Judges 1:12
in Judges 1And Caleb said, “To the man who strikes down Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kiriath-sepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife.
KJV
And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjath–sepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife.
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This verse in Judges 1
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
the men of Judah marched down to fight
on Judges 1:9-15
Verses 10 to 15 repeat Joshua 15:14 to 19 almost word for word, once as Judah's inheritance and once as the start of Judah's war. Othniel, who takes Debir, becomes the first judge at 3:9, so the first deliverer is introduced winning a wife. Acsah alone in the chapter asks for anything, and she asks for "springs of water", since a Negev field without springs cannot be worked.
This site's exposition
I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage
Caleb sets the prize before the battle, and the prize is his own daughter. John Gill reads the offer beside Joshua 15:16, where Caleb makes it in nearly the same words. Verse 13 shows the winner comes from inside Caleb's own family.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
They had iron chariots, and therefore it was thought not safe to attack them: but had not Israel God on their side, whose chariots are thousands of angels ( Ps. lxviii. 17 ), before whom these iron chariots would be but as stubble to the fire? Had not God expressly promised by the oracle (
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And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjathsepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife. See Gill on Jos 15:16.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2312: “Achsah's Asking—a Pattern of Prayer” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
IN domestic life we often meet with pictures of life in the House of God. I am sure that we are allowed to find them there, for our Savior said, "If you, 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?" God is a Father and He likens Himself to us as fathers. And we who are Believers are God's children and we are permitted to liken ourselves to our own children—and just as our children would deal with us and we would deal with them—so may we deal with God and expect God to deal with us! This little story of a daughter and her father is recorded twice in the Bible. You will find it in the 15th chapter of the Book of Joshua, as well as in this first chapter of the Book of Judges. It is not inserted twice without good reasons. I am going to use it, tonight, simply in this manner—the way in which this woman went to her father, and the way in which her father treated her. May it teach us how to go to our Father who is in Heaven—and what to expect if we go to Him in that fashion. I would hold up this good woman, Achsah, before you, tonight, as a kind of model or parable. Our parable shall be Achsah, the daughter of Caleb—she shall be the picture of the true successful pleader with our Father in Heaven. I. And the first thing that I ask you to notice is HER CONSIDERATION OF THE MATTER before she went to her father. She was newly-married and she had an estate to go with her to her husband. She naturally wished that her husband should find in that estate all that was convenient and all that might be profitable. And looking it all over, she saw what was needed. Before you pray, know what you are needing. That man, who blunders down on his knees, with nothing in his mind, will blunder up, again, and get nothing for his pains.
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2312: “Achsah's Asking—a Pattern of Prayer” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
IN domestic life we often meet with pictures of life in the House of God. I am sure that we are allowed to find them there, for our Savior said, "If you, 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?" God is a Father and He likens Himself to us as fathers.
And Caleb, etc. - See this whole account, which is placed here by way of recapitulation, in Jos 15:13-19 (note), and the explanatory notes there.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Coleiv's …brother. Maternally. 13 Coleiv is referred to as “the Kenizite” (Yehoshua,:6), rather than ‘son of Kenaz’. This indicates that he was not Kenaz’ biological son, but his stepson. (Sotah,:b,:a).
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| כָּלֵ֔ב | kalev | Caleb | H3612 → | 35 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | [the one] who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יַכֶּ֥ה | yakeh | he will strike | H5221 → | 499 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| קִרְיַת־ | kiryat- | Kiriath | H7158 → | 10 times |
| סֵ֖פֶר | sefer | Sepher | H7158 → | 10 times |
| וּלְכָדָ֑הּ | ulekhadah | and he will capture it | H3920 → | 121 times |
| וְנָתַ֥תִּי | venatati | and I will give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| ל֛וֹ | lo | to <the> him | ||
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עַכְסָ֥ה | ʾakhsah | Achsah | H5915 → | |
| בִתִּ֖י | viti | daughter my | H1323 → | 588 times |
| לְאִשָּֽׁה׃ | leishah | to a wife | H802 → | 781 times |
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
כָּלֵ֔בCaleb
kalevH3612 →35 times
אֲשֶׁר־[the one] who
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
יַכֶּ֥הhe will strike
yakehH5221 →499 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
קִרְיַת־Kiriath
kiryat-H7158 →10 times
סֵ֖פֶרSepher
seferH7158 →10 times
וּלְכָדָ֑הּand he will capture it
ulekhadahH3920 →121 times
וְנָתַ֥תִּיand I will give
venatatiH5414 →2011 times
ל֛וֹto <the> him
lo
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עַכְסָ֥הAchsah
ʾakhsahH5915 →
בִתִּ֖יdaughter my
vitiH1323 →588 times
לְאִשָּֽׁה׃to a wife
leishahH802 →781 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Samuel 17:25Now the men of Israel had been saying, “Do you see this man who keeps coming out to defy Israel? To the man who kills him the king will give great riches. And he…
it leads to
- Joshua 15:16
And Caleb said, “To the man who strikes down Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage.”
- Revelation 2:7
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to eat from the tree of life in the…
- Revelation 3:12
The one who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will never again leave it. Upon him I will write the name of My God, and the…
- Revelation 3:5
Like them, he who overcomes will be dressed in white. And I will never blot out his name from the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and His…
- Matthew 17:26
“From others,” Peter answered. “Then the sons are exempt,” Jesus declared.
- Joshua 15:16
Through
1 Samuel 18:23But when Saul’s servants relayed these words to David, he replied, “Does it seem trivial in your sight to be the son-in-law of the king? I am a poor man and lightly esteemed.”
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 9:15–16
Now a poor wise man was found in the city, and he saved the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man.
- Proverbs 19:6–7
Many seek the favor of the prince, and everyone is a friend of the gift giver.
- 1 Samuel 9:21
Saul replied, “Am I not a Benjamite from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of Benjamin? So why would you say such a thing…
- Ecclesiastes 9:15–16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Judges
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2312: “Achsah's Asking—a Pattern of Prayer” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.