Joshua 15:19

Who answered, give me a blessing,.... By which she meant not a paternal benediction, or that he would wish and pray for a blessing on her; nor food, or a maintenance, as Jarchi, that her husband

Who answered, Give me a blessing; for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And he gave her the upper springs, and the nether springs.

Give me a blessing, i.e. a gift, as that word signifies, . A south land, i.e. a dry land, which was much exposed to the south wind, which in those parts was very hot and drying, as coming from the deserts of Arabia. Springs of water, i.e. a.field, as she desired, , wherein are springs of water, which in that country were of great price; for it is not probable that he would give her the springs, and give to another the grounds in which the springs were, who could thereby at their pleasure deprive her of the use and benefit of her springs: so she begs a well-moistened field, which also might give some relief to that which was dry and barren. The upper springs, and the nether springs, i.e. springs both in the higher and in the lower grounds; or two fields, one in high, another in low grounds; or rather, one above, and the other below, that south and dry ground which she complained of, that by this means it might be watered on both sides.

Joshua 15:19 Who answered, Give me a blessing; for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And he gave her the upper springs, and the nether springs.Ver. 19. Give me also springs of water,] i.e., Other lands well watered, whence we may derive water to the rest. And he gave her the upper springs, and the nether springs.] What can a kind father deny his child? And shall not God give his dear children "upper and nether springs," blessings of both lives, bona throni et bona scabelli? and are they not worthily miserable that will not make themselves happy by asking? How confidently came Esau to his father for a blessing, and the prodigal for a child’ s part! Now if men which are evil do give good things to their children that ask them: how much more will your heavenly Father? &c. See what he saith, "Ask me of things to come concerning" (or on the behalf of) "my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me." Oh that we did but understand the latitude of this royal charter!

(13-19) And unto Caleb . . . This paragraph occurs also in Judges 1:10-15, with some slight variations. Which is its original place? In Judges it is connected with the continuation of the conquest of Canaan by the tribe of Judah after Joshua’s death, and there we read they slew (literally, smote) Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai. If this is the death, and not merely the defeat of the Anakim (the Hebrew word is not absolutely decisive), we have two stages in the conquest of Hebron described—viz., (l) the expulsion of the Anakim sufficiently for Caleb to occupy the place; and (2) their final defeat and death. It seems hardly possible to make the narrative in Judges 1 a mere repetition of an earlier story, because it is presented as a part of that which happened after Joshua’s death. It would seem, then, that the entire conquest of the Anakim was not effected at once, but begun by Caleb and Joshua in Joshua’s lifetime, and completed by the tribe of Judah, under the leadership of Caleb, after Joshua’s death. It is remarkable that Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai are mentioned as apparently living when the twelve spies went up from Kadesh-barnea (Numbers 13:22), forty years before. But it has been thought that the three names were the names of three clans of the Anakim. (See Notes on Judges 1:10.) Upon the whole, it seems most reasonable to conclude that the proceedings by which Caleb secured his inheritance, and fulfilled the promise of Jos 14:12, have been recorded here for the sake of completeness, though not necessarily belonging to this time. (15) Kirjath-sepher.—“City of books.” (17) Othniel the son of Kenaz.—Comp. Judges 3:9. (19) A south land—i.e., land in the Negeb: “a series of rolling hills clad with scanty herbage here and there.” Conder does not identify Debir, but others have taken it to be identical with Dewir-ban, about three miles west of Hebron. The upper springs, and the nether springs—i.e., the upper and lower “bubblings,” or pools of a rivulet in a valley among the hills in this neighbourhood.

Verse 19. Give me a blessing] Do me an act of kindness. Grant me a particular request. Thou hast given me a south land] Which was probably dry, or very ill, watered. Give me also springs of water.] Let me have some fields in which there are brooks or wells already digged. The upper springs, and the nether springs.] He gave her even more than she requested; he gave her a district among the mountains and another in the plains well situated and well watered. There are several difficulties in this account, with which I shall not trouble the reader. What is mentioned above appears to be the sense.

19. Give me a blessing] Comp. the words of Jacob to Esau, Genesis 33:11, “Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee;” Joshua 14:13, “And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb … Hebron for an inheritance;” and the words of Naaman to Elisha, “Now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.” 2 Kings 5:15. a south land] He had given it to her, inasmuch as he had given her as a wife to the conqueror of Debir. The words are used in a double sense. “The south country” = “the barren and dry land,” “terram australem et torrentem dedisti mihi,” Vulgate; “the south loond and drye,” Wyclif. springs of water] The word here used, “gulloth,” = “waves” or “bubblings.” “Underneath the hill on which Debir stood is a deep valley, rich with verdure from a copious rivulet, which, rising at the crest of the glen, falls, with a continuity unusual in the Judæan hills, down to its lowest depth. On the possession of these upper and lower ‘bubblings,’ so contiguous to her lover’s prize, Achsah had set her heart. The scene of this incident was first discovered by Dr Rosen, and under his guidance I saw it in 1862.” Stanley’s Lectures, i. 264. the upper springs, and the nether springs] Caleb responded to her wish, and gave her the higher and lower fields watered by these springs. Nether adj. = lower. Comp. Exodus 19:17, “And Moses brought forth the people … and they stood at the nether part of the mount;” Deuteronomy 24:6, “No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge;” 1 Kings 9:17, “And Solomon built Gezer, and Beth-horon the nether;” Job 41:24, “His heart is as firm as a stone, yea as hard as a piece of the nether millstone.” A. S. nyðera, or nyðera. Comp. “the Netherlands” = “the Lowlands;” “a foolish hanging of thy nether lip.” Shakespeare, I. Henry IV. ii. 4.

A south land - This term (“negeb”) which is often equivalent to a proper name Joshua 15:21, importing the well-defined district which formed the south of the promised land (Numbers 13:17 note), seems

19. A blessing — A special favour, a gift. Springs of water — As her portion was a field having a southern exposure to blazing suns and sultry winds, she argues the eminent propriety of supplementing