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Judges 1:8–15, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Judges 1:8–15
Conquest gives way to Achsah's request
Judah's campaign names cities, then a household bargain
Judah fights Jerusalem, the mountain, the south, and the valley. Hebron and Debir are taken. Caleb offers his daughter Achsah to the man who strikes Kirjath-sepher; Othniel takes it and receives her. Land here moves through battle totals and through an arranged marriage in a patriarchal household. The offer does not authorize treating a daughter as a prize for male achievement.
Achsah asks for water, and Caleb grants two springs
She presses for a field, then speaks to her father: you have given me a south land; give me also springs of water. Caleb gives her the upper springs and the lower springs. Dry Negeb allotment without water is not usable life. Achsah names the missing resource and receives both sets of gulloth.
Her speech is real agency inside a constrained arrangement she did not design. Success in the request does not prove equal power. The blessing she seeks is material water, not a pious slogan laid over a silent prize.
How this should shape us
Ask whether a promised asset includes what actually sustains life: water, access, safety, and control. Include the people who must live with the allocation, especially those whose consent was never the first term of the deal.
Teach it back
Explain Judges 1:8–15 in your own words. Include its scene movement, one source-supported detail, one material uncertainty, and one conclusion or imitation the complete context rules out.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: The precise subject of the prompting in verse 14 is debated, and interpreters vary between emphasizing Achsah's agency and the patriarchal transaction. Both her direct speech and the constrained social structure must remain visible.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Judges 1:8–15, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, names, clause relationships, repeated terms, wordplays, and translation control.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Judg.xml, 1:8–15
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, poetic, geographical, social, and uncertainty notes.
NET Bible Judges PDF, printed pp. 452-453, translation and notes on 1:8–15
Supports: Recent whole-book literary organization, differentiated judge portraits, progressive decline, Abimelech, Samson, and the double epilogue within the limits of preview access.
Assis, Before There Were Kings, inspected contents and exposed summaries for the relevant literary section, printed pp. 14-75
Supports: Land as a Joshua-Judges concern, Iron Age I highland context, competing settlement explanations, and the warning against direct modern land-program mapping.
Arnold, Introduction to the Old Testament, chapter 12 'Land,' official Cambridge chapter summary
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Judges 1:8–15, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Judges
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, names, clause relationships, repeated terms, wordplays, and translation control.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Judg.xml, 1:8–15
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Judges with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, poetic, geographical, social, and uncertainty notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Judges PDF, printed pp. 452-453, translation and notes on 1:8–15
Open source ↗modern scholarly monograph preview
Before There Were Kings: A Literary Analysis of the Book of Judges
Elie Assis
Penn State University Press / Eisenbrauns, 2024
Supports: Recent whole-book literary organization, differentiated judge portraits, progressive decline, Abimelech, Samson, and the double epilogue within the limits of preview access.
Exact location: Assis, Before There Were Kings, inspected contents and exposed summaries for the relevant literary section, printed pp. 14-75
Open source ↗modern textbook chapter summary
Land, chapter 12 of Introduction to the Old Testament
Bill T. Arnold
Cambridge University Press, 2018
Supports: Land as a Joshua-Judges concern, Iron Age I highland context, competing settlement explanations, and the warning against direct modern land-program mapping.
Exact location: Arnold, Introduction to the Old Testament, chapter 12 'Land,' official Cambridge chapter summary
Open source ↗