What Does Judges 1:13 Mean in the King James?
And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The verb “gave” first makes Achsah the object of her father’s decision, then returns in the next verse when he gives her the springs she asks for.
THE MEANING
Here, conquest crosses from a captured city into a woman’s life: Caleb gives Achsah to Othniel as a wife. The verb “gave” places her first as the object of another person’s decision; in the next verse, Achsah speaks and asks her father for springs. Her name, עַכְסָה (ʿAḵsāh), is commonly glossed “anklet” or “anklet ornament,” though its etymology is uncertain.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that conquest stays on the map dissolves here: the verse shows it extending into marriage through a father’s authority over his daughter.
THE ROOT
וַיִּתֶּן
wayyitten
GROWS FROM
נתן
To give, grant, place, or set.
“gave” in this verse is wayyitten. The same root appears when Caleb gives Achsah the springs she requests in Judges 1:15. It reveals a shift in the sentence: first she is what her father gives to a man; then she is the speaker who asks and receives.
ALSO GROWS
natan: To give, set, or place.
נָתַן
This verb is used both for Caleb giving Achsah to Othniel and for Caleb giving her the springs she requests.
mattanah: Gift or present.
מַתָּנָה
This noun shares the giving root; the verse’s grammar makes a person the object of that transfer.
וַיִּלְכְּדָהּ
wayyilkedah
GROWS FROM
לכד
To capture, catch, or seize.
“Took it” is capture language: Othniel seizes the city. The verse then moves directly from that capture to Achsah’s marriage, showing conquest reaching beyond territory.
ALSO GROWS
nilkad: Caught or captured.
נִלְכַּד
This form names the state produced by the same act of capture described in the verse.
malkodet: Snare or trap.
מַלְכֹּדֶת
The capture root also gives the language of a snare, carrying the sense of something caught and held.
עַכְסָה
ʿAḵsāh
GROWS FROM
עכס
An anklet or ankle ornament; this is the name’s common gloss, though its etymology is uncertain.
Achsah’s name carries the concrete image of an anklet or ankle ornament. The name gives the woman a distinct presence even as the sentence describes her through her father’s act of giving.
ALSO GROWS
ʿAḵsāh: Achsah; commonly glossed “anklet” or “anklet ornament.”
עַכְסָה
Her name carries a concrete image while the verse places her inside a marriage arranged by her father.
ʿăḵāsîm: Anklets.
עֲכָסִים
This plural form preserves the ornament sense commonly associated with Achsah’s name.
THE PATTERN
When power bargains, a woman’s marriage or place in a public exchange can become part of the price.
Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me: but give me the damsel to wife.And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry, but an hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king’s enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask.THE THREAD
And she said unto him, Give me a blessing: for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs.Judges 1:13 and 1:15 use נתן (natan, “give”): first Caleb gives Achsah to Othniel, then he gives her the springs she asks for. The repeated root keeps the transfer visible as the scene shifts from her being given to her speaking and making a request.
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