Asking for More

Joshua 15 gives Judah's inheritance in detail. The lot for the tribe of the children of Judah according to their families ran to the border of Edom, even to the wilderness of Zin southward. The Salt Sea marked the east, the Great Sea the west, and the northern border passed just south of the Jebusite city, Jerusalem.

Within this account sits the story of Caleb's family. According to the commandment of Yahweh to Joshua, Caleb received Kiriath Arba, also called Hebron, and drove out the three sons of Anak. He promised his daughter Achsah as wife to the man who took Kiriath Sepher, and Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it. Othniel will later become Israel's first judge.

Achsah then asked for more than she had been given. She got off her donkey, and Caleb said, What do you want? She 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. The chapter contrasts this eager faith with Judah's failure: As for the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah couldn't drive them out. In the New Testament, Jesus says, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him (Matthew 7:11).