Othniel - The First Judge of Israel
After the death of Joshua, the Book of Judges tells us, the Israelites backslided and served false gods:
And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being an hundred and ten years old ... And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim ... And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth ... And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgat the Lord their God, and served Baalim and the groves ... Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Chushanrishathaim eight years. And when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war: and the Lord delivered Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushanrishathaim. And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died. (Judges 2:8 ... 2:11 ... 2:13 ... 3:7-11)
What are we to make of this? Was Othniel a real person? And who was this King of Mesopotamia, Chushanrishathaim (or Cushan-Rishathaim)?
Othniel
Othniel is identified as “the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.” This ambiguous phrasing has been variously interpreted: was Othniel a brother or a nephew of Caleb? The authors of the Talmud believed that Othniel was Caleb’s younger brother, which seems to imply that Kenaz was Caleb’s father. According to Numbers 13:6, Caleb was the son of Jephunneh. According to I Chronicles 2:18, he was the son of Hezron. This is how the rabbinical scholars untie this knot:
And Caleb the son of Hezron begat children of Azubah his wife and of Jerioth, and these were her sons: Jesher and Shobab and Ardon. “The son of Hezron”? He was the son of Jephunneh! — [It means] that he was a son who turned [panah] from the counsel of the spies. Still, he was the son of Kenaz, as it is written: And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it! — Raba said: He was the stepson of Kenaz. (Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Sotah, Folio 11b)
Othniel’s wife, Achsah, was Caleb’s daughter. Other scholars avoid having Othniel marry his niece by making Kenaz the younger brother of Caleb. This makes Othniel and Achsah first cousins.
We first meet Othniel in Joshua 15:
And unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh he gave a part among the children of Judah, according to the commandment of the Lord to Joshua, even the city of Arba the father of Anak, which city is Hebron. And Caleb drove thence the three sons of Anak, Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai, the children of Anak. And he went up thence to the inhabitants of Debir: and the name of Debir before was Kirjathsepher. 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. And it came to pass, as she came unto him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wouldest thou? Who answered, Give me a blessing; for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And he gave her the upper springs, and the nether springs. (Joshua 15:13-19)
This story is repeated in Judges 1:
And from thence [Judah] went against the inhabitants of Debir: and the name of Debir before was Kirjathsepher: 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, Caleb’s younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife. And 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? And she said unto him, Give me a blessing: for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs. (Judges 1:11-15)
In the Septuagint Greek text, Othniel persuades Achsah to ask her father for the wells. The Hebrew text contradicts itself on this point: Achsah persuades Othniel to ask Caleb for the wells, but then she asks for them herself (Berlin & Brettler 511). In the Septuagint, Othniel is called Gothoniel (Γοθονιηλ), but this is probably just a consequence of the common Greek practice of transcribing the Hebrew letter ayin (ע) as gamma (Γ) (Ganor 125-126).
Elsewhere, it is Joshua who conquers Debir:
And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to Debir; and fought against it: And he took it, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed all the souls that were therein; he left none remaining: as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir, and to the king thereof; as he had done also to Libnah, and to her king. (Joshua 10:38-39)
Today, it is common to regard the story of Othniel as a parable rather than an historical account:
OTHNIEL ... The first of the military leaders who “judged” Israel in the book of Judges (3:7–11). Only the Heb verb šāpaṭ “to judge,” and never the noun šōpēṭ “judge,” is used with reference to those leaders. In such usage, it appears, “to judge” is to organize successful counteroffensive against oppressive overlords.
Othniel’s career description displays an outlook and employs framework rubrics that are variously observed in the stories of other “judges.” It appears, therefore, that Othniel’s story is offered as an example, presenting the relationship between Othniel and Israel as exemplary. It is told at the beginning of the book of Judges in such a way as to introduce the problems with which Israel and Yahweh would be confronted in Israel’s remembering the rest of the era. (Freedman 6546)
Othnielites
If Othniel was not the name of an historical person, might it have been the name of a people, the Othnielites?
OTHNIEL, in the Bible, a clan settled at Debir or Kirjath-sepher in S. Palestine (Judg. i. 12 sqq., Josh. xv. 16 sqq., contrast Josh. x. 38 seq.), described as the “brother” of Caleb. (Chisholm 365)
Was there a tribe, or a clan of the Tribe of Judah, of this name? That there was is commonly accepted, but only because it seems to be implied by the Biblical record:
The genealogy in 1 Chr 4:13 supports the statement in Judg 3:9 that Othniel was the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s brother. On the other hand, Othniel is also a clan or tribal name in 1 Chr 27:15. Thus Othniel and Caleb are clans of the tribe of Judah. The eponymous hero Othniel is a southerner, from the area where Debir is also situated (probably Khirbet Rabud), not far from Hebron, which Joshua allotted to Caleb (Josh 15:13–14). (Freedman 6547)
A cave in Hebron is still identified locally as the Tomb of Othniel:
In Joshua 15, Judges 1 and Judges 3, Othniel is explicitly identified as a Kenizzite, a member of the clan descended from Kenaz. Does this mean that the son of Kenaz is not meant to be interpreted literally? Are we meant to infer from this that the Othnielites were an offshoot of the Kenizzites?
