יהושע, פרק ט״ו, פסוק כ״א

The division of the land among the tribes involves precise geographical mapping. The detailing of the southern border of the tribe of Judah, which touches the territory of Edom, is not merely a random cluster of settlements. Instead, it draws a clear strategic boundary line. The focus is specifically on the southern edge of Judah's territory near Edom [מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. The primary approach among commentators is that Joshua did not list every single city within the tribe's land. Rather, he recorded only the cities positioned at the very edges, which served to define the exact borders of the inheritance.

A numerical puzzle arises regarding the total count of these border cities. The final summary totals the cities at twenty-nine, yet thirty-eight distinct settlements are actually named in the list. To resolve this gap, two explanations are offered [אברבנאל]. One approach suggests that nine of the mentioned cities were eventually transferred to the tribe of Simeon, and were therefore subtracted from Judah's final tally. An alternative view proposes that the list truly contains only twenty-nine actual cities. The remaining nine locations were simply unwalled towns and open settlements that functioned as adjacent courtyards to the main cities, meaning they were not counted as independent cities in the final total.