Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 1:13
And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife.
13. Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother ] The language leaves it uncertain whether Othniel was the nephew (LXX. cod. B) or the brother (LXX. cod. A, Vulgate) of Caleb; but tradition favours the latter alternative. Elsewhere, though in later documents, Caleb is styled ‘the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite’ Josh, Jos 14:6; Jos 14:14 D; Num 32:12 P. Kenaz was not the actual father, but the name of an Edomite tribe Gen 36:15; Gen 36:42; ‘the son of Kenaz,’ therefore, is equivalent to ‘the Kenizzite.’ Kenaz being a tribe, we must suppose that Othniel and Caleb were really clans belonging to it. As a tribal name Othniel may be compared with Israel and Jerameel. Caleb was closely connected with Jerameel (1Ch 2:9; 1Ch 2:25 ; 1Ch 2:42; 1Ch 2:49), a clan settled in the Negeb, S. of Caleb (1Sa 27:10; 1Sa 30:29), which, as the present narrative shews, settled in Hebron and the neighbourhood. How Caleb came to find a home in Judah is told in Jos 15:13 JE, cf. Jos 14:6 ff. D. In the time of David Caleb was still distinct from Judah, 1Sa 30:14; but later on the clan became absorbed into Judah, so much so that in Num 13:6; Num 34:19 P Caleb is the ‘prince’ of Judah, and the Chronicler knows of hardly any other Judahites outside the Calebite family (1 Chronicles 2). The present story gives the tribal traditions under the guise of a narrative dealing with individuals (cf. Jdg 1:3 note). Othniel is called ‘the younger’ (not in Jos 15:17) brother of Caleb to account for his being of an age to marry Caleb’s daughter, as in Jdg 3:9 to explain how he outlived Caleb so long. The marriage indicates an alliance between the Othniel clan and an off-shoot of Caleb.
Contrast the account of the conquest of Debir by Joshua and all Israel given in Jos 10:38-39; Jos 11:21 D.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 13. See Clarke on Jud 1:12.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife.
[See comments on Jos 15:17].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(13) Othniel.Jos. 15:15-17. It is here added that he was Calebs younger brother. (See Jdg. 3:9.) The Hebrew may mean either that Othniel was son of Kenaz and brother of Caleb (in which case he married his niece); or son of Kenaz, who was Calebs brother (as in Jonadab, the son of Shimeah Davids brother, 2Sa. 13:3), in which case Achsah was his cousin. The Masoretes, to whom is due the punctuation, &c., of our Hebrew Scriptures, show by their pointing that they understood the words in the former sense. But though Ben-kenaz may simply mean Kenezite (Jos. 14:6; Num. 32:12), it is strange in that case that Othniel should never be called a son of Jephunneh. If he was a brother of Calebs, he must have lived to extreme old age, and have been an old man when he married Achsah. For the importance of Calebs family, see 1Ch. 27:15. The Rabbis identify Othniel with the Jabez who is so abruptly introduced in 1Ch. 4:9-10, and connect Achsahs petition with the prayer there recorded; and they suppose that he founded the school of scribes at Jabez (1Ch. 2:55), and was a teacher of law to the Kenites.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘ And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it, and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife.’
It was probably Kenaz who was Caleb’s younger brother. The son and daughter were thus cousins. Othniel was probably Caleb’s hope in the first place. ‘Son of Kenaz’ might simply indicate that he too was a Kenizzite, but it is unlikely that Caleb would give his daughter to his younger brother in this way (Lev 18:9), and there is no reason why a Kenizzite should not be called Kenaz.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.
Ver. 13. Raging waves of the sea ] Unsettled, turbulent, and arrogant spirits; boldly belching out their abominable opinions and detestable doctrines.
Wandering stars ] That were never better than meteors. Sir Francis Drake in his Travels reporteth that in a certain island to the southward of Celebes, among the trees night by night did show themselves an infinite swarm of fiery-like worms flying in the air, whose bodies, no bigger than an ordinary fly, did make a show, and give such light as if every twig on every tree had been a lighted candle, or as if that place had been the starry sphere. Lo, such were these impostors.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Othniel Mentioned only here; and Jdg 3:9-11. Jos 15:17; and 1Ch 4:13.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Jdg 3:9
Reciprocal: Jos 15:16 – General Jos 15:17 – Othniel 1Ch 4:13 – Kenaz Est 6:3 – What honour