Judea
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Josh 15:1 and elsewhere) - the word is sometimes used in the broadest sense for all Palestine, especially after the Jews returned from captivity; properly, however, Judea means only the southern part of Palestine. About the time of Jesus Christ, the Promised Land was divided into four principal regions: Judea, Samaria, Galilee, and Perea beyond the Jordan. Judea proper included the territories of Judah, Benjamin, Simeon, Dan, and part of Ephraim. Its boundaries were the mountains of Ephraim and Samaria on the north, Arabia and the wilderness of Zin, Wadi Murreh, on the south, the Mediterranean Sea on the west, and the Dead Sea and Jordan River on the east. According to Josephus, it also included the western coastal lands as far as Ptolemais. See Palestine for further details.