CINEI (QĒNĪTI). — From Hebrew *qĕnĭ* or *qojīn*, a collective singular, plural *qĭnim*. A tribe first mentioned in Gen. 15:19, along with nine others settled in the land of Canaan at the time of Abraham. They probably inhabited the region near the "brook of Egypt" (cf.).
Hobab, Moses’ brother-in-law who guided the Hebrews through the desert, was a Kenite (Num. 10:29–32). After entering the Promised Land, some settled in the Negeb, south of Arad, as dependents of the tribe of Judah, while others went north to Kedesh in the territory of Naphtali (Judg. 4:11, 17). Jael, the wife of the Kenite Heber, killed Sisera (ibid., 4:17–21). Saul asked them to separate themselves from the Amalekites so as not to be implicated in their destruction (1 Sam. 15:6). It seems that the Rechabites were descended from them (1 Chr. 2:55). According to Balaam’s oracle (Num. 24:21–23), they suffered from Assyrian invasions and shared in the Babylonian captivity.