Kenites

The Kenites were a nomadic clan of the ancient Levant, some of whom became affiliated with the Israelites. The Kenites were shepherds, coppersmiths, and metalworkers. The Kenites apparently assimilated into the Israelite population, though the Kenites descended from Rechab maintained a distinct, nomadic lifestyle for some time.

Moses apparently identified Jethro's god, El Shaddai, with Yahweh, the Israelites' god. According to one theory, Yahweh was originally the tribal god of the Kenites, borrowed and adapted by the Hebrews.

Name

"Kenite" or "Kainite" derives from the Hebrew Kainim.^{[citation needed]} See also Kna Judaism.

The name "Kenite" may be derived from the name of Cain, or vice versa (see Cain and Abel). Adherents of the fringe "serpent seed" doctrine, which states that Cain was the son of Satan rather than of Adam, believe that the Kenites were literally the wicked descendants of Cain.

Alternatively, the name may be derived from the name of Kenan (Cainan), the son of Enos (and thus the grandson of Seth and the great-grandson of Adam).

In the Bible

The Kenites are mentioned as inhabiting the promised land of Canaan as early as the time of Abraham. At the Exodus the tribe inhabited the vicinity of Mount Sinai and Horeb. Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses was a Kenite; elsewhere, however, Jethro is said to have been "priest of Midian" and a Midianite, leading many scholars to believe that the terms 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; and their encampment, apart from the latter's, was noticed by Balaam

At a later period some of the Kenites separated from their brethren in the south, and went to northern Canaan, where they existed in the time of King Saul. The kindness which they had shown to Israel in the wilderness was gratefully remembered. "Ye showed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt," said Saul to them; and so not only were they spared by him, but David allowed them to share in the spoil that he took from the Amalekites.

Other well-known Kenites were Heber, the husband of Jael, and Rechab, the ancestor of the Rechabites.

Critical view

According to the critical interpretation of the Biblical data, the Kenites were a clan settled on the southern border of Judah, originally more advanced in arts than the Hebrews, and from whom the latter learned much. In the time of David the Kenites were finally incorporated into the tribe of Judah. Their eponymous ancestor may have been Cain (Kain), to whose descendants the Jahwist in Genesis iv. attributes the invention of the art of working bronze and iron, the use of instruments of music, etc. Sayce has inferred that the Kenites were a tribe of smiths—a view to which Jahwist's statements would lend support.

Jethro, priest of Midian, and father-in-law of Moses, is said to have been a Kenite. This indicates that the Kenites originally formed part of the Midianite tribe or tribes. The Bible may even describe an initiation of Moses and Aaron by Jethro into the worship of YHWH, although this seems contrary to very many other Biblical passages. Several modern scholars believe, in consequence of this statement, that Yhwh was a Kenite deity, and that from the Kenites through the agency of Moses his worship passed to the Israelites. This view, first proposed by F. W. Ghillany, afterward independently by Cornelis Petrus Tiele, and more fully by Stade, has been more completely worked out by Karl Budde; and is accepted by H. Guthe, Gerrit Wildeboer, H. P. Smith, and G. A. Barton. This view is challenged by other Bible scholars who argue: "We nowhere hear that Moses took over the Yahweh-worship from this tribe. On the contrary, Jethro begins only at this time to worship Yahweh, the God of Moses, and the common sacrificial meal, according to 18:12, did not take place in the presence of Yahweh, but, accommodating it to the guest, in the presence of Elohim"

It has been suggested that inasmuch as the Bible describes Jethro assisting Moses in the organization of a court system, at least some of ancient Israelite jurisprudence may have derived from Kenite sources. Still other scholars have speculated that the genealogy of Cain in the Book of Genesis may contain oral Kenite traditions.

References

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• This article incorporates text from the 1901–1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, a publication now in the public domain.

• Hirsch, Emil G., Bernhard Pick and George A. Barton. "Kenites." Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906; which cites to the following bibliography:

• Stade, Geschichte des Volkes Israel, i. 126 et seq., Berlin, 1889;
• Moore, "Judges," in International Critical Commentary, pp. 51-55, New York, 1895;
• Budde, Religion of Israel to the Exile, pp. 17-38, New York;
• Barton, Semitic Origins, pp. 271-278, ib. 1902.

External links

• Kenites on jewishencyclopedia.com
• http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=152&letter=R&search=Kenites Rechabites on jewishencyclopedia.com]
• Kenites on Columbia Encyclopedia

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