Dictionaries :: Kenite, The

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Kenite, The:

and Ken'ites (smiths) The, inhabited the rocky and desert region between southern Palestine and the mountains of Sinai, east of the Gulf of Akabah. They were a branch of the larger nation of Midian,-from the fact that Jethro, who in Exodus (see Exodus 2:15, 16; 4:19, etc.) is represented as dwelling in the land of Midian, and as priest or prince of that nation, is in Judges 1:16; 4:11 as distinctly said to have been a Kenite. The important services rendered by the sheikh of the Kenites to Moses during a time of great pressure and difficulty were rewarded by the latter with a promise of firm friendship between the two peoples. They seem to have accompanied the Hebrews during their wanderings (Numbers 24:21-22; Judges 1:16 compare 2 Chronicles 28:15). But, the wanderings of Israel over, they forsook the neighborhood of the towns and betook themselves to freer air,-to "the wilderness of Judah, which is to the south of Arad" (Judges 1:16). But one of the sheikhs of the tribe, Heber by name, had wandered north instead of south (Judges 4:11). The most remarkable development of this people is to be found in the sect or family of the Rechabites.