Difference between revisions of "Kedar"

<p> The son of Ishmael.His (&nbsp;&nbsp;Genesis 25:13) name signifies, blackness. The posterity of [[Kedar]] dwelt in the deserts called Arabia-deserta, (&nbsp;&nbsp;Isaiah 42:11) and their employment was chiefly that of keeping cattle. They dwelt in tents made of hair cloth, which from the alternate heat of the scorching sun, and heavy rains beating on them, gave a dirty blackness rather forbidding to the eye of the traveller. And this may serve to explain to us, in some measure, those passages in [[Holy]] [[Writ]] in which the church complains of her sorry appearance. "Woe is me, that I am constrained to dwell with Mesech, and to have my habitation among the tents of Kedar." (&nbsp;&nbsp;Psalms 120:5) The expression is figurative, meaning, that in this world a child of God finds himself not at home, nor those with whom he sojourns favourable to the promotion of the work of grace in the heart; and hence the soul goes lean from day to day, and to her own view appears wretched and black, like the tents of Kedar. The spouse in the [[Canticles]] makes use of a similar expression in relation to herself, while taking comfort from the consciousness how differently she appeared in the eyes of her Lord from his beauty put upon her. "I am black, but comely, [[O]] ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon." (&nbsp;Song of &nbsp;Song of [[Solomon]] 1:5) And the whole doctrine is blessedly explained &nbsp;&nbsp;Ezekiel 16:1-14. Indeed, the spouse's figure of the black tents of Kedar, and the golden curtains of Solomon, that is, the wretchedness of a desert, and the rich tapestry of a palace, is very obvious. Believers, considered in themselves, and carrying about with them, as they do, a body of sin and death, are always black. Hence mount [[Sinai]] covenant is represented as a dispensation, like the mount itself, of blackness and darkness and terror; because it set forth that dread of conscience which filled the mind when under a conscious sense of having broken it. On the other hand, the covenant of promise full of grace and mercy, giving as it doth, a joy and peace in believing to the soul, lightens the countenance, and makes the child of God comely. The apostle Paul hath beautifully set these things forth in his allegory. (&nbsp;&nbsp;Galatians 4:22-26) I only add, how blessed it is to have such views as the church had, in one and the same moment, of ourselves. [[Considered]] in nature, we are black as the tents of Kedar; viewed in grace, comely as the curtains of Solomon; and still going humble and softly all our days, from the consciousness of the remains of indwelling corruption; still taking comfort in the assurance, that we are "beautiful as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, and terrible as an army of banners." (&nbsp;Song of &nbsp;Song of Solomon 6:4) </p>

&nbsp;Genesis 25:13&nbsp;1 Chronicles 1:29 <p> The name occurs later in the [[Bible]] presumably as a reference to a tribe that took its name from Kedar. Little concrete information is known about the group, however. Apparently the descendants of Kedar occupied the area south of Palestine and east of [[Egypt]] (&nbsp;Genesis 25:18 ). They may best be described as nomadic, living in tents (&nbsp;Psalm 120:5; Song of &nbsp;Song of Solomon 1:5 ) and raising sheep and goats (&nbsp;Isaiah 60:7; &nbsp;Jeremiah 49:28-29 ,Jeremiah 49:28-29,&nbsp;49:32 ), as well as camels, which they sold as far away as Tyre (&nbsp;Ezekiel 27:21 ). </p> <p> The Kedarites were led by princes (&nbsp;Ezekiel 27:21 ) and were famous for their warriors, particularly their archers (&nbsp;Isaiah 21:17 ). They evidently were of some importance during the time of Isaiah (&nbsp;Isaiah 21:16 ). See [[Abraham]]; [[Ishmael]] . </p> <p> Hugh [[Tobias]] </p>

<p> &nbsp;Ke'dar. &nbsp;(dark-skinned). The second, in order, of the sons of Ishmael, &nbsp;Genesis 25:13; &nbsp;1 Chronicles 1:29, and the name of a great tribe of Arabs settled on the northwest of the peninsula and on the confines of Palestine. The "glory of Kedar" is recorded by the prophet Isaiah, &nbsp;Isaiah 21:13-17, in the burden upon Arabia; and its importance may also be inferred from the "princes of Kedar" mentioned by Ezekiel, &nbsp;Ezekiel 27:21 , as well as the pastoral character of the tribe. </p> <p> They appear also to have been, like the wandering tribes of the present day, "archers" and "mighty men." &nbsp;Isaiah 21:17. Compare &nbsp;Psalms 120:5. That they also settled in villages or towns, we find from Isaiah. &nbsp;Isaiah 42:11. The tribe seems to have been one of the most conspicuous of all the [[Ishmaelite]] tribes, and hence, the rabbins call the [[Arabians]] universally by this name. </p>

