The Kenites were one of 10 tribes living in Canaan during the time of Abraham (Genesis 15:19). However, they are not listed among the Canaanite tribes from the time of Moses (Exodus 3:17). This was likely because they had developed a more friendly relationship with Israel by that time. Israel continued to give special treatment to the Kenites, as seen in 1 Samuel 15:6. When Saul gathered his army to fight against the Amalekites, he warned the Kenites before the attack. This kindness probably reflected the help given by Hobab, son of Reuel, who served as Israel's guide in the wilderness (Numbers 10:29–31).
By the time of Barak the judge and Deborah the prophetess, some Kenites were living in Galilee. Judges 4:11 says, "Now Heber the Kenite had moved away from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent by the great tree of Zaanannim, which was near Kedesh." This Kedesh was in Galilee and was not the Kadesh-barnea in the Sinai wilderness.
The Kenites' Role as Metalworkers
The name "Kenite" is closely related to the word for "smith" (a metalworker who works with copper) in both Arabic and Aramaic. This suggests that this tribe might have been a group of traveling metalworkers who offered their skills wherever they were needed. Nomadic tribes of metalworkers were known to move throughout the ancient Near East from the early the 2nd millennium BC. Images of such workers can be found in the Beni-Hasan tomb in Egypt, which dates to the 19th century BC. Even in modern times, at least one Arab tribe of traveling smiths has followed trade routes looking for work.
The Kenites' Influence on Israelite Culture
Based on what the Bible tells us about the Kenites, an important question is what influence this widespread tribe had on the life and culture of the Israelites. Some have suggested that Moses learned about making the bronze serpent from his Kenite/Midianite father-in-law, Jethro (Numbers 21:4–9). But this is unlikely. However, if the Kenites were experts in metalworking, they may have taught this skill to God's people to help them establish themselves as a nation.
More significant is the suggestion that Jethro (also called Reuel), "priest of Midian," was the source of Moses's belief in one God—the monotheistic religion of Yahweh. This idea can be challenged from both biblical and historical perspectives.
The Bible specifically states that Yahweh was the personal God known to godly people from the earliest generations in Genesis 4:26: "And to Seth also a son was born, and he called him Enosh. At that time men began to call upon the name of the LORD." Equally important is the fact that Moses' mother (or ancestor, as some would suggest) had the name Jochebed, which means "Yahweh is glory." Clearly, Moses did not first hear about Yahweh from his father-in-law during his exile in the wilderness of Midian.
Historical evidence shows that no worship centers other than the movable tabernacle were located in Sinai or anywhere south of Beersheba. It was south of that city that God, who had earlier revealed himself to the patriarchs at various places in the north, told Moses that he was the same God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Exodus 3:6). The Israelites never returned to Sinai to worship, even though God had first revealed himself to them there.
Jethro clearly learned about Yahweh through Moses, not the other way around. Those Kenites who became part of God's people did so by being adopted into the covenant relationship with the God of Jacob through Israel's witness.
The Kenites and the Tribe of Judah
Interestingly, 1 Chronicles 2:55 includes a Kenite named Hammath in the family list of the tribe of Judah. Hammath was the ancestor of the Rechabites. This shows that the Kenites were eventually added to the tribe of Judah. David also connects the Kenites with other groups living in southern Judah (1 Samuel 27:10). Jeremiah 35 states that the Rechabites had a simple nomadic lifestyle until the time of the Babylonian captivity. This also fits with what is known about the nature of the Kenites.