Biography of Othniel

Joshua 15

16 And Caleb said, "I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher."

17 Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's brother, took it; so Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to him in marriage.

18 One day when she came to Othniel, she urged him to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, "What can I do for you?"

Judges 3

7 The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.

8 The anger of the LORD burned against Israel so that he sold them into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram Naharaim, to whom the Israelites were subject for eight years.

9 But when they cried out to the LORD, he raised up for them a deliverer, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, who saved them.

10 The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, so that he became Israel's judge and went to war. The LORD gave Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into the hands of Othniel, who overpowered him.

11 So the land had peace for forty years, until Othniel son of Kenaz died.

From Wikipedia

Othniel Ben Kenaz (Hebrew: עָתְנִיאֵל בֶּן קְנַז, Standard ʻOtniʼel Ben Qənaz Tiberian ʻOṯnîʼēl Ben Qənaz ; "lion of God") is the first of the Biblical Judges. His wife Achsah was the daughter of Caleb (Josh. 15:16, 17; Judg. 1:13). He gained her hand as a reward for his bravery in leading a successful expedition against Debir. He was also Caleb's nephew, son of his brother(Joshua 15:17, Talmud Sotah 11b). Some thirty years after the death of Joshua, the Israelites fell under the subjection of Chushan-rishathaim, the king of Mesopotamia. He oppressed them for a full eight years, when they "cried" unto God, Othniel was raised up to be their deliverer. He was the son of Kenaz, younger brother of Caleb (Judg. 3:8, 9-11). He is the only Judge mentioned connected with the Tribe of Judah. Under him peace lasted for forty years. After the forty years, Israel fell under the subjection of Eglon, a king of Moab who defeated Israel with help from Ammon and Amalek (Judges 3:12-13).

From Jewish Encyclopedia by Emil G. Hirsch and Ira Maurice Price

One of the sons of Kenaz, according to the chronicler (I Chron. iv. 13); hence one of the Kenizzites. After Caleb had been assigned his possession (Josh. XV. 13 et seq.), he drove out the giants and otherwise secured it for himself, except the town of Kirjath-sepher, as a prize for whose capture he offered his daughter Achsah. "Othniel the son of Kenez, the brother of Caleb, took it, and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife" (ib. xv. 16, 17). Othniel's heroism, however, achieved the greatest results for his people when he delivered them from foreign oppression. The tribes had no sooner settled in the land than a conqueror from the country of Mesopotamia, Cushan-rishathaim, probably an Aramean, swept down over Syrian territory and subjected Israel. For eight years they were compelled to pay the price of submission and oppression. When they cried for mercy Yhwh raised up a savior, "even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother" (Judges iii. 9). By the spirit of Yhwh that came upon him he routed the king from Mesopotamia and saved Israel from its oppressor. "And the land had rest forty years." The question of marriage involved in this narrative is not troublesome. The marrying of near kin was allowable in that day, as is seen in the cases of Abraham (Gen. XX. 2, 5, 12), of Isaac and Rebekah, of Jacob and Rachel and Leah, and often in later times. Othniel's real relation to Caleb is plain if the narrative is allowed to tell its own story.