The representation of Othniel [or Kenaz] as younger than Caleb indicates that Caleb’s clan was a more important one. (Berlin & Brettler 511)
Chushan-Rishathaim
We came across this shadowy individual previously in a series of articles I wrote on Gunnar Heinsohn’s chronology. In the Hebrew text of Judges 3:8, he is identified as the King of Aram-Naharaim, or Aram of the Rivers. This region is generally identified with Upper Mesopotamia. It recalls the Egyptian name for Mitanni (Naharin), which seems to mean the same thing. Could Chushan-Rishathaim be a king of Mitanni?
Richard E Jarol of the University of Toronto Scarborough, whose Masters thesis was on the contributions of Mitanni to the history of the Ancient Near East, reconstructed a list of the Kings of Mitanni. The most famous of these was Tushratta, who was a contemporary of the Egyptian Pharaohs Amenhotep III and Akhenaten, and the last independent King of Mitanni:
Focusing our attention on the Old Testament references to the latter days of Mitanni, we are confronted with a very fascinating narrative. In the Book of Judges, chapter 3, we see a reflection on the turbulent times of the early history of Israel, when the area was ruled by 15 special leaders.
The first one of these rose up in the days of the most enigmatic monarch Chushan Rishathaim, king of Aram Naharaim. Translating the latter title to “king of Mesopotamia”, proved to be misleading as it gives a far-fetched meaning, of a king of Babylonia. But the writer of the Book of Judges plainly testifies that Othniel, the ruling leader of Israel, waged military engagements with the forces of the king of Aram Naharaim, that is of Mitanni. Such an event would be difficult to envisage, until we come to the realization of the existence of the Mitannian kingdom. Othniel’s narrative fits only into the time of a large Mitannian dominion. What part of Mitannian history could this fit into? Because of no further engagements with Mitanni by succeeding “judges” of Israel it seems that subsequently there was no Mitannian overlordship into Syria-Palestine. Othniel could not have been successful against the large Mitannian force, except during their time of weakness, the period of the Disintegration.
Viewing the situation from the latter days of Tušratta, it is not difficult to equate these two persons. Linguistically, there is a close resemblance. Tušratta, which of course is not a Semitic name, when pronounced by Hebrews and passed down to the time of the writing of the Book of Judges, would of course not appear in the identical form. The majority of the consonants in Chushan Rishathaim are similar except for the first one, which could have developed as a scribal error from ת (t) to כּ (kh) ... The thirteenth century is the date usually given to Othniel, which loosely fits into our chronology, and together with the linguistic and historical evidence given strongly suggests that Chushan Rishathaim was indeed Tušratta, the last king of Mitanni. (Jarol 92-94)
In that series of articles, I hypothesized that the Kingdom of Mitanni was established around 750 BCE and was eclipsed by Media around 600 BCE. Tushratta, then, would have reigned sometime during the late 7th century—long after the Conquest of Canaan.
I do not think the linguistic resemblance between these two names is particularly close. Most Biblical scholars believe that Aram Naharaim is corrupt, and various emendations have been suggested, all of which are speculative. In my opinion, none is particularly convincing. Jarol’s identification has drawn support from the work of another scholar, Clyde E Billington, formerly of the University of Northwestern in Roseville, Minnesota. Billington believes that Rishathaim refers to the Mitannians and is related to the Egyptian Land of Reshet, the Ugaritic Rishim, and the Sanskrit Rsi (Billington 119-121). He has not, however, identified Cushan with any previously known King of Mitanni.
Emendation increases the chances that the story is based on some historical event:
The story of Othniel ben Kenaz versus the oppressor Cushan-rishathaim comes first and is most obscure. Othniel’s origin is in the S hills around Hebron. Cushan’s base was probably Armon-harim (“Hill-country Fortress”) not Aram-naharaim (Mesopotamia); the latter would result from a common scribal lapse, with the introduction of word-dividers and spacing in written texts. (Freedman 4827)
And again:
The name of the oppressor, “Cushan Doubly Wicked,” is obviously a distortion, and “king of Mesopotamia” (Heb melek ˒ărām; Judg 3:10) is problematical ... Recognizing the ease of misdivision in an unpointed consonantal Hebrew text, the oppressor might instead have been king of ˒armōn-hăr m, “a hill country fortress” (Boling Judges AB, 81), located not far from Hebron and Debir. If so, and Othniel was a southern hill country liberator, then the story rings with a sound of more authenticity than is generally granted. (Freedman 6547)
According to rabbinic sources, Cushan was another name for Laban, Jacob’s father-in-law (Ginzberg 4:30). Laban was an Aramaean from Padan Aram, in the vicinity of Harran.
