Judges 1:11-15

Othniel was a bold warrior who followed in the train of his older brother Caleb. God later raised him up to be the first of the heroic judges listed in this book (Judges 3:7-11). The incident related here is also in Joshua (Joshua 15:15-19) and took place before Joshua died. The writer probably recorded it again here because the event was a significant part of the conquest of Judah’s inheritance (cf. Judges 1:20), and because it introduces the reader to Israel’s first judge.

Caleb rewarded Othniel’s bravery by giving him his daughter’s hand in marriage. The blessing she asked was the springs of water over which Caleb had authority. They watered the area around Debir, Othniel’s prize. Being in the Negev, water would have been essential for Debir to flourish.

"Another aspect of Judges 1:11-15 that anticipates the rest of the book of Judges is the prominence of the female character Achsah. . . . [S]he is not just the trinket that her name might suggest (’Achsah’ seems to mean an ornamental anklet or bangle). Rather, she demands ’a blessing’ (Judges 1:15; NRSV ’present’), and she gets it!

". . . the prominence of Achsah also clearly anticipates the major roles that women will play throughout the book of Judges. Like Achsah, several women are portrayed as active and assertive in the public sphere, especially Deborah and Jael (chaps. 4-5). But, as the book of Judges proceeds, the portrayal of women changes considerably. They become not leaders like "Achsah, Deborah, and Jael, but rather the victims of abuse. . . . The next time a woman is riding on a donkey is in Judges 19:28; and the woman, the Levite’s concubine, is a corpse, having been brutally abused, raped, and killed. Thus, by way of the contrast between Achsah and the Levite’s concubine, Judges 1:11-15 is yet another way that Judges 1:1 to Judges 2:5 anticipates the progressive deterioration that characterizes the book of Judges." [Note: McCann, pp. 32-33.]