KADESH, KADESH-BARNEA. An oasis in northern Sinai that functioned as the base of the Israelites under Moses before the abortive invasion of Canaan from the south (Num 13-14). In Kadesh, Miriam, the sister of Moses, died and was buried (Num 20:1). The name of the place (meaning “holy” in Hebrew) and the importance of the traditions connected with Kadesh have led scholars to assume that it was an early center of the Yahwistic religion of Israel, eventually visited by Israelite as well as Midianite and Kenite tribesmen. Kadesh is located at ‘En el-Qudeirat close to a road junction leading from Suez to Beersheba and from el-‘Arish to ‘Aqaba. Excavations at Kadesh between 1972 and 1982 uncovered remains of an Iron Age fortress.
KADMONITES. One of Canaan’s pre-Israelite nations (Gen 15:19). The word Kadmonites means “Easterners” or even “people of the past.” Nothing is known about them.
KEDESH-NAPHTALI. A city within the tribal territory of Naphtali and the home of the judge Barak (Judg 4:6), and known also as a Levitical (see Levites) city (Josh 21:32), conquered by Tiglathpileser III in 732 B.C.E. Kedesh-naphtali is normally identified with Tell Qadesh to the north of Hazor. However, Tell Abu-Qudeis in the Valley of Jezreel has also been proposed as the place of Kedesh-naphtali.
KEDORLAOMER. See CHEDORLAOMER.
KENITES. The biblical Kenites are considered the descendants of Kain (Gen 4:24:21-25; cf. Num 24:21-22). Several specialized crafts are attributed to Kain’s relatives, including music, nomadic cattle breeding, and smiths. The Kenites may therefore have constituted at gypsy tribe of some sort. Its home was southern Palestine, the Sinai Peninsula and northwestern Arabia, and they are sometimes related to the Midianites. They occasionally appear in connection with narratives about Israel’s early history. Thus, in the Old Testament, the father-in-law of Moses is sometimes reckoned to be a Kenite (Judg 4:11)—in other places he is a Midianite (Exod 2-3). They were the allies of the Amalekites in the days of King Saul (1 Sam 15).
KENIZZITES. One of Canaan’s pre-Israelite nations (Gen 15:19). Nothing is known about the history of the Kenizzites, except that tradition connects them to, on one side Edom, and on the other Hebron. Caleb is supposed to have been a Kenizzite. The tradition about the Kenizzites may reflect post-exilic political conditions when the border between Edom and Judah lay to the north of Hebron.
KINGDOM. A. The kingdom as institution. Most specialists in the development of political organization consider traditional states, which base their economy on agriculture but are, on the other hand, already complex systems, to be organized as kingdoms. As the center of political power, a kingdom often substitutes a previous chiefdom. In the ancient Near East, states were almost without exception kingdoms. Without much protest, all citizens accepted a king as the head of their society. In Mesopotamian tradition, the institution of the kingdom originated in heaven. In Egypt the king was considered a god.
B. The kingdom in the ancient Near East. Two categories of kingdoms were in evidence: the major imperial states ruled by great kings, and vassal states also ruled by kings, however, subordinated to the great kings and tied to the policies of their master kings. Thus, in the terminology of ancient times, the great kings were “followed” by minor kings in great number. However, on the ideological level, the minor kings adopted the ideology of their masters in dealing with their own subjects. Thus the phraseology of royal greatness may also appear in inscriptions belonging to minor vassal kings as well as in the description of the Israelite kingdom in the Old Testament.
C. The kingdom in ancient Israel. The importance of the kingdom as an institution is reflected by the interest shown by large parts of the Old Testament in the fate of the Israelite kingdoms. On the other hand, the Old Testament also gives space to a different voice raising criticism against the kingdom as an institution. In the Deuteronomistic History and in other deuteronomistic literature such as the Book of Deuteronomy, both open and implied criticism can be found. Thus, the so-called “King’s Law” (Deut 17:14-20) includes a program for the future Israelite kingship that stresses among other things the importance of the king being elected by the Lord, but also that the kings should be modest and, especially, that he should not have too many wives and concubines because these may lead his heart astray. The king should not seek personal fortune but act as the wise counselor for his subjects. The warnings of the prophet Samuel against the introduction of the Israelite kingdom (1 Sam 8) present a different image of kingship. Here the king is characterized as a tyrant who will turn his subjects into slaves and confiscate their possessions for his own ends. In the development of the history of the Israelite kingdom(s) in 1-2 Samuel and 1-2 Kings, each king is valued according to his deeds. The general attitude toward the Israelite kings is a highly negative one and the kingdom is seen as representing a rejection of the just rule of the Lord. According to 1-2 Kings, there were few exceptional kings who proved themselves, like David, Solomon, and Josiah, but most kings failed miserably and their misbehavior led directly to the destruction of the Israelite states and the exiles in Assyria and Babylonia.
KINGS, BOOKS OF. The two Books of Kings cover the tragic history of the Hebrew kingdoms, the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah, from the days of King Solomon to the end of the Judean state, Nebuchadnezzar’s destruction of Jerusalem and its temple, and the exile of the Judeans in Babylonia (see Babylonian Exile). The first part deals with the final act in the prolonged strife among David’s children for the succession to the throne of Israel (1 Kgs 1-2). Thereupon follows the description of Solomon’s glorious days, including his construction of the temple of Jerusalem. This story about Solomon, however, also tells about a monarch and an empire in decay, something that inaugurates the end of the united Israelite monarchy after Solomon’s death (1 Kgs 3-11). The remaining parts of Kings describe the fate of the two independent Israelite kingdoms. A large section is made up by stories about two important prophets, Elijah and Elisha, who were in opposition to the house of Omri until its very end (1 Kgs 17-2 Kgs 9). The Books of Kings remain the most important source to the history of the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah which can—at least from the days of Omri—be reconstructed in outline. Parts of the Books of Kings may only be judged as containing legendary stories rather than history, but they also include very exact information, for example, about the campaigning of Sennacherib of Assyria in Palestine in 701 B.C.E. The Books of Kings are generally reckoned a part of the Deuteronomistic History.
KIRIATH-ARBA. (“City of Four”) According to the Old Testament, the original name of Hebron.
KIRIATH-JEARIM. (“The Forest city”) Also known as Kiriath-Baal (Josh 15:60) or Baala (Josh 15:9), a city belonging to the tribal territory of Judah (Josh 15:9), alternatively of Benjamin (Josh 18:28). It was the home of the Ark of the Covenant after the Philistines gave up the hope of keeping it (1 Sam 6:21-7:1) and until David brought it to Jerusalem (2 Sam 6).
KIRIATH-SEPHER. (“City of the Book”) Another name for Debir.
KISHON. A brook in northern Israel where Deborah and Barak vanquished their Canaanite foes (Judg 4-5). It is normally identified with Wadi al-Muqatta—in modern Hebrew renamed the Nahal Kishon north of the Carmel range. However, this location has been contested. Another candidate is Wadi el-Bira—now Nahal Tabor—to the east of the Tabor Mountain.
KITTIM. According to the Table of Nations, Kittim was the son of Javan (Gen 10:4). Otherwise it is a place name and the name of a population group. The name is believed to be a derivative of Kition, a city of ancient Cyprus, close to the modern city of Larnaka. Although Kittim may sometimes refer to Cyprus and its inhabitants, it lost this specific meaning and was used about Greeks, Macedonians, and Romans. The oldest occurrence of Kittim appears on an ostracon from Arad (late seventh century B.C.E.). It may be evidence of the presence at Arad of Greek mercenaries in the time of Josiah.