Jethro, Moses's father-in-law, who was a shepherd and a priest in the land of Midian (Judges 1:16).[2] Certain groups of Kenites settled among the Israelite population, including the descendants of Moses's brother-in-law,[1] although the Kenites descended from Rechab
maintained a distinct, nomadic lifestyle for some time.
The word קֵינִי (qênî / Kay-nee)[3] was a patronymic derived from the word קַיִן (qayin).[4] There are several competing interpretations of the meaning of the etymology.
Early modern critical biblical scholars supposed that the name was a rendition of Hebrew קֵינִי Qeyniy. According to the German orientalistWilhelm Gesenius, the name is derived from the name Cain (קַיִן Qayin),[4] the same name as Cain the son of Adam and Eve. However this may simply be the ancient Hebrew transliteration or phonetization of the Kenites' name in their own language.
The word spelled קַיִן (qayin / Kah-yin).[4] could also mean a spear or lance קַיִן (qayin / Kah-yin).[5] derived from the word קוֹנֵן (qônēn / Koon)[6] which meant to "strike" (The word would also be used to mean striking a note on a musical instrument, by the later books of the Bible this word became the noun for a type of lament, dirge, or sad chant. Later becoming a verb for chanting or wailing at a funeral)[6]
Other scholars have linked the name to the term 'smith'. According to
Archibald Henry Sayce, the name 'Kenite' or Qéní, is identical to an Aramaic word meaning a smith, which in its turn is a cognate of Hebrew Qayin, meaning 'a lance'.[7] However, by the end of his life, Sayce was considered an amateur rather than a specialist and was criticized for his lack of intellectual penetration and outdated opposition to the work of continental orientalists.[8]
Historical identity
The Kenites are a
better source needed
]
In Jeremiah 35:7-8 the Rechabites are described as tent-dwellers with an absolute prohibition against practicing agriculture; however, other Kenites are described elsewhere as city-dwellers (1 Samuel 30:29, 1 Chronicles 2:55).[citation needed]
In modern sources the Kenites are often depicted as technologically advanced nomadic blacksmiths who spread their culture and religion to Canaan. The suggestion that the Kenites were wandering smiths was first made by B. D. Stade in Beiträge zur Pentateuchkritik: dasKainszeichen in 1894 and has since become widespread.[11] This view of the Kenites originating in Germany the mid-1800s is not reflected in any ancient Hebrew, Greek, Latin, or Arabic sources. The Kenites seem to have had no particular dislike of cities, settling in cities and villages from a very early date.[citation needed]
In 1988, Meindert Dijkstra argued that an ancient inscription in a metal mine in the Sinai Peninsula contained a reference to "a chief of the Kenites" (rb bn qn).[12]
In Exodus 3:1 Jethro is said to have been a "priest in the land of Midian" and a resident of Midian (Numbers 10:29). This has led many scholars to believe that the terms "Kenite" and "Midianite" are intended (at least in parts of the Bible) to be used interchangeably, or that the Kenites formed a part of the Midianite tribal grouping.
The Kenites journeyed with the Israelites to Canaan (Judges 1:16); and their encampment, apart from the latter's, was noticed by Balaam.[13]
The Kenites were closely allied with Moses, and are not mentioned to have participated in the first invasion of Canaan (Numbers 14:39–45, Deuteronomy 1:41–46) that was conducted against Moses's orders.
During the second invasion of Canaan (Numbers 21:1–4), the Kenites would have seen the area around the town of Arad, the region of Canaan that the next generation of Kenites would later choose as their place to settle after the conquest.
When the Israelites and Kenites were camped at the foot of Mount Peor, King Balak of Moab allied himself with the five Kings of Midian, but seeing that they did not have the strength to defeat the Israelites, the leaders of Moab and Midian gathered together and paid a large fee to Balaam to put a curse on the Israelite camp from the high place (a type of religious shrine) on Mount Peor (Numbers 22:1–21). Balaam was unable to curse Israel, but prophesied about the Kenites, saying that they would endure, but foretold that someday they would be led away captive as slaves to Assur, (Numbers 24:21–22), with the question of how long their future slavery would last being unanswered.
