In Joshua 15:15-19 and Judges 1:11-15, we are introduced to a woman named Achsah and a man named Othniel. Achsah was the daughter of Caleb, the man who had followed God when his peers hadn’t, causing him to outlive his peers and maintain enough strength to still be out claiming land with his own hands when he was old. Caleb either needed help or just wanted things to be conquered more efficiently, so he said that whoever conquered a specific part of the land allotted to him would get Achsah as a wife. Othniel, a relative in the family, went and did so. Afterwards, Achsah convinced her new husband to ask Caleb for a specific part of land. Then it seems she went to ask for it herself, and Caleb gave it to her. I found myself wondering about this interaction. Maybe she was daddy’s girl and that’s why she was the one who asked. Maybe that’s also why Caleb just gave it to her without further discussion. I decided to look at what this all was.
I started by looking up some of the original Hebrew words in the texts, using the Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries that came built into my e-Sword program. Achsah is a name that depending on where you get the definition from, it either has to do with being coiled like a snake, which makes me wonder about her personality, or it means “anklet.” Othniel is a name meaning “force of God,” which makes me wonder about his personality. The land Othniel went up to conquer was called Kirjathsepher, which either means “city of branches” or “city of a book.” It seems some land came with the conquering and marriage deal (likely a dowry), and the land Achsah and Othniel had was a land called Negeb, which can mean south, but also means “parched.” It makes sense that Achsah wanted land that had springs of water in it. The word used for Achsah convincing Othniel to ask for this land has to do with pricking, but also, by implication, seducing. It’s a word that has a few implications, if I’m reading correctly, so I’m not sure if Achsah nagged, provoked, enticed, or sweet-talked Othniel! Maybe she did all of them.
I then looked at various sources and commentaries on the Internet, trying to stick to ones that had a solid Biblical grounding, had studied the original words, and had studied some cultural norms of the time. I won’t list anything exhaustively, since that would take too long and I want you to look for yourself, but I’ll list a few interesting things I found.
According to looks at the original language and other translations, some say it could read that it was Othniel that instigated Achsah to ask her father for spring water land, though some say it could be read as either one of them instigating the other. But whether it was her instigating it or him, she was the one who ultimately did the asking, either because Othniel was too shy or because it was better for her to ask instead. According to one commentary, it seems Achsah would not enter the tent of her bridegroom until someone asked her father for the spring water lands, and it likely confused her father when she jumped off her donkey and went right over to him. Other commentary points out that Achsah’s insistence was likely because the current land didn’t have enough water, and if you wanted to live anywhere, much less build and grow there, you needed a reliable water source. Perhaps that’s why Caleb was so willing to simply give it; he realized she was right about water.
I’m sure there’s more to find, but that’s where I’ve stopped for now. Do some digging of your own and let me know what other interesting things you find!