Catholic Commentary
Caleb's Inheritance and the Story of Achsah
13He gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh a portion among the children of Judah, according to the commandment of Yahweh to Joshua, even Kiriath Arba, named after the father of Anak (also called Hebron).14Caleb drove out the three sons of Anak: Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai, the children of Anak.15He went up against the inhabitants of Debir: now the name of Debir before was Kiriath Sepher.16Caleb said, “He who strikes Kiriath Sepher, and takes it, to him I will give Achsah my daughter as wife.”17Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife.18When she came, she had him ask her father for a field. She got off her donkey, and Caleb said, “What do you want?”19She said, “Give me a blessing. Because you have set me in the land of the South, give me also springs of water.” So he gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.
Joshua 15:13–19 describes Caleb's inheritance of Hebron and his family's subsequent conquest of Kiriath Sepher, culminating in his daughter Achsah's petition for springs of water to make her inherited land viable. The passage illustrates fulfilled divine promise, the reward of faithfulness, and the necessity of grace to complete what God initially provides.
Achsah dismounts from her donkey to ask her father for springs of water—teaching us that authentic prayer means getting off the business of daily life and asking God specifically, boldly, for the living water that transforms an inheritance into life.
Commentary
Joshua 15:13 — The Portion According to God's Command. The narrator underscores that Caleb's inheritance is not merely the result of military prowess or political favor, but flows directly from the commandment of Yahweh to Joshua (cf. Num 14:24; Josh 14:6–15). Kiriath Arba — "city of Arba," the greatest of the Anakim — is given to Caleb and is identified with Hebron, the very place where Abraham received divine promises and was buried (Gen 23). The allusion is deliberate: what was promised to the patriarchs is now being possessed, and Caleb stands as a living bridge between promise and fulfillment. The naming notice ("father of Anak") situates Caleb's victory within an ancient drama of intimidating opposition, recalling how the spies at Kadesh-barnea were terrified by these very giants (Num 13:28, 33). Caleb was not.
Joshua 15:14 — Driving Out the Sons of Anak. Three named giants — Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai — are expelled. The same names appear in Numbers 13:22 as the reason the faithless spies despaired. Forty-five years later (Josh 14:10), the man who trusted God where others doubted now defeats the very symbols of that former fear. The detail is theologically precise: faith deferred is not faith destroyed. Caleb's old age amplifies the point — this is not human strength but the strength of one who "wholly followed the LORD" (Num 14:24). The Church Fathers saw in Caleb a type of the soul that perseveres in virtue despite long trial.
Joshua 15:15 — The Campaign Against Debir / Kiriath Sepher. The narrative pivots from Caleb's personal conquest to a subsidiary campaign. "Kiriath Sepher" means City of the Book or City of the Scribe, suggesting it may have been an administrative or scribal center of Canaanite culture — a seat, perhaps, of the very intellectual and religious tradition that Israel was called to displace. The conquest of Kiriath Sepher thus carries symbolic weight beyond its military significance: it represents the supplanting of a rival order of knowledge and worship.
Joshua 15:16 — The Offer of Achsah. Caleb's offer of his daughter in marriage to the conqueror of Kiriath Sepher is a custom attested in ancient Near Eastern warfare (cf. 1 Sam 17:25, Saul's offer regarding Goliath). Within its literary context, it shifts the reader's attention from external conquest to the interior life of Caleb's household and lineage. Achsah is not a passive pawn; the narrative will quickly reveal her as its most spiritually active figure.
Joshua 15:17 — Othniel the Hero. Othniel, Caleb's kinsman (likely nephew: "brother" can mean near male relative in Hebrew), will later become Israel's first judge (Judg 3:9–11), raised up to deliver Israel from Cushan-rishathaim. His victory here foreshadows that vocation. The phrase "he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife" closes the martial frame, but the real story is just beginning.
