Judges 1:8

"Judah fought against Jerusalem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire. And afterward, the children of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites that dwelt in the hill-country, and in the South, and in the lowland. And Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron (now the name of Hebron beforetime was Kiriath-arba); and they smote Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai. And from thence he went against the inhabitants of Debir. (Now the name of Debir before time was Kiriath-sepher.) And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kiriath-sepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife. And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it, and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife. And it came to pass when she came unto him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she alighted from off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wouldest thou? And she said unto him, Give me a blessing; for thou hast set me in the land of the South, give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs."

"And Judah fought against Jerusalem ... took it ... set the city on fire" (Judges 1:8-9). There is no need to view this as a contradiction of Joshua 15:63, where it is stated that Judah could not drive out the Jebusites. As Keil said, "To reconcile these statements is a simple matter."[5] Following this initial victory by Judah, the Jebusites recaptured the city of Jerusalem, strongly fortified it, and held it until the time of King David.

"The hill-country ... the South ... the lowland" (Judges 1:9). These three geographical characteristics of Canaan were:

(1) the mountainous region where Jerusalem and Hebron were located. Hebron had an elevation of 3,040 feet above sea level, and Jerusalem was 2,593 feet above sea level. These mountainous areas were the ones first taken by Israel and held the longest.

(2) The area called `the South' was the Negev, or desert country, which began a few miles south of Hebron and terminated at Beersheba.

(3) The `lowlands,' more properly `the Shephelah,' were the foothills lying between the coastal plain of Palestine and the Judean range of mountains. The Philistines were strongly entrenched in this area and were not dispossessed until the time of David, except occasionally when Israel under some strong leader would stage a temporary victory, sometimes lasting a long time.

"Kiriath-arba" (Judges 1:10) means the four-fold city, or tetrapolis. In Joshua 14:15, a man named `Arba' was described as the greatest man among the Anakim (the giants). He probably took his name from the city which he founded."[6]

"To him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife." (Judges 1:12). The champion who rose up to claim Caleb's daughter was Othniel, spoken of in our text as Caleb's younger brother. As Kyle Yates pointed out, however, the words thus translated may also be read as "Caleb's nephew."[7] "Othniel was also the hero of the deliverance from Chushan-rishathaim (Judges 3:9f)."[8]

"Give me a blessing" (Judges 1:15). Achsah's bold action demonstrated a great deal of discernment and ability on her part. The endowment which Caleb her father had given the newly-married couple was composed principally of very dry arid terrain, the value of which would be greatly enhanced by the additional ownership of springs of water. Caleb even went beyond what his daughter asked, blessing her with a gift not only of the Upper Springs but of the Lower Springs as well. This composes a very touching and beautiful episode in the history of Israel.