There are a number of comments that can be made on this allotment. Firstly, we should notice that it is described in a lot of detail and it is quite large. Normally, the size of the clan was meant to dictate the size of the territory (Numbers 33:54), but for Judah it seems as if they receive a territory much larger than what their numbers merited (see Joshua 19:9). The large territory and detailed description thus indicates the prominence which Judah enjoyed amongst the tribes.1 The list is also presented in a way that describes the boundary almost as if it is alive. The Hebrew word for boundary is used twenty-one times in these twelve verses.2 The description of the southern boundary also closely resembles that of Canaan as given in Numbers 34:4–6.3 Furthermore, one should also notice that Judah’s territory includes land which was possessed by the Philistines at the time (see Joshua 13:2–3; Joshua 15:45–47).4
1 The allotment for the tribe of the people of Judah according to their clans reached southward to the boundary of Edom, to the wilderness of Zin at the farthest south.