And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjath-sepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife.
The verse belongs to the part of Joshua dealing with the conquering of the Canaanites and the division and settling of the Promised Land among the tribes. It stands after the lesson of Achan's sin and its fearful consequences. That larger account of division and settling shows Israel's lack of faith and slowness, and it closes with the assurance that God fulfilled every good thing He had promised.
In its immediate setting the brave old warrior Caleb, after driving out the sons of Anak and taking Hebron for his possession in Canaan, went up against another city. He offered his daughter Achsah in marriage to whoever would capture Kirjath-sepher, which the young Othniel, Caleb's nephew, did and so received his cousin Achsah as wife. That offer proved the faith Caleb had expressed forty-five years before that Israel was able to possess the land occupied by the giants. He was still ready to go against the giants with only his own immediate followers, and he succeeded because he wholly followed the Lord, the God of Israel, which is the secret of all success.
The verse belongs to the part of Joshua dealing with the conquering of the Canaanites and the division and settling of the Promised Land among the tribes. It stands after the lesson of Achan's sin and its fearful consequences. That larger account of division and settling shows Israel's lack of faith and slowness, and it closes with the assurance that God fulfilled every good thing He had promised.
In its immediate setting the brave old warrior Caleb, after driving out the sons of Anak and taking Hebron for his possession in Canaan, went up against another city. He offered his daughter Achsah in marriage to whoever would capture Kirjath-sepher, which the young Othniel, Caleb's nephew, did and so received his cousin Achsah as wife. That offer proved the faith Caleb had expressed forty-five years before that Israel was able to possess the land occupied by the giants. He was still ready to go against the giants with only his own immediate followers, and he succeeded because he wholly followed the Lord, the God of Israel, which is the secret of all success.