The Kenites (Midianites):

See also: Ishmaelites and Midianites

Introduction:

  1. The Kenites are a sect of Midianites. The Kenites were descendents of Jethro the Midianite (Moses father in law) and their traditional territory was near Midian: Judges 1:16
  2. The Midianites and the Ishmaelites intermarried and became one sect that were indistinguishable at the time Joseph was sold into Egyptian slavery in 1893 BC.
  3. They lived in the mountains near Midian: Numbers 24:20-21. The Kenites lived in the mountains and with the Amalekites: 1 Samuel 15:6-7
  4. Moses asked Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite to live be his scout from the Sinai area. In exchange, Moses promised land. The Kenites settled in the southern part of Judah: "wilderness of Judah which is in the south of Arad" Judges 1:16. This was close to the Kenites ancestral homeland of Midian
  5. "Then Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, "We are setting out to the place of which the Lord said, 'I will give it to you'; come with us and we will do you good, for the Lord has promised good concerning Israel." Numbers 10:29

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A. Midianite pottery:

  1. Midianite pottery was imported from Qurayyah in modern Saudi Arabia. (see map) The Kenites are a sect of Midianites that Moses invited to join him in the promised land. After settling in the Negev, the Kenites were responsible for importing their own pottery into their new home.
  2. See details of Midianite Pottery that the Kenite imported into Israel and Timna

B. What the Bible says about the Kenites:

  1. "the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite" Genesis 15:19
  2. "And he looked at the Kenite, and took up his discourse and said, "Your dwelling place is enduring, And your nest is set in the cliff." Numbers 24:21
  3. "The descendants of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up from the city of palms with the sons of Judah, to the wilderness of Judah which is in the south of Arad; and they went and lived with the people." Judges 1:16
  4. "Now Heber the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, from the sons of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh." Judges 4:11
  5. "Now Sisera fled away on foot 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
  6. ""Most blessed of women is Jael, The wife of Heber the Kenite; Most blessed is she of women in the tent." Judges 5:24
  7. "Saul said to the Kenites, "Go, depart, go down from among the Amalekites, so that I do not destroy you with them; for you showed kindness to all the sons of Israel when they came up from Egypt." So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites." 1 Samuel 15:6
  8. "Now Achish said, "Where have you made a raid today?" And David said, "Against the Negev of Judah and against the Negev of the Jerahmeelites and against the Negev of the Kenites." 1 Samuel 27:10
  9. "and to those who were in Racal, and to those who were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to those who were in the cities of the Kenites," 1 Samuel 30:29
  10. "The families of scribes who lived at Jabez were the Tirathites, the Shimeathites and the Sucathites. Those are the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab." 1 Chronicles 2:55

C. What the Bible says about Arad, (The Kenites lives south of Arad) Arad was on the west side of the Dead Sea within the territory of Judah and was considered part of the Negev:

  1. "The descendants of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up from the city of palms with the sons of Judah, to the wilderness of Judah which is in the south of Arad; and they went and lived with the people." Judges 1:16
  2. "When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, then he fought against Israel and took some of them captive." Numbers 21:1
  3. "Now the Canaanite, the king of Arad who lived in the Negev in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the sons of Israel." Numbers 33:40
  4. "the king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one;" Joshua 12:14

By Steve Rudd: Contact the author for comments, input or corrections.

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