Joseph's request to take Benjamin to Egypt, and pleaded with Joseph after the latter had concealed a silver cup in Benjamin's sack.

• Genesis 49:9-10 "Judah is a young lion—my son, you return from the prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him?. The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and the allegiance of the nations is his."

• Psalm 78:68 "But He chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loved."

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