Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 1:16
And the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which [lieth] in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people.
16. The text of this verse has been badly preserved, and some details of the restoration must remain doubtful.
the children of the Kenite, Moses’ brother in law ] Marg. father in law, as O.T. usage requires. A proper name and the article (inserted by RV.) have fallen out before Kenite; LXX. cod. B restores Jethro, cod. A Hobab. The traditions differ as to the name of Moses’ father in law; in J it is Hobab, Num 10:29, cf. ch. Jdg 4:11; in E it is Jethro, Exo 3:1; Exo 4:18; Exo 18:1. As this chapter is related to J, the former is preferable: the children of Hobab the Kenite. The traditions differ again as to the tribe to which Moses’ father in law belonged; here and in Jdg 4:11 he is called a Kenite (see the note below), but in Exo 2:15 ff; Exo 3:1; Exo 18:1, Num 10:29 he is a Midianite. Common to both traditions is Moses’ connexion by marriage with an Arab tribe. The verb went up in clause a is plur.; in clause b went and dwelt are sing., and may be corrected to the plur. (with RV., LXX. B they dwelt). But the sing, verbs in clause b perhaps imply that the text originally ran And Hobab the Kenite went up (sing.) and went and dwelt, omitting the children of.
the city of palm trees ] i.e. Jericho, cf. Jdg 3:13 n. and Deu 34:3 , 2Ch 28:15. The order in which the stages of the invasion are mentioned, Jerusalem, Hebron, Debir, Arad, Zephath, seems to indicate a movement starting from the E. and advancing towards the S.; hence Jericho, in the neighbourhood of Gilgal (Jdg 2:1), may well have been the point of departure. On the theory that Judah came up from Kadesh in the southern desert, a ‘city of palm trees’ has been looked for in the S., and Tamar, i.e. ‘palm tree’ (Eze 47:19; Eze 48:28), in S.E. Palestine, is suggested as the place (Steuernagel, l.c. 75 ff.). The possibility that the Calebites and other clans which in time coalesced under the name of Judah, entered the land from the South has been noticed above, in Jdg 1:10.
the wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad ] in the Negeb of Arad. The wilderness, of Judah (Psalms 63 title, St Mat 3:1, cf. Jos 15:61) was the barren, rugged tract which descends from the Central Highlands eastwards to the Dead Sea. It is possible that the term may have included Arad = Tell ‘Ard, 17 m. S.E. of Hebron (cf. on Jdg 1:9); yet the description of the ‘wilderness of Judah’ (properly in the E.) as within the Negeb (in the S.) is surprising. The text is certainly incorrect. The LXX. cod. A reads ‘into the desert of Judah, which is in the south, at the descent of Arad’; cod. B ‘into the desert which is in the south of Judah, which is at the descent of Arad.’ Both recensions of the LXX give the descent of Arad (cf. Jos 7:5; Jos 10:11 ‘the going down’) instead of the Negeb of Arad; in the neighbourhood of Tell ‘Ard the Judaean hills descend to the Wadi Seyyal on the E. and the Wadi el-Mil on the W., and thence to the plains. Following the LXX. cod. B we might restore ‘into the desert which is in the Negeb of Judah in the descent of Arad,’ which would give excellent sense; but we cannot feel sure that the LXX represents the original text. Other emendations are: ‘the wilderness of Judah which is in the descent of Arad’ (Budde); ‘into the wilderness of Arad’ (Moore, omitting the rest as partly gloss and partly correction of the Hebr.); ‘the Kenites went up from the city of palm-trees which is in the Negeb with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Arad’ (Steuernagel). None of these is quite convincing.
with the people ] gives no sense; read with the Amalekite, following a group of cursive MSS. of the LXX which have ‘with the people Amalek’; this agrees with 1Sa 15:6, Num 24:20-22. ‘While the main Judaean stock settled on the arable land and in cities, and intermarried with the Canaanites, the Kenites, true to their nomadic origin, turned into the wilderness of Judah, and dwelt with the Amalekites’ (G. A. Smith, Hist. Geogr., p. 277 f.). The Kenites, who were related to the Kenizzites (Gen 15:19; Gen 36:11; Gen 36:15), seem to have been a branch of the Amalekites (Num. l. c.); they continued to dwell near Judah in the Negeb 1Sa 27:10, on friendly terms ib. 1Sa 30:29. In Jdg 4:11 we find a family of them settled in the N., in the territory of Naphtali.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The children of the Kenite – See Num 24:21 note.
The city of palm trees – Jericho (see the marginal reference). The rabbinical story is that Jericho, with 500 cubits square of land, was given to Hobab. The use of the phrase city of palm trees for Jericho, is perhaps an indication of the influence of Joshuas curse Jos 6:26. Tbe very name of Jericho was blotted out. There are no palm trees at Jericho now, but Josephus mentions them repeatedly, as well as the balsam trees.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 16. The children of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law] For an account of Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, see Ex 18:1-27; Nu 10:29, c.
The city of palm trees] This seems to have been some place near Jericho, which city is expressly called the city of palm trees, De 34:3 and though destroyed by Joshua, it might have some suburbs remaining where these harmless people had taken up their residence.
