And the uttermost cities of the tribe of the children of Judah toward the coast of Edom southward were Kabzeel, and Eder, and Jagur,
There is given a list of cities within the tribal territory of Judah, arranged in four divisions, corresponding to the districts of which it consisted:-the cities х banegeb (H5045)] in the southern part - i:e., in the Negeb; those in the low land х bashªpeelaah (H8219)], in the plain of Philistia; those in the high land х baahaar (H2022)]; and those in the desert х bamidbaar (H4057)]. The best idea of the relative situation of these cities will be obtained from looking at the map.
The uttermost cities of the tribe of the children of Judah toward the coast of Edom southward, х banegebaah (H5045)] - in the Negeb [Septuagint, epi tees ereemou, so that "the uttermost cities" were those situated in the most southerly portion of Judah's inheritance, where the extremity touches upon that of Idumea. The catalogue of those cities extends to the close of Joshua 15:32, where they are stated to be twenty-nine in number; whereas, according as they stand in the present text, they amount to thirty. Various methods have been suggested for removing the discrepancy. The general opinion both of Jewish and Christian writers is that nine cities originally included in the portion of Judah, but afterward given to Simeon, are left out in the collective enumeration (see Patrick's 'Commentary'). Some think that the summation given in the text comprised only cities, while villages were omitted; and others, regarding the text as corrupt, adopt the reading in the Syriac version, which has 36, instead of 29. It is believed by learned and sober-minded critics of the present day that the Hebrew text, carefully examined, gives no more than 29, as will be shown in the sequel (see this subject fully discussed, Reland's 'Palaestina,' pp. 143, 144).
(1) Kabzeel, х Qabtsª'eel (H6909)] - or Jekabzeel (Nehemiah 11:25); gathering of God - i:e., the affix el being intensive, a mighty gathering. Since the enumeration of the cities would naturally be made according the order adopted in tracing the boundaries, which was begun at the southern point, where Palestine reaches the southern point of the Dead Sea, on the northwestern grainer of Idumea, Kabzeel may probably be looked for in that quarter; and there is direct evidence that it stood there (2 Samuel 23:20; 1 Chronicles 11:22). Its site is generally regarded by Biblical geographers as unknown. But Wilton ('Negeb,' p. 70) considers it identified with a place in Wady el-Kuseib; and [taking the final ha- from banegeb (H5045), where it is useless, to be a prefix to ha-Qabtsª'eel, the mighty gathering] he considers that this name meets the conditions of the place, which was an immense accumulation of waters, el-Kuseib being 'the deep, broad wady issuing from the south upon the Ghor, and, in fact, the vast drain of all the Arabah' (Robinson's 'Biblical Researches, 2:, p. 497). [The Septuagint has: kai baiseleeel , and other varieties, 2 Samuel 23:20; 1 Chronicles 11:22.]
(2) Eder, х wª-`Eeder (H5740), from [deerer, a flock] - probably the same as the Edar where Jacob encamped (see the note at Genesis 35:21). [Septuagint, kai Ara. Hence, Wilton concludes that the Hebrew text originally read 'ªraad, a place of importance in the Negeb (Joshua 12:14; Numbers 21:1; Numbers 33:40), the name of which is still preserved in Tell 'Arad, a high, barren-looking eminence 20 miles south of Hebron (Robinson's 'Biblical Researches,' 2:, pp. 473, 622).]
(3) Jagur, х wª-Yaaguwr (H3017)] - lodging-place. [The Septuagint has: kai Asoor, which, it has been ingeniously conjectured by Wilton, implies that the Hebrew text originally had chatseer, a pastoral village, an encampment of nomadic tribes; and that this word was prefixed to Kinah, as Hazor-kinah, a settlement of the pastoral Kenites, who, we are informed (Judges 1:16: cf. Joshua 4:11; Exodus 3:1), dwelt in the neighbourhood of 'Arad, and which settlement is identified with el-Hudairah; Hudry being applied to the Arabs who live in villages enclosed by a wall - i:e., 'the houses are contiguous, so as to present by their junction a defense against the Arab robbers; and the entrance into the villages is through a strong wooden gate, which is carefully secured every evening' (Burckhardt, 'Syria,' p. 212).] 'The Kenites being a nomadic people, we can well understand the employment of the appellative Hazor in combination with their name; nor shall we be far wrong if we identify Hazor-kinah with the ruined site el-Hudhairah, and that again with "the main encampment" of the Jehalin, about three miles eastnortheast of Tell 'Arad' ('Negeb,' p. 76).