15:18 One time Acsah 2 came and charmed her father 3 so that she could ask him for some land. When she got down from her donkey, Caleb said to her, “What would you like?”
1 tn Or “placed them outside.”
2 tn Heb “she”; the referent (Acsah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Heb “him.” The referent of the pronoun could be Othniel, in which case the translation would be, “she incited him [Othniel] to ask her father for a field.” This is problematic, however, for Acsah, not Othniel, makes the request in v. 19. The LXX has “he [Othniel] urged her to ask her father for a field.” This appears to be an attempt to reconcile the apparent inconsistency and probably does not reflect the original text. If Caleb is understood as the referent of the pronoun, the problem disappears. For a fuller discussion of the issue, see P. G. Mosca, “Who Seduced Whom? A Note on Joshua 15:18//Judges 1:14,” CBQ 46 (1984): 18-22. This incident is also recorded in Judg 1:14.