The Kenites, the descendants of Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, were always attached to the Israelites: they remained with them, says Calmet, during their wanderings in the wilderness, and accompanied them to the promised land. They received there a lot with the tribe of Judah, and remained in the city of palm trees during the life of Joshua; but after his death, not contented with their portion, or molested by the original inhabitants, they united with the tribe of Judah, and went with them to attack Arad. After the conquest of that country, the Kenites established themselves there, and remained in it till the days of Saul, mingled with the Amalekites. When this king received a commandment from God to destroy the Amalekites, he sent a message to the Kenites to depart from among them, as God would not destroy them with the Amalekites. From them came Hemath, who was the father of the house of Rechab, 1Ch 2:55, and the Rechabites, of whom we have a remarkable account Jer 35:1, &c.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Children of the Kenite, i.e. of Jethro, so called from the people from whom he descended, Num 24:21,22. And whatsoever he did, it is evident that his posterity came into Canaan with the Israelites, and were there seated with them. See Jdg 4:11,17; 5:24; 1Sa 15:6; 1Ch 2:55.
Out of the city of palm trees, i.e. from Jericho, so called Deu 34:3; not the city, which was utterly destroyed; but the territory belonging to it, where it seems they were seated as in a most pleasant, and fruitful, and safe place, according to the promise made by Moses to their father, Num 10:31,32, and whence they might remove, either to avoid the society or molestation of the neighbouring Canaanites; or out of love to the children of Judah, whom they went to; or to avoid temptations to luxury, and exercise themselves in self-denial and contempt of the present evil world, and the lusts thereof; as may be thought from Jer 35:6, &c.; or for some other cause unknown to us at this distance.
In the south of Arad; in the southern part of the land of Canaan, where Arad was, Num 21:1.
They went, i.e. some of them, for others of them dwelt in the contrary quarter, in the most northern part of the land.
Among the people, Heb. that people, to wit, those children of Judah that lived there.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16. the children of the Kenite,Moses’ father-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees with thechildren of Judahcalled “the Kenite,” as probablydescended from the people of that name (Num 24:21;Num 24:22). If he might nothimself, his posterity did accept the invitation of Moses (Nu10:32) to accompany the Israelites to Canaan. Their firstencampment was in the “city of palm trees”not Jericho,of course, which was utterly destroyed, but the surrounding district,perhaps En-gedi, in early times called Hazezon-tamar (Ge14:7), from the palm-grove which sheltered it. Thence theyremoved for some unknown cause, and associating themselves withJudah, joined in an expedition against Arad, in the southern part ofCanaan (Nu 21:1). On theconquest of that district, some of this pastoral people pitched theirtents there, while others migrated to the north (Jud4:17).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father in law,…. The posterity of Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses; for though Jethro returned to his own country, after he had paid a visit to Moses in the wilderness, yet Hobab his son, at the persuasion of Moses, travelled with him and Israel through the wilderness, and went with them into Canaan, at least some of his descendants, and settled there, some in one part of the land, and some in another, of whom we read in several places of Scripture; they continued to the days of Jeremiah, and then went by the name of Rechabites, so called from Rechab, a descendant of Jethro: these
went up out of the city of palm trees; from the city of Jericho, as the Targum, so called from the great number of palm trees which grew near it, see De 34:3. This is to be understood not of the city itself, that was utterly destroyed by Joshua, and the rebuilding of it was forbidden under a curse, but the country adjacent, the valley in which it stood, which was set with palm trees; here was a grove of palm trees m, and the garden of balsam, which grew nowhere else, as Strabo n says; and who also observes, that here was a royal palace in his time; this belonged to Herod king of Judea in the times of Augustus Caesar, to whose palm tree groves there Horace o refers. Here the Kenites first settled when they came first over Jordan with Joshua, being a most pleasant and delightful place, and suitable to such persons who dwelt in tents, as they did, and answered to the promise of Moses to Hobab,
Nu 10:29; and here it seems they had remained to this time: and now they left it, and came
with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah; which was also a convenient place for the habitation of such persons, who loved a solitary life. Perhaps the Canaanites about Jericho might be troublesome to them, and therefore chose to stay no longer, there; or, having a peculiar affection for the tribe of Judah, they chose to be within their lot; and the rather, as they were a warlike and valiant tribe, they might expect the greater safety and protection among them:
which [lieth], in the south of Arad; that is, which wilderness of Judah lay there, of which name there was a country or city, see Nu 21:1; and here some of them dwelt to the times of Saul, the Amalekites then having got possession of the southern parts, which they infested and were troublesome to, see 1Sa 15:6;
and they went and dwelt among the people; of the tribe of Judah, near some of the cities which were in the wilderness; of which see
Jos 15:63.
