I will give my daughter...

Read or hear the story from Joshua 15:17-19

Read what Roy May writes about this story in his section on "Women and the Land" in Joshua and the Promised Land, pp. 45-46.

Rewards for loyal military service in ancient Israel:
1.) LAND (see Caleb story)
2.) WOMEN (political and relational)
When women were given in marriage as a reward, the reward was more than the woman; it was relationship with her family.

Achsah was the daughter of Caleb, a hero second only to Joshua in The Book of Joshua. Just like in a fairy tale, Caleb offered her hand in marriage as a prize to the best warrior.

And just like fairy tales, there's initially no sense of the woman as a person. Cousin Othniel wins the prize and Achsah is given to him.

But unlike fairy tales, no romance factor enters here, no lovey-dovey mushy stuff. What does enter is Achsah and her will. The storyteller's picture of her dismount from the donkey is an unusual close-up in Joshua and emphasizes Achsah's humanity.

Immediately after marrying Othniel, Achsah had advised him to negotiate with her father for land. She knows what counts in the new world of the Promised Land.

Apparently Othniel is more a man of action on the battlefield than at the negotiating table, for it is Achsah who goes to Caleb. Before she's even off the donkey she's at it: she asks for and receives not one, but two springs of water to go along with the land she has already gotten.

Water in the desert...now THERE'S a prize!

A lot of the Bible supports the perspective that "It's a man's world." Nowhere does it seem stronger than in The Book of Joshua.

Joshua reads like what happens, happens because of the actions of a God who is imaged like a fierce MALE warrior, and men. In all of 24 chapters, women only come up 3 times:

Rahab

Achsah

Daughters of Zelophehad

Is it enough?

Does the presence of these 3 stories mean women are included in the story of God's people, that they are active participants in the great movements of salvation history? What do you think?

Are women important in salvation history? Could you tell this by reading the Bible?
Click here to add your response and/or read others' responses.

It seems women have managed to make it in a man's world.

They may not get top billing, they may not get much press, but
Rahab,
Achsah,
and the Daughters of Zelophehad

are not persons to be discounted.
Each used what power and influence they had to provide for themselves and their families.

The biblical witness is approving of their chutzpah, and their stories are remembered on behalf of all their millions of nameless sisters.

Stewards with Chutzpah
One of the ways women have made it in a man's world has been, like Achsah, to manage well whatever resources they acquire. The United Methodist Women's Division stands tall in that tradition.

To check out a resource for women who want to be good stewards of their financial assets, read Managing Our Money: A Workbook on Women and Finance by Joyce Sohl.

                     

Other women with chutzpah (note*)
Minnesota Indian Women's Resource Center
WomensNet