Kenites

Narrator: Chris Genthree
 •  1 min. read  •  grade level: 10
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There seem to have been several different peoples called by this name, without any apparent link between them. Thus
1. There were some in the land when it was promised to Abraham (Gen. 15:1919The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, (Genesis 15:19)).
2. Jethro, or Raguel, Moses’ father-in-law, is called a Kenite (Judg. 1:1616And the children of the Kenite, Moses' father in law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lieth in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people. (Judges 1:16)), and is also called a Midianite (Num. 10:2929And Moses said unto Hobab, the son of Raguel the Midianite, Moses' father in law, We are journeying unto the place of which the Lord said, I will give it you: come thou with us, and we will do thee good: for the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel. (Numbers 10:29)). The Midianites sprung from Midian, the son of Abraham and Keturah (Gen. 25:22And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. (Genesis 25:2)); so these Kenites were probably a branch of the Midianites. The children of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, left Jericho, the city of palm trees, and went into the wilderness of Judah, which was to the south of Arad, and dwelt there (Judg. 1:1616And the children of the Kenite, Moses' father in law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lieth in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people. (Judges 1:16)). Apparently Heber the Kenite traveled north, and was neutral between Israel and their enemies; but Jael his wife smote Sisera in her tent (Judg. 4:11,1711Now Heber the Kenite, which was of the children of Hobab the father in law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent unto the plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh. (Judges 4:11)
17Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite: for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. (Judges 4:17); Judg. 5:2424Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent. (Judges 5:24)). Others remained in the far south, for when Saul was going to smite the Amalekites he warned the Kenites, for their own safety, to depart from among them, because they had befriended Israel when they came from Egypt (1 Sam. 15:66And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye showed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. (1 Samuel 15:6)). They were still in the neighborhood when David feigned to have attacked them. He regarded them as friends, and sent presents to them (1 Sam. 27:1010And Achish said, Whither have ye made a road to day? And David said, Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelites, and against the south of the Kenites. (1 Samuel 27:10); 1 Sam. 30:2929And to them which were in Rachal, and to them which were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to them which were in the cities of the Kenites, (1 Samuel 30:29)).