Joshua 15:18
And it came to pass, as she came unto him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wouldest thou? And it came to pass, as she came unto him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wouldest thou?
Joshua stands first among the twelve historical books, which record the history of the chosen people from their first occupation of Canaan as a nation to the return from the captivity, and the book is named for its leading character. Within the book the verse stands in chapters 15-17, in the latter part of the account running from chapter 5 to the end, after the crossing of the Jordan, the circumcision dedicating Israel to God, the appearance of the Captain of the Lord's host cooperating with Joshua, the marching around Jericho, the destruction of the city, and the saving of Rahab and her household. It belongs to the part dealing with the conquering of the Canaanites and the division of the land, which follows the lesson of Achan's sin and its fearful consequences. It belongs to the account of the division and settling of the Promised Land among the tribes in chapters 11-21. It falls in chapters 13-22, which contain the account of the distribution of the land and are based upon written documents in which the property was accurately described.
The Hebrew word used when she is moved to ask her father for a field means to ask or request, not to borrow. In this verse the word additionally means to demand and require and cannot mean to borrow a thing as a loan to be returned, which proves that when Israel asked goods of the Egyptians they asked and demanded rather than borrowed.
The verse presents Achsah as the new bride of Othniel, who had won her by taking Kirjath-sepher under Caleb's promise after Caleb had driven out the sons of Anak and taken Hebron, and she is prompted by her husband to seek a field from her father and presents herself before Caleb to make her desire known. The field sought is a south land that is dry, barren and undesirable, and her coming leads to asking for a blessing of upper and nether springs, which are a priceless blessing in eastern lands and make her a lasting benefactor to her family in all its generations. When life seems like a dry southern field, it is the privilege to ask the heavenly Father for blessing, who is more ready to grant good gifts than people are to ask, and to receive through Christ Jesus the living water of salvation that ends thirst for unsatisfying earthly pleasure and becomes within a well springing up to eternal life to impart to others, for God blesses so that those blessed may be a blessing by earnestly seeking the best gifts.