Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 15:42-44
‘ Libnah, and Ether, and Ashan. And Iphtah, and Ashnah, and Nezib, and Keilah, and Achzib, and Mareshah. Nine cities with their villages.’ These are not all specifically identifiable to a particular area but are related to the Shephelah. The site of Libnah, a royal city, has not been satisfactorily identified. Its position is generally indicated by the order of events in Joshua 10:28-37. Ether and Ashan also appear in Joshua 19:7 as Simeonite cities ‘with their villages’, shared with Judah,... read more
G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible - Joshua 15:1-63
In the settlement of the nine and a half tribes, Judah was the first dealt with as being the imperial and kingly tribe. The position allocated to it was the fighting front. It was touched by enemies on three sides; on the east, Moab; on the west, the Philistines; on the south, Edom. Away to the southwest were the Amalekites. The tribe whose standard was that of the kingly line, and from which that line presently was to spring, was to have its fiber toughened by the sternest... read more