Verses 18–19 — Achsah's Petition: the Theological Heart. The scene is remarkable in its texture. Achsah counsels Othniel to ask her father for a field, then dismounts her donkey herself and makes the request directly. The donkey dismount is a formal gesture of supplication in the ancient Near East (cf. 1 Sam 25:23, Abigail's approach to David). When Caleb asks "What do you want?" Achsah replies with striking clarity and theological precision: "Give me a blessing." She does not merely want a gift — she wants a berakah, a blessing that transforms what she has. The Negev (South) is dry; without springs, the land is worthless. Her request turns a gift of land into a gift of life. Caleb grants it: upper and lower springs. The doubling suggests abundance beyond what was asked, an image of the Father who "gives good things to those who ask him" (Matt 7:11).
The Typological Sense. The soul (Achsah) is placed by her Father in a land that, while a true inheritance, needs the water of grace to become fruitful. Her petition — da li berakhah — is the prayer of every baptized person who says: "You have given me existence, Lord; now give me the Spirit to make it life." The springs of water given to Achsah are read by the Fathers as figures of Baptism and the Holy Spirit (cf. John 4:14; 7:37–39).
Catholic Commentary
Catholic tradition finds in this passage several interlocking theological riches.
Faith and Inheritance. The Catechism teaches that "the promises made to Abraham and his descendants are fulfilled in Jesus Christ" (CCC §706), but it also affirms that the Old Testament land narratives are genuine, partial realizations of that promise. Caleb's inheritance is not merely a military reward; it is a sacramental sign — an earthly participation in a heavenly promise. St. Augustine (City of God XVI.39) reads Caleb's portion as a figure of the inheritance of the saints, given not on the basis of merit alone but of God's free election and the recipient's wholehearted response.
Othniel as Type of Christ the Deliverer. The Church Fathers, particularly Origen (Homilies on Joshua XIII), saw the Judges as successive types of Christ the Liberator. Othniel, the first judge, conquers the "city of the book" and wins a bride — a pattern that anticipates the Bridegroom of the Song of Songs and, ultimately, Christ who conquers sin and death to present the Church to himself "without spot or wrinkle" (Eph 5:27).
Achsah and the Theology of Petition. Achsah's bold, specific, well-reasoned request to her father is cited by spiritual writers as a model of prayer. The Catechism (CCC §2559) defines prayer as "the raising of one's mind and heart to God." Achsah's prayer is precisely this: she acknowledges both her need and her Father's capacity to answer. St. Thomas Aquinas (Summa Theologiae II-II q.83) teaches that prayer should be confident, specific, and oriented toward genuine good — all of which Achsah exemplifies. Pope Francis (Evangelii Gaudium §152) speaks of "boldness in asking" as a mark of authentic Christian prayer; Achsah enacts this centuries before Christ's explicit teaching on the importunate widow (Luke 18:1–8).
The Springs as Grace. Origen and later the medieval allegorists (e.g., the Glossa Ordinaria) read the upper and lower springs as the two Testaments, or as the gifts of contemplation and active charity — gifts that, together, make the soul's arid land fruitful. Baptism, in Catholic teaching, is precisely this gift of water that transforms inherited existence into resurrection life (CCC §1214–1216).
For Today
Achsah's request speaks with startling directness to the contemporary Catholic. Many of us receive real blessings — a vocation, a family, a faith tradition — but find them dry and unfruitful because we have not asked for the living water that animates them. A Catholic marriage, a priestly calling, a committed lay life in the world: these are inheritances in the Negev. They are genuine gifts, but without the springs — the sacramental grace, the life of prayer, the Holy Spirit — they become parched obligations rather than flourishing promises.
The practical application is this: name your "southland." What has God given you that feels arid? Then do what Achsah did — dismount from the business of daily life, come before the Father with specific, confident petition, and ask not just for things but for berakah, a blessing that transforms. The Church's sacramental life — especially regular Confession and the Eucharist — is exactly the gift of upper and lower springs. Achsah's courage also reminds us that intercessory boldness honors God; vague, timid, or perfunctory prayer does not. Pray specifically. Expect abundance.
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