John Gill

Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon—twenty-nine cities in all, along with their villages.

“And Lebaoth,.... Whether Lebaoth is the same with Bethlebaoth, given to the tribe of Simeon, Jos 19:6; is not certain: and Shilhim is nowhere else spoken of: and Ain seems to be the same with that in Num 34:11; also See Gill on Num 34:11.”

Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah, Zanoah, En-gannim, Tappuah, Enam,

“And Zanoah,.... The first of these, Jerom says (i), is in the borders of Eleutheropolis, as you go to Aelia (or Jerusalem); there is at this day a village called Zanua: and Engannim, which signifies a fountain of gardens, is now (according to the same…”

Shaaraim, Adithaim, and Gederah (or Gederothaim)—fourteen cities, along with their villages.

“And Sharaim,.... Sharaim seems to be the Saara of Jerom, which he describes as a village on the borders of Eleutheropolis, to the north as you go to Nicopolis (or Emmaus), about ten miles from it in the tribe of Dan or Judah (o); there…”

Dilan, Mizpeh, Joktheel,

“And Dilean,.... Of the first of these nothing is to be said: and Mizpeh, of which name there were cities in other tribes; this in the tribe of Judah was in the times of Jerom (w) called Mapha, on the borders of Eleutheropolis to the…”

Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon,

“Lachish,.... Lachish and Eglon were royal cities, of which see Jos 10:3, and Bozkath, is called Boscath, of which place was the mother of King Josiah, 2Ki 21:1; some take it to be the same with Bascana, as in the Apocrypha:"And when he came near…”

Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib,

“And Jiphtah,.... Jiphtah is nowhere else mentioned: and Ashnah; there was another Ashnah of this tribe, and which was in the vale also, met with already in Jos 15:33, and Nezib was in Jerom's (a) times called Nasib, seven miles from Eleutheropolis, as you go…”

Ekron, with its towns and villages;

“Ekron, with her towns and her villages. One of the five principalities of the Philistines, which with two more next mentioned, though they fell to the lot of the tribe of Judah, were never possessed by them; for which reason perhaps Gath and Ascalon are…”

from Ekron to the sea, all the cities near Ashdod, along with their villages;

“From Ekron even unto the sea,.... The Mediterranean sea, or the west, as the Targum: all that lay near Ashdod, with their villages; this is the Azotus of the New Testament, Act 8:40, another of the principalities of the Philistines, of which and Ekron See…”

Shamir, Jattir, Socoh, Dannah, Kiriath-sannah (that is, Debir),

“And Dannah,.... Dannah is not mentioned elsewhere: and Kirjathsannah, which is Debir; Kirjathsannah had three names, this and Debir, and Kirjathsepher; See Gill on Jos 15:15; all which are of much the same signification; for "Sanna" with the Arabs (f), and so with the Phoenicians…”

Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim,

“And Anab,.... Of Anab; see Gill on Jos 11:21, and Eshtemoh Jerom calls (h) Astemech, a village in the tribe of Judah, and belongs to the Jews in Daroma, and is to the north of a place called Anem, perhaps the same with Anim here…”

Goshen, Holon, and Giloh—eleven cities, along with their villages.

“And Goshen,.... Of Goshen in the land of Canaan; see Gill on Jos 10:41, and Holon, of which there is no other mention: and Giloh was the city of Ahitophel, 2Sa 15:12, eleven cities with their villages; the number agrees; this is the first division…”

Arab, Dumah, Eshan,

“Arab,.... Arab is the same Jerom (i) calls Ereb, and was in his time a village in the south, and was called Heromith: and Dumah; Duma, Jerom says (k), was a large village in the south, also on the borders of Eleutheropolis, seventeen miles from…”

Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah,

“And Jezreel,.... This Jezreel in the tribe of Judah is different from that which was once a royal seat of some of the kings of Israel, and from whence the famous valley of Jezreel or Esdraelon had its name: of this we have no other…”

Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah—ten cities, along with their villages.

“Cain,.... Cain, or Hakain, "that Cain", we nowhere else read of; whether the name was given it by the old Canaanites, in memory of Cain, the son of Adam, is not certain: Gibeah; there were other places that went by the name of Gibeah; there…”

These were in the wilderness:

“In the wilderness,.... The wilderness of Judea, which was not a desert and uninhabited but had many cities and villages in it, those that follow: Betharabah; the first of these seems to be in the borders of Judah and Benjamin, and so is ascribed to…”

This was the territory of the descendants of Ephraim by their clans: The border of their inheritance went from Ataroth-addar in the east to Upper Beth-horon

“And the border of the children of Ephraim, according to their families, was thus,.... Or what follows is the description of it: even the border of their inheritance on the east side was Atarothaddar, unto Bethhoron the upper; the first was on the south of…”

But Zelophehad son of Hepher (the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh) had no sons but only daughters.

“But Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, but daughters,....”

because the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance among his sons. And the land of Gilead belonged to the rest of the sons of Manasseh.

“Because the daughters of Manasseh had an inheritance among his sons,.... Which occasioned such a number of portions; the daughters of Zelophehad are meant, who descended from Manasseh: and the rest of Manasseh, some had the land of Gilead; that is, those besides the six…”

The region of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but Tappuah itself, on the border of Manasseh, belonged to Ephraim.

“Now Manasseh had the land of Tappuah,.... The whole territory that went by that name, from a city of note in it, next mentioned; all the fields and villages in it belonged to the tribe of Manasseh: but Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged…”

there were still seven tribes of Israel who had not yet received their inheritance.

“And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes,.... Which were those of Benjamin, Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan: which had not yet received their inheritance; and for which the lots were not cast.”

The first lot came up for the clans of the tribe of Benjamin. Their allotted territory lay between the tribes of Judah and Joseph:

“And the lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up according to their families,.... This was the first lot of the seven that came up; it was but a small lot, and therefore called "little Benjamin", Psa 68:27; but the land was…”

On the west side the border curved southward from the hill facing Beth-horon on the south and came out at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city of the sons of…

“And the border was drawn thence,.... From Bethhoron: and compassed the corner of the sea southward; it is hard to say what sea is meant, or what by it.”

Then it went down to the foot of the hill that faces the Valley of Hinnom at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim and ran down the Valley…

“And the border came down,.... In the description of the border of Judah, hereabout, it is said to go up, Jos 15:5; because there, as Jarchi observes, the measure was from east to west, but here from west to east: to the end of the…”

From there it curved northward and proceeded to En-shemesh and on to Geliloth facing the Ascent of Adummim, and continued down to the Stone of Bohan son of Reuben.

“And was drawn from the north,.... Turning northward, and looking that way from the west to the east: and went forth to Enshemesh; or the fountain of the sun, see Jos 15:7, and went forth toward Geliloth; called Gilgal, Jos 15:7, which is over against…”

Then it went on to the northern slope of Beth-arabah and went down into the valley.

“And passed along toward the side over against Arabah northward,.... The same with Betharabah, Jos 15:6; and so it is called here in the Greek version: and went down unto Arabah; the same as before, and included it, for it is mentioned among the cities…”