War between Israel and Midian
While the camp was still encamped on the west side of Mount Peor, the local Moabites attempted to include the Israelites in their worship of their god Baal of Peor. During the commotion and bloodshed, Moses's grandnephew Phinehas killed a Midianite princess, Cozbi, the daughter of King Zur, one of the five Kings of Midian (Numbers 25:14–18). Following this, Moses sent a strikeforce of 12,000 men (1000 from each Israelite tribe, the Kenites were not included) that succeed in killing the five kings Evi (אֱוִי),[14] Rekem (רֶקֶם),[15] Hur (חוּר),[16] Reba (רֶבַע),[17] and Zur (צַוָּר)[18] the father of Cozbi, (Numbers 31:8, Joshua 13:21) and burned each of the Midianite cities and all of their encampments, taking their livestock (Numbers 31:1–12). The Kenites were not included in the invasion of Midian, it is unclear how the Kenites reacted to the fall of the Midianite kings that they had formerly been subject to.
During the Conquest of Canaan
After the death of Moses, Joshua led the Israelite invasion of Canaan; conquering a large portion of central Canaan. Upon Joshua's death, the Israelite tribes of Judah and Simeon took action to conquer southern Canaan, defeating the Canaanites and the Perizzites at the Battle of Bezek (now Ibziq) in Judges 1:5. After Judah's sieges of Jerusalem and Debir, Judges 1:16 says that Jethro's Kenite descendants "went up from the City of Palms, (which appears to be Zoar or Tamar in the upper Arabah[19]), with the men of Judah to live among the people of the Desert of Judah in the Negev near Arad."[19]
After settling in Canaan
Following the conquest, the Israelites began to assimilate into the larger Canaanite culture and started converting to the
Kenizzites
, and probably from his Kenite neighbors as well, this likely gave him a large support base for the tribe of Judah to unite around.
Later, King Eglon of Moab allied with the Kingdom of Ammon and nation of Amalek, in order to invade the territory of Israel. (Judges 3:12–15) After defeating the Israelites, Moab and Amalek took the City of Palms (believed to be the later city of Zoar or Tamar[19]), from the Kenites.
During the rise and fall of Hazor
At this point, around 180 or 190 years after Joshua's invasion, the Canaanites in northern Canaan under King Jabin ruling from Hazor re-asserted their dominance over Canaan (Judges 4:1–3). The Israelite leader Shamgar appears to have been battling with the Philistines in south Canaan at the time, and was either caught off-guard, or unable to prevent the rising Canaanite military, economic, and political power. (Non-biblical sources depict the King of Hazor affirming loyalty to the Egyptian pharaoh, and joining the cities of Qatna and Mari to create a trade route that linked Egypt to Ekallatum[22])
During this period,
Heber the Kenite and his wife Jael separated from their Kenite brethren in the south, and went to live in northern Canaan (Judges 4:11
).
After two decades of North Canaanite dominance in the region, the prophetess Deborah, who was now leading Israel, commissioned Barak the son of Abinoam as her commander to lead the Israelites against the Canaanites. (Judges 4:4–10) King Jabin's general Sisera learned that Barak was massing troops on Mount Tabor, situated between Sisera's base at Harosheth Haggoyim (believed to now be Ahwat) and the Canaanite capital at Hazor, and set out northward to meet him with 900 chariots. The weather became unfavorable to Sisera's army, the sky became clouded (Judges 5:4–5), and the river that his chariots needed to cross was flooded. While Sisera attempted to ford his chariots through the torrential Kishon River at a river crossing close to the then-Canaanite city of Taanach (Now known as Ti'inik) near Megiddo (Judges 5:19–21), Barak's 10,000 men went down southwestward from Mount Tabor (Judges 4:14) to give battle on the plain and rivers. Sisera left his chariot behind and escaped the battle on foot, while Barak pursued the chariots that were fleeing back to the Canaanite base at Harosheth Haggoyim (Judges 4:15–16)