m Justin. e Trogo, l. 36. c. 3. n Geograph. l. 16. p. 525. o Praeferat Herodis. Palmetis Pinguibus—-De Arte Poet. ver. 184.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The notice respecting the Kenites, that they went up out of the palm-city with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah in the south of Arad, and dwelt there with the Judaeans, is introduced here into the account of the wars of the tribe of Judah, because this migration of the Kenites belonged to the time between the conquest of Debir (Jdg 1:12.) and Zephath (Jdg 1:17); and the notice itself was of importance, as forming the intermediate link between Num 10:29., and the later allusions to the Kenites in Jdg 4:11; Jdg 5:24; 1Sa 15:6; 1Sa 27:10; 1Sa 30:29. “ The children of the Kenite, ” i.e., the descendants of Hobab, the brother-in-law of Moses (compare Jdg 4:11, where the name is given, but occurs instead of , with Num 10:29), were probably a branch of the Kenites mentioned in Gen 15:19 along with the other tribes of Canaan, which had separated from the other members of its own tribe before the time of Moses and removed to the land of Midian, where Moses met with a hospitable reception from their chief Reguel on his flight from Egypt. These Kenites had accompanied the Israelites to Canaan at the request of Moses (Num 10:29.); and when the Israelites advanced into Canaan itself, they had probably remained as nomads in the neighbourhood of the Jordan near to Jericho, without taking any part in the wars of Joshua. But when the tribe of Judah had exterminated the Canaanites out of Hebron, Debir, and the neighbourhood, after the death of Joshua, they went into the desert of Judah with the Judaeans as they moved farther towards the south; and going to the south-western edge of this desert, to the district on the south of Arad (Tell Arad, see at Num 21:1), they settled there on the border of the steppes of the Negeb (Num 33:40). “ The palm-city ” was a name given to the city of Jericho, according to Jdg 3:13; Deu 34:3; 2Ch 28:15. There is no ground whatever for thinking of some other town of this name in the desert of Arabia, near the palm-forest, , of Diod. Sic. (iii. 42) and Strabo (p. 776), as Clericus and Bertheau suppose, even if it could be proved that there was any such town in the neighbourhood. , “ then he went (the branch of the Kenites just referred to) and dwelt with the people ” (of the children of Judah), that is to say, with the people of Israel in the desert of Judah. The subject to is , the Kenite, as a tribe.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Campaigns of Judah and Benjamin, vs. 16-21
Verse 16 reveals a matter of interest and possibly answers a question left open by Num 10:29-32. There Moses invited his brother-in-law, Hobab, to accompany Israel on their journey to Canaan. Hobab declined, but Moses insisted, and the final outcome of his insistence is not related. Here, though, it is seen that some of Moses’ wife’s relatives did come up with the Israelites. They found a dwelling place in the tribe of Judah, in the wilderness area south of Arad, west of the Dead Sea, actually in the part of Judah later given to the Simeonites.
The campaign of Judah and Simeon turned to the far south, where the city of Zephath, better known as Hormah, was divested of Canaanites and destroyed. This is the place where the rebellious Israelites presumptuously attacked after the Lord told them to turn back into the wilderness. They belatedly decided to go into the Promised Land, so they went out without God and were beaten (Num 14:40-45). About forty years later when they were again about to enter the land God gave Israel a victory here (Num 21:1-3). It is also interesting to note that Judah at this time took three of the leading cities which the Philistines later occupied, Gaza, Askelon, and Ekron. Their failure to hold these cities and leaving them to the Philistine occupation later caused Israel untold hardship and trouble.
Verse 19 says “the Lord was with Judah,” and he was able to drive out the inhabitants of the mountains. However, it is said they could not drive out the inhabitants of the valleys because they had iron chariots. God is all-powerful, and His power certainly extends over iron chariots of Canaan, as will be exemplified when the Israelites manifest proper faith in Him (see Jdg 4:15 and context). What happened here with Judah is anticipatory of what occurred in all the tribes; the people lacked the faith to claim God’s promised victory. As an example of the positive side there is mentioned the success of Caleb again over the mighty giants of Hebron. The Benjamites likewise failed to subjugate Jerusalem, after it was conquered for them by Judah, but settled down to live among the Jebusites.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
The Extent of the Conquests of Judah and Benjamin Jdg. 1:16-21
16 And the children of the Kenite, Moses father-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lieth in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people.
17 And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah.
18 Also Judah took Gaza with the coast thereof, and Askelon with the coast thereof, and Ekron with the coast thereof.
19 And the Lord was with Judah; and he drove out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.
20 And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said: and he expelled thence the three sons of Anak.
21 And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day.
10.
What city is called the city of the palm trees? Jdg. 1:16
This name was given to the city of Jericho (see Jdg. 3:13; Deu. 34:3; 2Ch. 28:15). Strabo, Clericus, and others suppose that this is a reference to some other town in the desert of Arabia, but without substantial grounds. When Jesus went up from Jericho to Jerusalem, crowds followed Him; and on the day of His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, they threw palm branches along the roadway (Joh. 12:13).
11.
Who were the Kenites? Jdg. 1:16
The Kenites were descendants of Hobab, the brother-in-law of Moses. They were probably a branch of the Kenites mentioned in Gen. 15:19 along with the other tribes of Canaan, which had separated from the other members of its own tribe before the time of Moses and removed to the land of Midian, where Moses met with a hospitable reception from their chief, Reuel, on his flight from Egypt. These people had gone along with the Israelites to Canaan at the request of Moses (Num. 10:29 ff.). When the Israelites advanced into Canaan itself, they had probably remained as nomads in the neighborhood of the Jordan near Jericho, without taking any part in the wars of Joshua; but when the tribes of Judah had driven out the Canaanites from Hebron, Debir, and the neighborhood, after the death of Joshua, they went into the desert of Judah with the Judeans and settled on the border of the steppes of the Negeb.
