Judges 1:13-18
Judges 1:13
And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it: and he gave him
Achsah his daughter to wife.
Joshua 15:17 (KJV) And
Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it: and he gave him Achsah
his daughter to wife.
Achsah was a cousin of Othniel and because he was able to take
Kirjath-sepher, Caleb gave him Achsah to wife.
So literally Achsah married her uncle.
Judges 1:14
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?
At this time Achsah would have been in her wedding garments but before she went
into the house of her husband, she went to her father and asked for a field.
She then descended the donkey which she was riding.
Caleb then asks her what is her desire that she would not yet go into the
house of her husband?
Judges 1:15
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.
She had asked for her father to give her a special blessing to add to the gift
that she already received from him which was the south land.
So Caleb gave her the upper springs and the southernmost springs to water
the land which she was given. An
interesting parallel exists between verse 14 & 15.
When Achsah was ready to enter into the house of her husband, she then
asked for springs to water that land.
It is akin to when we become saved that we seek to water the land, that
is, to spread the gospel of Christ.
1 John 5:8 (KJV)
And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the
water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
We spread the water of the word to a dry and thirsty land.
Psalm 63:1 (KJV)
A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, thou art
my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for
thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;
Then Caleb who is a representative of God himself gave his daughter as a
bride and the bride now wants to see that the land is watered.
The believer waters the land through the indwelling Holy Spirit.
As she sought water for the physical land, the believer seeks the power
of the Holy Spirit to spiritually water the land or all the people in it.
Luke 11:13 (KJV)
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children:
how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask
him?
Judges 1:16
And the children of the Kenite, Moses' father in law, went up out of the city of
palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lieth
in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people.
The children of the Kenites were the posterity of Jethro who was the
father-in-law of Moses. They had
now gone up out of the city of Jericho which was famous for having a great
number of palm trees.
Deuteronomy 34:3 (KJV)
And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm
trees, unto Zoar. So the
Kenites had gone out with the children of Judah and proceeded to live in the
wilderness of Judah. The area which
they settled in, may until the times of King Saul, which would have been about
400 years later was named after a Canaanite king named Arad.
Numbers 21:1 (KJV)
And when king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell
that Israel came by the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel, and
took some of them prisoners.
From Old Testament Jericho to the area of Arad would have been about a 50 mile
(80 km) trek. The two groups had
formed a good southern guard for the Promised Land.
Judges 1:17
And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanites that
inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. And the name of the city was called
Hormah.
Numbers 21:1 (KJV) And when
king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came
by the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel, and took some of them
prisoners.
Previously Israel had faced King Arad and had fought with him and King
Arad actually took some prisoners.
Now Judah had teamed up with the tribe of Simeon and attacked the stronghold of
Zephath but this time they were able to attack and destroy it.
Numbers 21:3 (KJV) And the LORD
hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they
utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place
Hormah. The vow that was made
has now been fulfilled.
Numbers 21:2 (KJV)
And Israel vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou wilt indeed
deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.
Judges 1:18
Also Judah took Gaza with the coast thereof, and Askelon with the coast thereof,
and Ekron with the coast thereof.