Joshua 15 Judah's Inheritnce and Caleb's Family

Marrying Your Cousin Is The Cool Thing To Do

Chapter 15 is the real juicy center of the Book of Joshua.
Okay—not really. That's a total lie.
This chapter mainly concerns the geography of Canaan and the divvying up of land amongst the remaining tribes. Prepare to be wowed.
The geography is described counter-clockwise using Judah as the starting point.
We're not sure why it's told south, east, north, and west, but it is. Maybe it's because the sun sets in the west? Let's go with that.
We're not going to bore you with the written geography of Canaan when you can look at this handy dandy map (1-12).
Verses 13-19 take a break from the geography lesson (thank goodness) and give us vignettes about Judah's heroes.
Remember from the previous chapter that the tribe of Judah is given the land of Hebron.
Joshua gives Caleb part of Hebron. Caleb promptly drives out the three sons of Anak—Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai—before marching on Debir, the city formally known as Kiriath Sepher.
Instead of taking Debir himself, though, Caleb offers his daughter, Achsah, to whoever defeats the city. Gee thanks, Dad.
Surprise! Caleb's nephew, Othniel, is totally up for the challenge. He takes the city and then collects his wife/cousin. Good times.
Achsah, totally cool with marrying her cousin but not with living in the desert, asks her dad for land with springs of water.
Caleb, being a reasonable fellow, gives her the land with upper and lower springs (13-19).