Judges 1:13

Verse 13. See Clarke on Jud 1:12.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(13) Othniel.—Jos_15:15-17. It is here added that he was Caleb’s 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 Caleb’s brother” (as in “Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David’s 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 Caleb’s, he must have lived to extreme old age, and have been an old man when he married Achsah. For the importance of Caleb’s family, see 1Ch_27:15. The Rabbis identify Othniel with the Jabez who is so abruptly introduced in 1Ch_4:9-10, and connect Achsah’s 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.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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 Jeraḥmeel. Caleb was closely connected with Jeraḥmeel (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.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife. See Gill on Jos 15:17.

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Judges 1:14

jdg 1:14

jdg 1:14

jdg 1:14And it came to pass, when she came to him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted from off her ass;

and Caleb said unto her, What wilt thou? See Gill on Jos 15:18.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Brother, or near relation, but much younger. See Josue xv. 17. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Caleb"s younger brother. See note on Jud_1:3:9.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Coleiv's …brother. Maternally.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.