1 Chronicles 2:3 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

The sons of Judah He puts Judah first, because the best part of the right of the firstborn, namely, the dominion, was conferred on him, Genesis 49:8; in consequence of which, his tribe obtained a pre- eminence among, and a kind of superiority over the rest, even before the time of David. And from David's time, it is without doubt, that till the Babylonish captivity a kingly power continued in this tribe; Zerubbabel, also, who was their leader, when they returned to their own land, was of the same tribe. The chief reason, however, why the genealogy of Judah is set down first, is because the Messiah was to descend from him.