12. Where were Arad and Hormah? Jdg. 1:16-17
Hormah was the chief town of a Canaanitish king in the south of Palestine (Jos. 12:14). Near here the Israelites were discomfited by the Amalekites when against the advice of Moses they attempted to enter Canaan by that route (Num. 14:45; cf. Num. 21:1-3; Deu. 1:44). Hormah was afterward taken by Joshua and assigned to Judah (Jos. 15:30; but it finally fell to Simeon Jdg. 19:4; 1Ch. 4:30). Hormah has not been positively identified, though Tell-es-seba, about three miles east of Beersheba is a likely location (see Ungers Bible Dictionary, p. 449). Arad was a Canaanite city of the southern-most borders of Palestine, whose inhabitants drove back the Israelites while they were trying to enter Canaan from Kadesh (Num. 21:2; Num. 33:40), but were finally subdued by Joshua (Jos. 12:14; Jdg. 1:16). It lay twenty miles south of Hebron, and is now called Tell Arad (see Unger, op cit., p. 77). Considerable excavations have been undertaken at Tell Arad, and evidences of Canaanite civilization are extensive. Nearby is a large settlement of modern Israel which keeps alive the ancient Biblical name.
13, Was Jerusalem occupied by Israelites in the day of the ?Jdg. 1:21
After defeating Adoni-bezek, Judah and Simeon went against Jerusalem, conquered this city, and set the city on fire, Joshua had already slain the king of Jerusalem and his four allies after the battle of Gibeon (Jos. 10:3; Jos. 10:18-26), but had not conquered his capital. Even after Judah and Simeon smote the city, Jerusalem did not come into the sole and permanent possession of the Israelites until David made it his capital (2Sa. 5:6 ff.). When this chapter of Judges was written, the site was occupied by that group of Canaanites known as Jebusites. The necessity for such repeated attempts to conquer a single site illustrates how the Canaanites infiltrated back into the midst of the Israelites whenever Israel did not exterminate these enemies or occupy immediately the citadels taken from them.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(16) The children of the Kenite, Moses father in law.It is difficult to disentangle the names Jethro, Reuel, or Raguel, and Hobab (Jdg. 4:11); but in my article on Jethro in Kittos Bible Cyclopdia I have shown that Jethro and Reuel are identical, the latter name (friend of God) being his local title as a priest of Midian; and that he was the father of Zipporah and Hobab. When Jethro refused to stay with the Israelites (Exo. 18:27), Hobab consented to accompany them as their hybeer or caravan-guide. He is well known in the Mohammedan legends as Schocib, but is confounded with Jethro.
The Kenites were the elder branch of the tribe of Midianites. They lived in the rocky district on the shores of the gulf of Akabah (Num. 21:1; Num. 24:21; 1Sa. 15:6). They seem to have been named from a chieftain Kain (Gen. 15:19; Num. 24:22; Heb., where there is a play on Kenite and Kinneka, thy rest). They were originally a race of troglodytes or cave-dwellers. The Targum constantly reads Salmaa for Kenite, because the Kenites were identified with the Kinim of 1Ch. 2:55. Jethro, they say. was a Kenite, who gave to Moses a house (Beth) and bread (lehem) (Exo. 2:20-21). They identify Jethro with Salmaa, because in 1Ch. 2:5 Salma is the father of Bethlehem. They also identify Rechab, the ancestor of the Rechabiteswho were a branch of the Keniteswith Rechabiah, the son of Moses.
Went up.Probably, in the first instance, in a warlike expedition.
The city of palm trees.Probably Jericho (see Jdg. 3:13; Deu. 34:3; 2Ch. 28:15). When Jericho was destroyed and laid under a curse, it would be quite in accordance with the Jewish feeling, which attached such fatal force and fascination to words, to avoid even the mention of the name. The Kenites would naturally attach less importance to the curse, or at any rate would not consider that they were braving it when they pitched their nomad tents among those beautiful groves of palms and balsams, which once made the soil a divine country (Jos. B. J. i. 6. 6; iv. 8, 3; Antt. v. 1, 22), though they have now entirely disappeared. Rabbinic tradition says that Jericho was assigned to Hobab. From the omission of the name Jericho, some have needlessly supposed that the reference is to Phaenico (a name which means palm-grove), an Arabian town mentioned by Diod Sic. iii. 41 (Le Clerc, Bertheau, Ewald); but there is no difficulty about the Kenites leaving Jericho when Judah left it.
The wilderness of Judah.The Midbarnot a waste desert, but a plain with pasturewas a name applied to the lower Jordan valley and the southern hills of Judea (Gen. 21:14; Mat. 3:1; Mat. 4:1; Luk. 15:4). The Kenites, like all Bedouins, hated the life of cities, and never lived in them except under absolute necessity (Jer. 35:6-7).
