Kirjathsepher: the city of the book

Joshua 15: 16 – 17: And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjathsepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife. And Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife.

Kirjathsepher was a city in the land of Canaan that became part of Judah’s inheritance when Israel took possession of the land. The old faithful warrior Caleb also received his inheritance within Judah and set about clearing it of squatters. Caleb then made a challenge to Israel that whoever took the city of Kirjathsepher would receive his daughter Achsah’s hand in marriage as a reward. Othniel (who later became Israel’s first judge) responded to the challenge and took the city, and so Achsah became his wife.

Kirjathsepher means “City of the book,” and when Othniel took the city, he was given a bride who was a sealed book, or a virgin. But when Othniel prevailed over the city and took Achsah to wife, he was then able to break the seal on her life because she had become part of his inheritance. Othniel’s valiant deed of taking the city and receiving a wife to himself was a shadow of what Jesus would accomplish.

It was Jesus who prevailed over sin and death on the cross, and as the Lion of the tribe of Judah He took the Book and ripped the seven seals off of it (Revelation 5: 5). In doing this, He received to Himself a Gentile Bride whose virgin seal upon the womb of Her soul was broken when the seed of His Word was sown into it. The Gentile Bride is connected to the open Book that Christ has in His hand (Revelation 10: 1 – 2) because Her name is written within it, and when the Book was taken and opened, then Her life was unsealed too, so that She can correctly identify Her position in Christ as His beloved wife.