Joshua 18:5

5 They will divide the land into seven parts. The people of Judah will keep their land in the south, and the people of Joseph will keep their land in the north.

Joshua 18:5 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 18:5

And they shall divide it into seven parts
According to the number of the seven tribes not yet settled; and this they were to describe and divide was all the land subdued, or not subdued, only the following excepted:

Judah shall abide in their coast on the south;
on the south of the land of Canaan, where their lot fell, so that needed not to be measured and described; and this tribe was to retain what they were possessed of, unless it should appear they had too much, and others wanted, and they willing to part with some of it to their brethren, as they afterwards did to the tribes of Simeon and Dan:

and the house of Joseph shall abide in their coast on the north;
on the north of the tribe of Judah; not of the land of Canaan, for some other tribes lay more northerly.

Joshua 18:5 In-Context

3 So Joshua said to the Israelites: "Why do you wait so long to take your land? The Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given this land to you.

4 Choose three men from each tribe, and I will send them out to study the land. They will describe in writing the land their tribe wants as its share, and then they will come back to me.

5 They will divide the land into seven parts. The people of Judah will keep their land in the south, and the people of Joseph will keep their land in the north.

6 You should describe the seven parts of land in writing and bring what you have written to me. Then I will throw lots in the presence of the Lord our God.

7 But the Levites do not get any part of these lands, because they are priests, and their work is to serve the Lord. Gad, Reuben, and East Manasseh have received the land promised to them, which is east of the Jordan River. Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave it to them."