[1] According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to Joshua, with additions by the high priests Eleazar and Phinehas,[2][3] but modern scholars view it as part of the Deuteronomistic History, which spans the books of Deuteronomy to 2 Kings, attributed to nationalistic and devotedly Yahwistic writers during the time of the reformer Judean king Josiah in the 7th century BCE.

[7] Extant ancient manuscripts of a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint (originally was made in the last few centuries BCE) include Codex Vaticanus (B;

[11] The allotment for the tribe of Dan stands apart from those of the preceding tribes, because here the Danites was originally allotted land in the south, to the west of Judah, running down to the Mediterranean Sea at Joppa (Tel-Aviv), and including certain Philistine territory (Ekron), with some of the place names here are also mentioned in the stories of Samson, a Danite judge, who clashed with the Philistines on the edges of the Shephelah (low hills) and their coastal areas (cf.

The Danites could never have had a strong foothold in this debatable region between the Philistines and Judah, so they finally settled in the extreme north — perhaps the reason for their inclusion here with the Galilean tribes.

The summary in 19:48 apparently refers to the places enumerated in the original territory (nothing in verse 47 would correspond to 'these towns with their villages'), so Dan's 'inheritance' was not actually 'inherited'.

The conclusion (19:51) returns to Shiloh and the tent of meeting, again emphasizing the place as the spiritual center of the land, representing God's hand in the distribution.