In the south of Arad.Our E.V. has, in Num. 21:1, King Arad; but more correctly, in Jos. 15:14, the king of Arad. It was a city twenty miles from Hebron, on the road to Petra, and the site is still called Tell-Arad (Wilton, Negeb, p. 198). They may have been attracted by the caves in the neighbourhood, and, although they left it at the bidding of Saul (1Sa. 15:6), they seem to have returned to it in the days of David (1Sa. 30:29).
Among the people.It seems most natural to interpret this of the Israelites of the tribe of Judah; hut it may mean the people to which he belonged, i.e., the Amalekites (Num. 21:21), and this accords with 1Sa. 15:21. For the only subsequent notices of this interesting people, see Jdg. 4:11; 1Sa. 15:6; 1Ch. 2:55; Jeremiah 35. They formed a useful frontier-guard to the Holy Land.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
THE KENITES, Jdg 1:16.
16. Children of the Kenite These were a nomadic tribe camping in Midian in the days of Moses’ flight from Egypt. They were of Amalekite, or primitive Arabian, stock, and by virtue of their relation by marriage to Moses, this tribe became an ally, or a protege of the Hebrews, dwelling first in the vicinity of Jericho, the city of palm trees, and subsequently following the victorious arms of their protectors to the extreme south of Judah’s lot, to the edge of the Idumean desert. Here they dwelt undisturbed, taking no part in the wars of those days, and indifferent to political changes, until Saul warned them to separate from the Amalekites, whom God had directed him to destroy. 1Sa 15:6. The Rechabites, a tribe of staunch temperance men, descended from them. 1Ch 2:55.
Arad A Canaanite royal city in southern Palestine, twenty miles south of Hebron. Dr. Robinson identities it with Tell-Arad, a barren eminence rising above the surrounding country. The inhabitants of this city drove back the Israelites when they tried to enter Canaan from Kadesh-barnea. Num 21:1. They were subdued by Joshua forty years afterwards. Jos 12:14.
Dwelt among the people That is, the people of the tribe of Judah; though Heber, the Kenite, was found in Naphtali, Jdg 4:17, having chosen to separate from his brethren and settle in the north of Palestine. It was proper that those who had befriended the Israelites in their weakness, when wandering through hostile lands, should enjoy their protection in the days of their triumph. “The sons of the Kenite adhered to Israel, not as Kenites, but as descendants of Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses. It is the constant aim of the historian of the conquest of Canaan by Israel to show that every promise was fulfilled, and that no one who at any time showed kindness failed of his promised reward. A reward had been promised to the sons of the Kenite, (Num 10:31,) and the fulfilment of the promise now takes place.” Cassel.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ And the children of the Kenite, Moses’ brother-in-law (or ‘father-in-law’), went up from the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad, and they went and dwelt with the people.’
“The children of the Kenite, Moses” brother-in-law’ (the word can indicate brother-in-law or father-in-law depending on how it is pointed. Ancient Hebrew had few vowels. The vowels were added later by a system known as ‘pointing’). We may reasonably see these as the family of Hobab (Num 10:29-32), as Jdg 4:11 confirms. They went up from the city of palm trees (see on Jdg 3:13). On the basis of Jdg 3:13 this would be Jericho. The Targum also calls it the city of palm trees because of the many palm trees that grew near it. An alternative would be Zoar at the southern end of the Dead Sea which was called the city of palm trees in the Talmud.
In the latter case it would be possible that Hobab’s family had remained around Zoar once he had fulfilled his function of acting as Israel’s eyes in the wilderness, especially if he had married a Kenite wife. Then he would here be reconnected with Israel. But in view of Jdg 3:13 it is much more likely that they were living in the area around Jericho and went with Judah from the area of Jericho where they had been living. After all, if they were in Zoar, why should they leave a place they had been in for thirty eight years, an area where the Kenites were until much later (1Sa 15:6; 1Sa 27:10), to live with Judah? Whereas the area around Jericho may have been seen as vulnerable to outside attack (Jdg 3:13).
Excursus. The Kenites.
We should note that Reuel and Jethro (Exo 2:18; Exo 3:1; Exo 18:1), are actually never said to be Kenites. They were priests of Midian. It is Hobab, Moses’ brother-in-law, who is said to be a Kenite here (compare Jdg 4:11) but not previously. His connection with the Kenites may thus have been through his wife. Moses had in fact pressed Hobab his brother-in-law to leave the Midianites and join them in their venture to Canaan (Num 10:29-32). The impression is that Hobab did so as an experienced wilderness dweller in order to act as their eyes. Once he had fulfilled his responsibility and they had arrived in Kenite territory in the land of the south, he may well have married a Kenite wife and linked up with the Kenites who were tent dwellers like himself.
But having been converted to the worship of Yahweh during his time with Israel, he was ready when the time came to throw in his lot, along with his family, with Judah. Some, of course, consider the Kenites to have been original Yahweh worshippers on the basis of Exodus 18, but this raises more difficulties than it solves. It is noteworthy that Jethro offered sacrifices to ‘God’ not to Yahweh, and was never called a Kenite.
Even if they were right, and it must be considered very doubtful, the name is not really relevant. What is relevant are the teachings and customs connected with the name. The Kenites would have had to turn their own ideas (which would not have been based on the Exodus experience) upside down to submit to the tribal covenant and have subjected their own time honoured customs to the new ideas of the confederacy. For a proud tribe this would be unlikely. And yet here they seem to happily combine with Judah in the covenant by choice. Thus it is more likely that this only refers to the family connection of Hobab.
The name of the Kenites probably connects them with ‘smiths’ and thus metalworkers. They were resident in Canaan in the time of Abraham (Gen 15:19), and Saul, who connects them indirectly with the Amalekites but as separate from them, saw them as having been favourable to Israel when they came out of Egypt (1Sa 15:6). He also clearly saw them as a separate tribe not connected with Judah at that time, and that is acknowledged by David who associates them with the Jerahmeelites. These Kenites thus resided on the southern borders of Canaan (1Sa 27:10; 1Sa 30:29), and had not as a group combined with Judah. That was reserved for the household of Hobab. That at least some more of them eventually merged with Judah is probable from 1Ch 2:9; 1Ch 2:26; 1Ch 2:55, probably in the time of David’s reign. There is no reason, apart from their possible connection with Jethro, through Hobab, to connect them with the Midianites.
(End of Excursus.)
Jdg 1:16. The children of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law The Kenites descended from Jethro had followed the Israelites into the land of Canaan, and were at first settled near the City of Palms, which is commonly thought to be the same with Jericho, celebrated for its palm-trees. See Shaw, vol. 2: p. 68 and Num 10:29. And they went and dwelt amongst the people, might be rendered, perhaps, more properly, and they went and continued with the people; i.e. of Israel or Judah.
The Kenites take up their abode in the territories of Judah
Jdg 1:16
16And the children [sons] of the Kenite, Moses father-in-law, went up out of [from] the city of palm-trees with the children [sons] of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lieth in the south of Arad; and they [he43] went and dwelt among44 the people.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
[1 Jdg 1:16.He, i. e., the Kenite. The subject of is , the Kenite, collective term for the tribe.Tr.]
[2 Jdg 1:16., with, near, the people, but still in settlements of their own, cf. Jdg 1:21. Dr. Cassels unter answers to the English among.Tr.]
EXEGETICAL AND DOCTRINAL
Jdg 1:16. And the sons of the Kenite, Moses father-in-law. Kenite is the name of a heathen tribe, which in Gen 15:19 is enumerated among the nations hostile to Israel. In the vision of Balaam it is mentioned in connection with Amalek (Num 24:21). It is there said of the tribe, In the rock hast thou put thy nest (, from , nest). Strong, indeed, is their dwelling-place. The Kenites were a tribe of the wilderness, troglodytes, who dwelt in the grottoes which abound everywhere in Palestine, but especially in its southern parts. Barth, in 1847, saw caves at the lower Jordan, high up in the steep face of the precipitous rock, on the left, inhabited by human beings and goats, though it is impossible to see how they get there (Ritter, xv. 465). At the Dead Sea, Lynch discovered grottoes in the rocks, the entrance to which, in spite of all proficiency in climbing, could not be found. The name of the tribe, Kenites, is doubtless derived from , which means an elevated hiding-place in the rocks, as well as a nest. The term troglodytes, likewise, comes from , grotto, and is applied to both birds and human beings. As Jeremiah (Jer 49:16) exclaims, though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, so schylus (Chophoroe, 249) calls the nest of the eagles brood, , dwelling-place.
It is from this passage, and from Jdg 4:11, that we first learn that Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses,45 belonged to one of the Kenite families. Moses, when a fugitive in the desert, found an asylum and a wife in the retirement of Jethros household. From that time, this family, without losing its independent and separate existence, was closely allied with all Israel. But it was only this family, and not the whole Kenite nation, that entered into this alliance. Else, how could the Kenite be named among enemies in the prophetic announcements of Genesis 15, and with Amalek in the vision of Balaam? Moreover, the text clearly intimates that the sons of the Kenite adhered to Israel, not as Kenites, but as descendants of Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses.46 It is the constant aim of the historian of the conquest of Canaan by Israel, to show that every promise was fulfilled, and that no one who at any time showed kindness failed of his promised reward. Calebs constancy and courage found their long-promised inheritance in Hebron. A recompense had also been promised to the sons of the Kenite. When Israel was on its journey through the desert (Num 10:31), and Hobab (on the name, see below, on Jdg 4:11) desired to return to his old place of abode, Moses said: Leave us not; thou knowest our places of encampment in the desert, and hast been to us instead of eyes. If thou go with us, every good thing with which God blesses us, we will share with thee. The fulfillment of this promise now takes place. The Kenites enter with the tribe of Judah into the inheritance of the latter, as into a domain in which they had always been at home. They share in the blessing bestowed by God on Israel.
They went up from the City of Palms. No other place than the plain of Jericho is ever called the City of Palms in the Scriptures. Although the city was destroyed, the palm-groves still existed. How was it possible to suppose,47 in the face of Deu 34:3 and Jdg 3:13, that here suddenly, without any preparatory notice, another City of Palms is referred to! The statement here made, so far from occasioning difficulties, only testifies to the exactness of the narrator. Judahs camp was in Gilgal, whence they marched through Bezek against the enemy, and then to Hebron. Gilgal lay in the vicinity of Jericho. When the tribe decamped, the Kenite was unwilling to remain behind. On the march through the desert, their position as guides had of course always been in the van, and, therefore, with the tribe of Judah. They desire to enjoy their reward also in connection with this tribe, and hence the palms of overthrown Jericho cannot detain them. The region in which they were, can therefore be no other place of palms than that from which Judah broke up, namely, Jericho. In fact, the statement that they came from Jericho, proves the correctness of the view given above, that Gilgal was the place from which Judah set out to enter his territory.
