In The Bible
The Bible mentions the Kenites as living in or around Canaan as early as the time of Abraham. (Genesis 15:18-21) At the Exodus Jethro and his clan inhabited the vicinity of Mount Sinai and Horeb. (Exodus 3:1) Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, was a Kenite (Judges 1:16) resident in the land of Midian. Judges 1:16 says that his descendants "went up from the City of Palms with the men of Judah to live among the people of the Desert of Judah in the Negev near Arad."
However, in Exodus 3:1 Jethro is said to have been a "priest in the land of Midian" and a resident of Midian (Numbers 10:29). This has led 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 (Judges 1:16); and their encampment, apart from the latter's, was noticed by Balaam. (Numbers 24:21-22)
At a later period, some of the Kenites separated from their brethren in the south, and went to live in northern Canaan (Judges 4:11) where they lived 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 (1 Samuel 15:6); and so not only were they spared by him, but David allowed them to share in the spoil that he took from the Amalekites. (1 Samuel 30:29)
Other well-known Kenites were Heber, the husband of Jael, and Rechab, the ancestor of the Rechabites.
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