Judges 1:15 - Printer Friendly

ESV: She said to him, “Give me a blessing. Since you have set me in the land of the Negeb, give me also springs of water.” And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

NIV: She replied, 'Do me a special favor. Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me also springs of water.' So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.

NASB: She said to him, 'Give me a blessing: since you have given me the land of the Negev, give me springs of water also.' So Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

CSB: She answered him, "Give me a blessing. Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me springs also." So Caleb gave her both the upper and lower springs.

NLT: She said, 'Let me have another gift. You have already given me land in the Negev; now please give me springs of water, too.' So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.

KJV: And she said unto him, Give me a blessing: for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs.

NKJV: So she said to him, “Give me a blessing; since you have given me land in the South, give me also springs of water.” And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

Othniel is marrying Achsah, daughter of Caleb (Judges 1:11–14), as a reward for victory in the battle at Debir. As Achsah approaches Othniel on a donkey, she urges him to ask her father for a field, apparently as a kind of wedding present. Before Othniel can say anything, however, Caleb notices the exchange. He asks his daughter what she wants as she dismounts from the donkey.

Because her father asked, Achsah seems comfortable giving her request directly to him. She asks her father for a blessing. Since he has set her in the land of the Negeb, she asks for land with springs of water.

This request is both daring and savvy. Her question holds Caleb responsible for where she will live in the world; after all, he is the one who decided to marry her to Othniel, and he himself has settled in this place. The region around Hebron was not actually in the wilderness region of the Negeb. That was a desert area to the south. Yet it was dry and desert-like in places. Achsah recognized that if she and her husband and their future family were to thrive, they would need access to water.

Caleb generously gives his daughter exactly what she requests, including a field with both upper and lower springs of water. This completes a re-telling (Judges 1:12–14) of information first given in Joshua 15:15–19.

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).