Obadiah 1:19

they of the south lit. the south. This is the first of the three divisions of the tribe of Judah, in the original apportionment of the land by Joshua: "the tribe of the children of Judah, toward the coast of Edom southward" (i.e. in the direction of the "Negeb," or hot, dry country, which formed the southern frontier. Sinai and Palestine, pp. 159, 160). Joshua 15:21. The restored exiles of Judah shall not only possess again this their ancient domain; but whereas it was before "too much for them," so that "the children of Simeon had their inheritance within the inheritance of them" (Joshua 19:9), now they shall not only occupy it, but spreading still further southward shall "possess the mount of Esau."

they of the plain] Shepçlah: the low-land, R.V. This is the second of the original divisions of Judah. (Joshua 15:33, where the same Hebrew word is translated "valley.") It is the great maritime plain along the western coast of Palestine. See Sinai and Palestine, chap. VI. pp. 255, seq. This again was not only to be repossessed, but its ancient boundaries were to be overpassed, and the entire country of the Philistines, to the shores of the Mediterranean, was to be won for Judah.

and they shall possess The subject of this clause may of course be the two divisions of Judah, "they of the south," and "they of the plain," already mentioned. But it is much better to suppose that the prophet here refers to the remainder of the tribe, who are spoken of as "in the mountains" (Joshua 15:48). "And they (the tribe of Judah, i. e. the remaining portion of them) shall possess" the remaining portion of Palestine proper, the country of the ten tribes, "the field of Ephraim and the field of Samaria."

and Benjamin shall possess Gilead Judah having thus acquired the whole country on that side Jordan, Benjamin, the only other tribe now under consideration, takes possession of the territory which once belonged to the two tribes and a half on the other side.