Following the division of humanity at the Tower of Babel, the descendants of Joktan spread out to establish new communities. Their territory traces a map of ancient civilization across the southern reaches of the Arabian Peninsula [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. The space they inhabited was not a single, stationary location, but a broad region where these tribes moved, wandered, and eventually laid down roots [רד״ק, קאסוטו].
The extreme endpoints of their wandering stretched between two distant borders, Mesha and Sefar. While the exact modern locations of these ancient sites remain a mystery [קאסוטו], there are different perspectives on how to map this territory. One approach suggests the borders are drawn from east to west, placing Mesha in the east near the Euphrates River and Sefar—a name signifying a boundary—at the western edge of Arabia near the Red Sea [שד״ל]. Conversely, another perspective reverses this direction, viewing Mesha as the westernmost point, possibly near the Red Sea or the area of Mecca [רד״ק, קאסוטו], while Sefar lies in the eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula [קאסוטו].
This territory is further defined by its connection to the eastern mountain. In biblical geography, lands located east of the land of Israel are generally referred to as the east [ביאור יש״ר, קאסוטו]. The mention of a mountain does not point to a single, isolated peak, but rather describes a rugged, mountainous landscape. This accurately reflects the terrain of most of the Arabian Peninsula where these tribes settled [שד״ל].
There are different ways to understand exactly how this mountainous region fits into the map of their borders. Some maintain that the primary home of these tribes was this very eastern mountainous land, which spanned the entire distance between Mesha and Sefar [שד״ל]. Others argue that the mountain is not a third, separate boundary point. Instead, it serves as a complementary description of Sefar itself, indicating that Sefar is either the eastern mountain or is situated directly within that eastern range [קאסוטו].