Judges 1:14 - Printer Friendly

ESV: When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, "What do you want?"

NIV: One day when she came to Othniel, she urged him to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, "What can I do for you?"

NASB: Then it happened that when she came to him, she incited him to ask her father for a field. Then later, she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, 'What do you want?'

CSB: When she arrived, she persuaded Othniel to ask her father for a field. As she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, "What do you want?"

NLT: When Acsah married Othniel, she urged him to ask her father for a field. As she got down off her donkey, Caleb asked her, 'What’s the matter?'

KJV: And it came to pass, when she came to him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted from off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wilt thou?

NKJV: Now it happened, when she came to him, that she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you wish?”

Caleb has given his daughter Achsah to his nephew, Othniel, for a wife. Othniel was the champion who conquered Debir to win this marriage. The unusual arrangement has ensured that Caleb's daughter will have a bold and brave husband, like her father (Judges 1:11–13).

This verse might take place during the wedding celebration. Achsah is approaching Othniel on a donkey and seems to be urging him to take some action: She wants her new husband, in the context of the moment, to ask her father for a field as a kind of wedding gift. However, Othniel won't be given time to respond. Instead, Caleb notices that his daughter wants something and asks her about it while she is still dismounting from her donkey. All three of them are pictured as daring and quick to act, while also remaining respectful.

Judges 1:1–20 describes the campaign of the tribes of Judah and Simeon, to drive out or destroy all the Canaanites from their large territory in southern Israel. It begins with victories over Bezek and Jerusalem. The report rehearses the former victories by Caleb and his family in the hill country. The campaign continues into the desert wilderness of the Negeb, where a group of descendants of Moses' father-in-law settles. Judah dominates the hill country but doesn't entirely evict the wicked Canaanites because of their iron chariots.

Judges 1 summarizes the early efforts of the tribes of Israel to drive the Canaanites from the land or to destroy them entirely (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4). The process starts well with a string of successes by Judah and Simeon in the south. Then the news turns sour as one tribe after another is said to have failed to drive the Canaanites out of their allotted territories. Instead, they occupy certain territories, often allowing inhabitants of the land to live among them.

Judges 1 continues immediately from the death of Joshua (Joshua 24:29–30). It begins a new era for Israel, now referred to as the time of "the judges." In a series of reports, tribe by tribe, the narrator describes Israel's success or failure to drive the deeply wicked Canaanites (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4) from the land or to destroy them. Judah experiences much success, but it is unable to drive the inhabitants out of one region, at least. Every other tribe either fails utterly to remove the Canaanites, or only gradually grows strong enough to capture the territory.

The Book of Judges describes Israel's history from the death of Joshua to shortly before Israel's first king, Saul. Israel fails to complete God's command to purge the wicked Canaanites from the land (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4). This results in a centuries-long cycle where Israel falls into sin and is oppressed by local enemies. After each oppression, God sends a civil-military leader, labeled using a Hebrew word loosely translated into English as "judge." These appointed rescuers would free Israel from enemy control and govern for a certain time. After each judge's death, the cycle of sin and oppression begins again. This continues until the people of Israel choose a king, during the ministry of the prophet-and-judge Samuel (1 Samuel 1—7).