“And he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife” (Joshua 15:17).
Here we have the next generation. Earlier we noted Caleb’s father, Jephunneh, and we have spent much time meditating on the faith of Caleb, but now we have his daughter, Achsah. She has now been married to Othniel, and immediately we find her influencing him for good, as we will see in a subsequent section. This is another word, particularly to young people. Proverbs 19:14, tells us, “a prudent wife is from the Lord.”
Perhaps one reason Othniel continues on, and as we mentioned, becomes a godly judge, for the rest of the land from war, and the blessing of God’s people for forty years, is because he had a godly wife behind him. A wife with real faith and godly exercise is a tremendous blessing to her husband. It has been well said that one reason we do not have the men of great moral and spiritual stature today, like in times past, is because there are not the great women of piety behind them, as there were in former days. It has been further stated, that behind every great man is a great woman.
Achsah had seen the faith of her father in the wilderness. She had observed his quiet testimony amidst all kinds of difficulties and discouragements. She could attest to the joy of wholly following the Lord, exhibited in Caleb’s everyday wilderness life, and it had evidently strengthened her faith. She had also just seen her father overcome the enemy in the strength of the Lord. All this had encouraged her, taught her, and built up her confidence in the Lord to such a point, that when the time came for her to make decisions and choices in her own life, she makes wise and prudent ones.