Joshua 15:17

And Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it,.... The relation of Othniel to Caleb is a little intricate, and, as it is understood, occasions objections to the marriage of Caleb's

And Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife. No JFB commentary on this verse.

Object. This marriage was unlawful. Answ. No; for it was not Othniel, but Kenaz, who was Caleb’ s brother; and besides, the word brother is commonly used for any kinsman; and that Caleb was not properly Othniel’ s brother sufficiently appears, because Caleb is constantly called the son of Jephunneh; and Othniel, the son of Kenaz here, and .

Joshua 15:17 And Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife.Ver. 17. The son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb.] So that Othniel and Achsah were brothers’ children. Hence some infer the lawfulness of such marriages now.

(13-19) And unto Caleb . . . This paragraph occurs also in Judges 1:10-15, with some slight variations. Which is its original place? In Judges it is connected with the continuation of the conquest of Canaan by the tribe of Judah after Joshua’s death, and there we read they slew (literally, smote) Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai. If this is the death, and not merely the defeat of the Anakim (the Hebrew word is not absolutely decisive), we have two stages in the conquest of Hebron described—viz., (l) the expulsion of the Anakim sufficiently for Caleb to occupy the place; and (2) their final defeat and death. It seems hardly possible to make the narrative in Judges 1 a mere repetition of an earlier story, because it is presented as a part of that which happened after Joshua’s death. It would seem, then, that the entire conquest of the Anakim was not effected at once, but begun by Caleb and Joshua in Joshua’s lifetime, and completed by the tribe of Judah, under the leadership of Caleb, after Joshua’s death. It is remarkable that Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai are mentioned as apparently living when the twelve spies went up from Kadesh-barnea (Numbers 13:22), forty years before. But it has been thought that the three names were the names of three clans of the Anakim. (See Notes on Judges 1:10.) Upon the whole, it seems most reasonable to conclude that the proceedings by which Caleb secured his inheritance, and fulfilled the promise of Jos 14:12, have been recorded here for the sake of completeness, though not necessarily belonging to this time. (15) Kirjath-sepher.—“City of books.” (17) Othniel the son of Kenaz.—Comp. Judges 3:9. (19) A south land—i.e., land in the Negeb: “a series of rolling hills clad with scanty herbage here and there.” Conder does not identify Debir, but others have taken it to be identical with Dewir-ban, about three miles west of Hebron. The upper springs, and the nether springs—i.e., the upper and lower “bubblings,” or pools of a rivulet in a valley among the hills in this neighbourhood.

17. Othniel the son of Kenaz] The younger brother of Caleb (comp. Judges 1:13; Judges 3:9; 1 Chronicles 4:13). But it is not certain from these passages whether Kenaz was his father, or, as some think, the more remote ancestor and head of the tribe, whose descendants were called “sons of Kenaz” (Numbers 32:12). If Jephunneh was the father of Caleb, he was probably the father of Othniel also. The next mention of him is in Judges 3:9, where we find him the first Judge of Israel after the death of Joshua (for his genealogy see 1 Chronicles 4:13-14), delivering the Israelites from the tyranny of the Mesopotamian king, Chushanrishathaim. the brother of Caleb] There is a doubt here whether Othniel was “filius Kenasi, frater Calebi,” or “filius Kenasi fratris Calebi.” For the second explanation comp. 2 Samuel 13:3; 2 Samuel 13:32, “Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David’s brother; for the first, 1 Samuel 26:6, “Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, and brother to Joab;” this is adopted by the Maronites, the LXX., and the Vulgate. and he gave him Achsah] She had probably remained with her father at Hebron.

Othniel was probably Caleb’s younger brother; the expression “son of Kenaz” being only an equivalent for the “Kenezite” Joshua 14:6.

17. Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb — The Septuagint, by mistake, here makes Othniel to be the brother of Caleb, thus making him marry his own brother’s daughter, his niece; a marriage