19:1–9 In ch. 19, Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan receive their territorial allotments. The last three verses of the chapter include a special inheritance for Joshua as well. See note on 18:1–10.

19:10–16 Zebulun is the first of the remaining small tribes to receive its inheritance. This section is essentially a standard boundary and city list. However, the information given is inconsistent. Verse 15 specifies that Zebulun received 12 cities. However, only five cities are named in v. 15. Some of the names may have been omitted by scribal error in the process of copying the biblical text.

19:17–23 Issachar was a small tribe whose inheritance was in the region later known as Galilee. Verse 22 states that Issachar had 16 cities; however, Tabor generally refers to a mountain, not a town, leaving the list at 15 cities. Arriving at 16 cities for this list then requires either dividing Shahazumah into two place names or adding Beeroth (included in the Greek Septuagint version of this list). The existence of a village named Tabor is still possible, especially since Tabor is listed as a Levitical city in 1 Chr 6:77 (though taken from the territory of Zebulun, not Issachar).

19:24–31 Unlike the preceding descriptions, Asher’s inheritance is not given as a city list. Instead, small clusters of cities appear. Counting the city names gives a total of 23; however, v. 30 indicates that Asher received 22.

19:32–39 Several cities enumerated in Naphtali’s allotment (vv. 35–38) have names identical to cities elsewhere. For example, Ramah (v. 36) is a town in the allotment of Asher (v. 29); Edrei (v. 37) is also a town in the Transjordan, a city of Og (13:12); and Kedesh (v. 37) appears in the allotment of Judah (15:23).

19:40–48 Dan is the last tribe to receive its inheritance. Dan was unable to conquer its allotted territory described here and eventually migrated north to an entirely different region (Judg 1:34; 18:1). The description includes note of this migration (Josh 19:47), indicating either that the verse is a later editorial note or that the book was written after this occurred. Dan was unique among the tribes of Israel in that it forsook the inheritance Yahweh gave them (compare 14:2 and note).