Rishathaim has also been the object of emendation:
Other commentators have suggested reading risha’thaim as resh, “head/chief,” plus a place-name, most simply as an ’Athaim, giving us “Kushan, Chief of ’Athaim”. (Endnote: The suggestion of “Chief of ’Athaim” goes back to J Marquart, Fundamente Israelitischer and Jüdaischer Geschichte (Göttingen, 1896), Page 11) (Kitchen 212)
But no such place as ’Athaim is known.
Othniel is the only Judge of Israel from Judah. The other Judges are all from northern Israel (Berlin & Brettler 539). Is this significant?
The Legends of the Jews
According to The Legends of the Jews, compiled by Louis Ginzberg from ancient and medieval sources, Othniel was not the first Judge of Israel:
After the death of Joshua the Israelites inquired of God whether they were to go up against the Canaanites in war. They were given the answer: “If ye are pure of heart, go forth unto the combat; but if your hearts are sullied with sin, then refrain.” They inquired furthermore how to test the heart of the people. God ordered them to cast lots and set apart those designated by lot, for they would be the sinful among them. Again, when the people besought God to give it a guide and leader, an angel answered : “Cast lots in the tribe of Caleb.” The lot designated Kenaz, and he was made prince over Israel. (Ginzberg 4:21)
Kenaz reigned for 57 years, after which his place was taken by Zebul. Ginzberg believes that Zebul is a corruption of Ehud, the name of the second Judge of Israel in the traditional list (Ginzberg 6:184). Zebul reigned for 25 years, and was succeeded by Othniel. Curiously, the Legends claim that Othniel was an epithet, his real name being Judah.
Conclusion
I do not believe there was ever an historical figure called Othniel as described in Judges 2-3. The story of Othniel the Judge conquering Debir is intended to explain how the Othnielite clan came to be in possession of this town. Similarly, the accompanying narrative of Achsah in Judges 1 may be another aetiological tale explaining how the upper and lower springs of water in the Negeb (ie the south) came into their possession. It also documents the relationship between the Othnielites and the Calebites.
And that’s a good place to stop.
References
- Adele Berlin & Marc Zvi Brettler (editors), The Jewish Study Bible, Jewish Publication Society TANAKH Translation, Oxford University Press, Oxford (1999)
- Clyde E Billington, Othniel, Cushan-Rishathaim, and the Date of the Exodus, in Glenn A Carnagey, Sr (editor), Beyond the Jordan: Studies in Honor of W Harold Mare, Pages 117-132, Wipf and stock Publishers, Eugene, OR (2005)
- Hugh Chisholm (editor), Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, Volume 20, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1911)
- David Noel Freedman (editor), The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, Volumes 1-6, Doubleday, New York (1992)
- Nissim R Ganor, Who Were the Phoenicians?, Kotarim International Publishing Ltd, Israel (2009)
- Louis Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews, Volume 4, Translated from the German by Henrietta Szold, The Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia (1913)
- Louis Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews, Volume 6, Translated from the German by Henrietta Szold, The Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia (1928)
- Richard E Jarol, A Reconstruction of the Contributions of Mitanni to the Ancient Near East, Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive) 1373, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario (1986)
- Kenneth A Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament, William B Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids MI (2003)
Image Credits
- Othniel: Guillaume Rouillé, Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum, Lyon (1553) Public Domain
- Othniel: James Jacques Joseph Tissot (artist), The Jewish Museum, New York, Public Domain
- Caleb, Achsah and Othniel: Caroline Innis (artist), The Jewish Museum, New York, Public Domain
- Debir and Environs: University of Texas Libraries, Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, Jerusalem, D Survey, Great Britain War Office and Air Ministry (1960), Public Domain
- The Tomb of Othniel in Hebron: Hebron Israel, © The Jewish Community of Hebron, Fair Use
- Othniel Leads Israel into Battle against Aram: Anonymous Woodcut from Martin Luther, Biblia, Christoph Endter, Nürnberg (1670)
- Tutankhamun’s Iron Dagger—A Gift to Amenhotep III from Tushratta?: Iron Dagger from the Tomb of Tutankhamun, Egyptian Museum, Cairo, © Olaf Tausch (photographer), Creative Commons License
- Othniel and Ehud: Jan Collaert the Elder (engraver), Jan Snellinck (designer), Gerard de Jode (publisher), The Twelve Judges of Israel, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Public Domain
Video Credits
- Visit to the Tomb of Otniel Ben Knaz in Hebron: Hebron Israel, © The Jewish Community of Hebron, Fair Use
