Othniel the Kenite. The brief account of the oppression of Israel by the Aramæ ans, and of their deliverance by Othniel, is the work of D, whose familiar categories apostasy, Divine anger, oppression, repentance, deliverance, peace practically make up the whole narrative. Not a single detail of the conflict is supplied. The statement that the invaders from the far north of Syria were turned back by Othniel, whose seat was at Debir, in the extreme south, is not historically probable. The basis of the narrative may be the tradition of a struggle between Othniel (i.e. the Kenizzites) and the Bedouin of the southeast, for Cushan means Lydian. Graetz proposes to read Edom instead of Aram.
Judges 3:9. On Othniel, see Judges 1:13.
Judges 3:10. The spirit of Yahweh came upon him, as later upon other Judges (Judges 6:34; Judges 11:29; Judges 13:25; Judges 14:6; Judges 14:19). Any extraordinary display of power physical force, heroic valour, artistic skill, poetic genius, prophetic insight is ascribed in the OT to the spirit (ruah) of God. For the gigantic tasks of the Judges, in a rude, semi-savage time, there was need of physical prowess, patriotic fervour, religious enthusiasm; and it was not by mere human might or power, but by Yahweh's spirit, that their victories were achieved. Cushan-Rishathaim means Nubian of double-dyed wickedness, evidently the nickname of some ruthless invader. Mesopotamia is in Heb. Aram-naharaim, Syria of the two rivers, i.e. the whole region between the Tigris and the Euphrates (Genesis 24:10 *).