Into the wilderness of Judah, which lieth in the south of Arad. But why is the narrative of the Kenite expedition here introduced? It is a peculiarity of Hebrew narrators, that they weave in episodes like this and that of Othniel and Achsah, whenever the progress of the history, coming into contact with the place or person with which they are associated, offers an occasion. Hence we already find events communicated in the 15th chapter of Joshua, which occurred at a later date, but of which the author was reminded while speaking of the division of the land. The history of the conquest of their territory by Judah is very brief. First, the mountain district of Hebron and the northeastern part of the territory was taken possession of. Then, according to the plan laid down Jdg 1:9, they turned to the south. Of this part of their undertaking no details are given; but as they were getting possession of the land in this direction, they came to Arad, where it pleased the Kenites to take up their abode, in close relations with Judah. A king formerly reigned at Arad, who attacked Israel when journeying in the desert (Num 21:1), and was defeated by Moses. A king of Arad was also conquered by Joshua (Jos 12:14). After its occupancy by the tribe of Judah, the Kenites resided there. The position48 of the place has been accurately determined by Robinson (Bib. Res. ii. 101, cf. Ritter, xiv. 121). Eusebius and Jerome had placed it twenty Roman miles, a camels journey of about eight hours, from Hebron. This accords well with the position of the present Tell Ard, a barren-looking eminence rising above the country around. From this fragmentary notice of the place, we may perhaps infer what it was that specially attracted the Kenites. If these tribes were attached to the Troglodyte mode of life, the Arabs still told Robinson, of a cavern found there. The Kenites still held this region in the time of David; for from the vicinage of the places named in 1Sa 30:29 ff., especially Hormah, it appears that they are those to whom as friends he makes presents.49 It is true, that when the terrible war between Saul and Amalek raged in this region, Saul, lest he should strike friend with foe, caused them to remove (1Sa 15:6). After the victory, they must have returned again.
Footnotes:
[43][Jdg 1:16.He, i. e., the Kenite. The subject of is , the Kenite, collective term for the tribe.Tr.]
[44][Jdg 1:16., with, near, the people, but still in settlements of their own, cf. Jdg 1:21. Dr. Cassels unter answers to the English among.Tr.]
[45]Earlier scholars (Le Clerc, Lightfoot, Opera, ii. 581) were already struck by the Targums constant substitution of , Salmaah for Kenite. In this passage also it reads, the sons of Salmaah. Even Jewish authors were it a loss how to explain this. As it affords a specimen of the traditional exegesis of the Jews, already current in the Targum on this passage, I will here set down the explanation of this substitution: The Kenite of our passage is identified with the Kinim of 1Ch 2:55, who are there described as the families of the Sopherim. But how came the Kenites to hold this office, in after times so highly honored, and filled by men learned in the law (cf. Sanhedrin, p. 104 a and 106 a)? The father-in-law of Moses(tradition makes him flee from the council of Pharaoh of which he was a member, Sota, 11 a)is the Kenite who, when the latter wandered in the desert (Exo 2:20-21), gave him bread (lechem) and also, through his daughter, a house (beth). Now, the same chapter of 1Ch 1:51; 1Ch 1:54, names a certain Salma, and styles him the father of Beth–lechem. The father of this Bread-house is then identified with Jethro. Consequently, the sons of the Kenite are the sons of Salmaah, and thus their name itself indicates how they attained to the dignity accorded them. The Targum on Chronicles (ed. Wilna, 1836, p. 3, A) expresses it thus: They were the sons of Zippora, who (in their capacity of Sopherim) enjoyed, together with the families of the Levites, the glory of having descended from Moses, the teacher of Israel.
[46]This view does away with all those questions of which, after earlier expositors, Bertheau treats on pp. 24, 25.
[47]Into this error, Le Clerc has misled later expositors, and among them, Bertheau, p. 25. However, the wholly irrelevant passage of Diodorus (iii. 42), frequently cited to justify the assumption of another City of Palms, was already abandoned by Rosenmller, p. 24.
[48]Ishak Chelo, the author of Les chemins de Jrusalem, in the 14th century, found Arad sparsely inhabited, by poor Arabs and Jews, who lived of their flocks. The Rabbi tends his sheep, and at the same time gives instruction to his pupils. Cf. Carmoly, Itinraires de la Terre Sainte (Bruxelles, 1847), pp. 244, 245.
[49]Cf. 1Sa 27:10, where the same local position is assigned to the Kenites, and spoken of by David as the scene of his incursions, in order to make the suspicious Philistines believe that he injures the friends of Israel
Doth not this account of the Kerites being with Judah throw some light upon that part of Israel’s history, which we read respecting them in a period distant from this more than thirty years? See Num 10:29 , etc. The Kerites were of this man’s family.
