Kenites
The Kenites were a nomadic tribe who lived in the region of Canaan and were generally friendly to the Israelites, often providing them with assistance and support.
The name Kenites means “possession; purchase; lamentation”
GroupOld Testament5 books10 verses
Summary
Ancestors of Heber or Hobab, first mentioned at Genesis 15:19; referred to as Kenite (קֵינִי, קַ֫יִן).
Glossary entries
Alternative names
Mentions
- …the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,
- Next he saw the Kenites and lifted up an oracle, saying: “Your dwelling place is secure, and your nest is set in a cliff.
- Now the descendants of Moses’ father-in-law, the Kenite, went up with the men of Judah from the City of Palms to the Wilderness of Judah in the Negev near Arad. They went to live among the people.
- Now Heber the Kenite had moved away from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent by the great tree of Zaanannim, which was near Kedesh.
- Meanwhile, Sisera had fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.
- Most blessed among women is Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, most blessed of tent-dwelling women.
- And he warned the Kenites, “Since you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt, go on and get away from the Amalekites. Otherwise I will sweep you away with them.” So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.
- …who would ask him, “What have you raided today?” And David would reply, “The Negev of Judah,” or “The Negev of Jerahmeel,” or “The Negev of the Kenites.”
- …to those in Racal and in the cities of the Jerahmeelites and Kenites;
- …and the clans of the scribes who lived at Jabez—the Tirathites, Shimeathites, and Sucathites. These are the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab.