Joel M Bradshaw

16And Caleb said, “Whoever strikes Kiriath-sepher and captures it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter as wife.” 17And Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, captured it. And he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife. 18When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she got off her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you want?” 19She said to him, “Give me a blessing. Since you have given me the land of the Negeb, give me also springs of water.” And he gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.–Joshua 15

My daughter looks like her mother, which is a blessed thing, as my wife is beautiful. But she gets her stubbornness from me. I see some of my attitudes on display every time she doesn’t get her way. Like father like daughter.

Well here today, we finish the Caleb story. Check out yesterday’s blog for mighty Caleb’s moment of faith. Arising in this story is Othniel, who in Judges 2 will be the first judge God will raise up to deliver Israel. And as the first, Othniel will also be the best. He will be the gold standard of the rest of the judges. A simple faithful man like his father in law who trusted God and got to work.

We see that on display here. Othniel jumped at the opportunity and made it happen. Achsah was worth fighting and dying for. And evidently, she had her father’s blunt boldness. For even though she asked her new husband to go to dad for the blessing, she herself took intentional moves to do so. And Caleb surprisingly dealt with her and not Othniel. In a world where inheritances largely stayed in male hands, this would have been significant. At least significant for it to be recorded. It stood out.

Caleb valued his daughter. She would be given to a husband who pursued and protected the family inheritance. She would be worth working for and risking one’s life for. She had a voice and a perspective all her own. In a patriarchal world, bold Achsah got her blessing from bold Caleb. Like father like daughter.–JMB