The western border of the tribe of Reuben was the Jordan River and, of course, the Dead Sea. For families see comments on verse 15.

Although the first sentence of this verse is simple in Good News Translation, it may also be translated, “The tribe of Reuben had the Jordan River as its western border.” The Hebrew text does not include the adjective “western,” though it is redundant in other ways (see Revised Standard Version “And the border of the people of Reuben was the Jordan as a boundary”).

The Hebrew noun translated towns (Revised Standard Version “villages”) refers to a permanent settlement that is without walls. Cities and towns would probably have reference to the walled cities and the outlying towns or farms, and so the sentence may be rendered, “All these cities with their villages were given to the families of the tribe of Reuben. These cities and villages were to belong to them forever.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Newman, Barclay M. A Handbook on Joshua. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .