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KENIZZITES.—A clan named from an eponymous ancestor, Kenaz. According to J [Note: Jahwist.] (Jos_15:17, Jdg_1:13), Caleb and Othniel were descended from him. (The Inference, sometimes made, that Kenaz was a brother of Caleb, arose from a misunderstanding of these passages.) R [Note: Redactor.] in Jos_14:6; Jos_14:14 definitely calls Caleb a Kenizzite, as P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] does in Num_32:12. R [Note: Redactor.] also (Gen_15:18-21) counts the Kenizzites among the pre-Israelitish inhabitants of Palestine. P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] in Gen_36:42 enrols Kenaz among the ‘dukes’ of Edom, while a Priestly supplementer counts him both as a ‘duke’ and as a grandson of Esau (Gen_36:11; Gen_36:16). The Chronicler names Kenaz as a grandson of Esau (1Ch_1:36), and also as a descendant of Judah (1Ch_4:13-15). The probable meaning of all these passages is that the Kenizzites overspread a part of Edom and southern Judah before the Israelitish conquest and continued to abide there, a part of them being absorbed by the Edomites, and a part by the tribe of Judah. This latter portion embraced the clans of Caleb and Othniel.
George A. Barton.