CINEI (QENITI). – From Hebr. qêni or qajin, collective singular, plural qênim. Tribe mentioned for the first time in Gen. 15:19, together with nine others settled in the territory of Canaan at the time of Abraham. It probably lived near the “torrent of Egypt” (v.).
Hobab, Moses’ brother-in-law, who led the Hebrews through the desert, was a Kenite (Num. 10:29-32). After entering the Promised Land, they obtained, as a reward, permission to settle partly in the Neghebh, south of Arad, attached to the tribe of Judah, and partly in the north, near Cedes, in the tribe of Nephtali (Ind. 4:11, 17). Gisele, wife of the Kenite Haber, killed Sisara (ibid. 4:17-21). Saul asked them to separate themselves from the Amalekites, so as not to involve them in their extermination (I Sam. 15:6). It seems that the Rechabites descended from the C. (I Par. 2:55). According to Balaam’s oracle (Num. 24:21-23), they suffered from the Assyrian invasions and took part in the Babylonian captivity.