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zeborahJoshua is dead, but the Israelites still have cities to burn and land to capture. Some chap called Caleb is particularly anxious that Kiriath Sepher be captured, and offers his daughter Acsah (Judges 1:12-15) in marriage to the man who succeeds. This turns out to be Caleb's younger brother Othniel. (Leviticus 18 mentions a number of forbidden sexual relationships, including various kinds of aunt; nieces, however, appear to be fair game. Go family values!)
No mention is made of how well Acsah gets on with this man who is not quite old enough to be her father. At some point, however, she urges him (according to the NIV) or he urges her (according to the Vulgate) to ask her father for a field. Suddenly in the middle of the verse we're transported to a time when the field has been granted to them. Acsah therefore says to her father, "Since you've already given me land, can I have some springs to water it with too?" Her father agrees.
Depending on the translation, then, I figure either Othniel is using Acsah to get some extra land out of his brother's inheritance; or Acsah is using Othniel to ask for the land so she can ask for the springs. Or perhaps they're working together. Or perhaps there's nothing nefarious at all going on; there's no attempt in the text to pass judgement of any kind on anyone, so it's most probably just an explanation of how such a bit of land came to belong to such a group of people.
(Incidentally, later in this chapter is a brief account of some spies convincing someone to betray his city to them; they put the city to the sword but spare his family, and he goes and builds a city elsewhere named for the city that's just been destroyed. His story isn't as cool as Rahab's, though.)
Ah hah: and Othniel becomes a judge/leader of Israel, delivering them from a foreign king and giving them peace "for forty years" until he dies. No mention of Acsah in this, but presumably this is why we care about the story.
No mention is made of how well Acsah gets on with this man who is not quite old enough to be her father. At some point, however, she urges him (according to the NIV) or he urges her (according to the Vulgate) to ask her father for a field. Suddenly in the middle of the verse we're transported to a time when the field has been granted to them. Acsah therefore says to her father, "Since you've already given me land, can I have some springs to water it with too?" Her father agrees.
Depending on the translation, then, I figure either Othniel is using Acsah to get some extra land out of his brother's inheritance; or Acsah is using Othniel to ask for the land so she can ask for the springs. Or perhaps they're working together. Or perhaps there's nothing nefarious at all going on; there's no attempt in the text to pass judgement of any kind on anyone, so it's most probably just an explanation of how such a bit of land came to belong to such a group of people.
(Incidentally, later in this chapter is a brief account of some spies convincing someone to betray his city to them; they put the city to the sword but spare his family, and he goes and builds a city elsewhere named for the city that's just been destroyed. His story isn't as cool as Rahab's, though.)
Ah hah: and Othniel becomes a judge/leader of Israel, delivering them from a foreign king and giving them peace "for forty years" until he dies. No mention of Acsah in this, but presumably this is why we care about the story.
