Othniel
Othniel (/ˈɔːθniəl/ or /ˈɒθniəl/; Hebrew: עָתְנִיאֵל בֶּן קְנַז, Modern Otniel Ben Knaz, Tiberian ʻOṯnîʼēl Ben Qənáz ; "lion/might of God") is the first of the Biblical Judges.
Family
Othniel was related to Caleb, as his father Kenaz was Caleb's brother. The Talmud (Sotah 11b) argues that Othniel was Caleb's brother. When Caleb promises the hand of his daughter Achsah to him who will conquer the land of Debir, it is Othniel who rises to the challenge, thus becoming Caleb's son-in-law (Joshua 15:16, 17; Judges 1:13).
Campaign as a Judge
Some time after the death of Joshua, the Israelites once again turned to sin and fell under the subjection of Chushan-rishathaim, the king of Aram-Naharaim in Mesopotamia, because of the transgressions against God. He oppressed them for eight years; when they "cried" unto God, Othniel was raised up to be their deliverer. He was the son of Kenaz, who was the younger brother of Caleb according Bible translations such as the New American Bible (Judg. 3:8). He is the only Judge mentioned connected with the Tribe of Judah. Under Othniel, peace lasted for forty years.
Otniel
Otniel (Hebrew: עָתְנִיאֵל) is a Jewish Orthodox Israeli settlement in the southern Judaean Mountains, south of Hebron in the West Bank. It is under the jurisdiction of the Har Hebron Regional Council. Approximately 130 families live in Otniel. Israeli settlements in the West Bank are generally considered illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.
History
Otniel, established in 1983, was named for the first biblical judge Othniel Ben Kenaz. Otniel is south of Beit Hagai and north of Shim'a and the Palestinian village of as-Samu. Yeshivat Otniel, a hesder yeshiva, is jointly headed by Rabbi Binyamin Kalmanzon and Rabbi Re'em HaCohen. The yeshiva also has an overseas program that attracts students from Australia and the United States.
Arab-Israeli conflict
In December 2002, four students were killed and ten were wounded in a terrorist attack on the yeshiva. In November 2011, an Otniel resident, Rabbi Dan Martzbach, was killed, and two women were wounded, when an Israel Defense Forces patrol, on alert for suspected terrorists, fired on their car as they drove to the Cave of the Patriarchs to pray in the early hours of the morning. In January 2016, a Palestinian entered the home of a woman, Dafna Meir, and stabbed her to death in front of three of her children.
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