Jdg 1:16 And the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father in law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which [lieth] in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people.
Ver. 16. And the children of the Kenite. ] Elsewhere called Jethro, Hobab, Revel: his posterity followed the Israelites for religion’s sake, into the promised land, leaving their own country –
“ Omne sohm forti patria est. ” – Ovid., Fast.
These Kenites dwelt in tents, and had no settled habitation, as a kind of Nomads or Cosmopolites. They held the same of the world that a certain philosopher did of Athens – viz., that it was a pleasant place to travel through, but not safe to dwell in.
16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words , having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.
Ver. 16. These are murmurers ] Ut porci saginati, saith Aretius, as boars in a frank, they grunt against God’s ways and worshippers, like so many Caii Grunnii Corocottae.
Complainers ] Invalidum omne natura querulum, saith Seneca. Weak ones are never without their ailments.
After their own lusts ] So many lusts, so many lords.
Great swelling words ] Bubbles of words. See the note on 2Pe 2:18 . The Syriac renders it, stupendous stuff. They amaze their hearers with sesquipedalian a words, and sublime businesses, big swollen fancies, &c.; they tell them they shall hear that which they never heard before, and therefore call upon them to mark; whereas the thing is either false, or if true, no more than ordinarily is taught by others: with as much confidence as ignorance they counsel the simple by portentous words and phrases abhorrent from Christian religion, truth, and sobriety; and which wise men lament while fools applaud and admire.
Having men’s persons ] Licking up their spittle, as it were, and loading the mouse with the elephant’s praises. Ungunt pariter et emungunt.
a Kenite. A non-Israelite race (Gen 15:19. Num 24:21, &c. 1Sa 27:10; 1Sa 30:29). See Saul’s correspondence with them (1Sa 15:6). One branch in the north (Jdg 4:11).
palm trees: i.e. Jer 3:13. Deu 34:3.
the People: i.e. Israel.
Flagging in Their Great Task
Jdg 1:16-36; Jdg 2:1-5
The conquest of Canaan was very partial. Israel dwelled among the ancient inhabitants of the land, much as the Normans did among the Anglo-Saxons, whom they found in England; and the mixture of the two peoples was the beginning of moral degeneracy and decline in the chosen race. Wherever there was the old-time faith in God, as in the case of Caleb, the land was cleared of the Canaanite; but where God was out, the Canaanite was in.
So it is in the life of the soul. It is intended that the whole should be yielded to Christ, that no evil passion should reign, that no besetting sin should enthrall. But how often Christian people give up the fight! They say that the old Adam is too strong for them, and settle down to a joint-occupation. Let us not yield to reasoning like this! The Lion of Judah can break every chain. By faith in Him we can be more than conquerors! The Holy Spirit strives with the flesh, so that we may not do as otherwise we would. Only give Him the right of way! Sin shall not reign in your mortal body!
the Kenite: Jdg 4:11, Jdg 4:17, Num 10:29-32, Num 24:21, Num 24:22, 1Sa 15:6, 1Ch 2:15, Jer 35:2
Moses’: Exo 3:1, Exo 4:18, Exo 18:1, Exo 18:7, Exo 18:12, Exo 18:14-17, Exo 18:27, Num 10:29
city of palm: Jdg 3:13, Deu 34:3, 2Ch 28:16
which: Num 21:1, Jos 12:14
they went: Num 10:29-32, 1Sa 15:6
Reciprocal: Num 10:32 – General 1Sa 27:10 – Kenites 1Sa 30:29 – Kenites 1Ch 2:55 – Kenites 2Ch 28:15 – the city
Jdg 1:16. The children of the Kenite Jethro, Mosess father-in-law, seems to have been called a Kenite from the people from whom he was descended, Num 24:21-22. His posterity, it appears, came into Canaan with the Israelites, and were settled there with them. Went up from the city of palm-trees That is, from Jericho, so called, Deu 34:3; not indeed the city, which had been destroyed; but the territory belonging to it, where, it seems, they were seated in a most pleasant, fruitful, and safe place, according to the promise made by Moses to their father, Num 10:31-32; and whence they might remove either to avoid the neighbouring Canaanites, or out of love to the children of Judah. In the south of Arad The southern part of the land of Canaan, where Arad was, Num 21:1. And dwelt among the people Hebrew, that people; namely, those children of Judah that lived there.
1:16 And the children of the {h} Kenite, Moses’ father in law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which [lieth] in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people.
(h) This was one of the names of Moses father in law, read Num 10:29.
The descendants of the Kenite, Jethro (Reuel), ". . . were probably a branch of the Kenites mentioned in Gen. xv. 19 along with the other tribes of Canaan, which had separated from the other members of its own tribe before the time of Moses and removed to the land of Midian, where Moses met with a hospitable reception from their chief Reguel [Reuel] on his flight from Egypt. These Kenites had accompanied the Israelites to Canaan at the request of Moses (Num. x. 29 sqq.); and when the Israelites advanced into Canaan itself, they had probably remained as nomads in the neighborhood of the Jordan near Jericho [the "city of palms," Jdg 1:16], without taking part in the wars of Joshua." [Note: Keil and Delitzsch, p. 255. See also Block, Judges . . ., pp. 97-98.]
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)