Charles Ellicott Commentary Joshua 15:21-32

"And the uttermost cities of the tribe of the children of Judah toward the border of Edom in the South were Kabzeel, and Eder, and Jagur, and Kinah, and Dimonah, and Adadah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Ithnan, Ziph, and Telem, and Bealoth, and Hazor-hadattah, and Kerioth-hezron (the same is Hazor), Amam, and Shema, and Moladah, and Hazar-gaddah, and Heshmon, and Beth-pelet, and Hazar-shual, and Beer-sheba, and Biziothiah, Baalah, and Iim, and Ezem, and Eltolad, and Chesil, and Hormah, and Ziklag, and Madmannah, and Sansannah, and Lebaoth, and Shilhim, and Ain, and Rimmon: all the cities are twenty and nine, with their villages." — Joshua 15:21-32 (ASV)

And the uttermost cities: The cities of the tribe of Judah are given under four headings:

• Towards Edom;
• In the Shephêlah, or plain of the coast (Joshua 15:33 and following);
• In the mountains (Joshua 15:48);
• In the wilderness (Joshua 15:61).

Of those in Joshua 15:21-32, the first twenty-nine, Conder identifies only four, namely: Adadah, Joshua 15:22 (Ad’adah) ; Kerioth Hezron (some see a trace of Kerioth in the epithet of Judas Is-cariot, the man of Kerioth), Joshua 15:25 (Hudîreh) ; Beer-sheba, Joshua 15:28 (Bîr es-seb’a) ; and Ain Rimmon, Joshua 15:32 (U mm er-Rumânûn) . It is not easy to say precisely how the twenty-nine are to be obtained from the thirty-three, but evidently some of the Hazors are villages attached to the cities.

Ziklag: It is noticeable that Ziklag became the property of the kings of Judah by the gift of Achish, who bestowed it on David (1 Samuel 27:6), not by the gift of Joshua to Judah. The partial character of the conquest and the division of unconquered territory to the tribes is thus illustrated.