<p> &nbsp;Kedar (&nbsp;kç'dar), &nbsp;dark-skinned. Second son of Ishmael. &nbsp;Genesis 25:13. From him descended the leading tribes of [[Arabia]] and of the land east of Palestine. They and the country bear the name of Kedar. &nbsp;Isaiah 21:16; &nbsp;Jeremiah 49:28. They were nomads, living in black hair-tents, &nbsp;Song of Solomon 1:5, as the modern Bedouins do, or in villages, &nbsp;Isaiah 42:11, and were rich in flocks and herds, and noted as archers and mighty men. </p>

<p> Kedar was the name of a nomadic tribal group of northern Arabia. The people of Kedar lived in tents, kept flocks of sheep and goats, and dealt shrewdly in various trading activities (&nbsp;Psalms 120:5; &nbsp;Isaiah 60:7; &nbsp;Jeremiah 49:28-29; &nbsp;Ezekiel 27:21; see &nbsp;ARABIA). </p>

<p> (Heb. Kedar', &nbsp;קֵדָר, dark-skinned; Sept. &nbsp;Κηδάρ &nbsp;), the second son of Ishmael, and founder of the tribe that bore his name (&nbsp;Genesis 25:13). B.C. post 2061. The name is used in [[Scripture]] as that of the Bedouins generally, whose characteristic traits are ascribed to them (&nbsp;Song of Solomon 1:5; &nbsp;Isaiah 21:16; &nbsp;Isaiah 42:11; &nbsp;Isaiah 60:7; &nbsp;Jeremiah 2:10; &nbsp;Jeremiah 49:28; &nbsp;Ezekiel 27:21); more fully, "sons of Kedar" (&nbsp;בֶּנֵי &nbsp;קֵדָר, &nbsp;Isaiah 21:17); in &nbsp;Psalms 120:5, Kedar and [[Mesech]] are put for barbarous tribes Rabbinical writers expressly identify them with the Arabians (Pseudojon. on Genesis 25, and the [[Targum]] on Psalms 120; comp. the [[Jewish]] expression " tongue of Kedar" for the Arabic language), and the Arabs acknowledge the paternity (Pococke, Spec. 46). The Kedarenes (as they were called in later times) do not appear to have lived in. the immediate neighborhood of Judcea (&nbsp;Jeremiah 2:10; comp. &nbsp;Psalms 120:5). [[Jerome]] &nbsp;(Onomast. s.v. &nbsp;Μαδιάν) places them in the Saracenic desert, on the east of the Red Sea, which identifies them with the &nbsp;Cedrei of Pliny (v, 12) as neighbors of the Nabatheans (comp. &nbsp;Isaiah 40:7). [[Stephen]] of [[Byzantium]] reckons them &nbsp;(Κεδρανῖται) as inhabitants of Arabia Felix; but [[Theodoret]] (on Psalms 109) assigns them a locality near [[Babylon]] (see Reland, Palcest. p. 86 sq.). </p> <p> [[Ptolemy]] calls them Darrce (Geog. 6:7), evidently a corruption of the ancient Hebrew; and Forster supposes that it is the same people Arrian refers to as the Kanraitce, which he thinks should be read Kadraitce (Geogr. of Arabia, i, 247). A very ancient [[Arab]] tradition states that Kedar settled in the Hejaz, the country round [[Mecca]] and Medina, and that his descendants have ever since ruled there (Abulfedae Hist. Anteislamica, ed. Fleischer, p. 192). From Kedar sprung, the distinguished tribe of Koreish, to which [[Mohammed]] belonged (Caussin, Essai,i, 175 sq.). Of the history of the head of the tribe little is known, but his posterity are described as being rich in flocks of sheep and goats, in which they traded with the [[Syrians]] (&nbsp;Ezekiel 27:21; Jeremiah 49:49), as dwelling in tents of black hair (&nbsp;Song of Solomon 1:5), though some of them occupied cities and villages ( &nbsp;ערים and &nbsp;חצרים; &nbsp;Isaiah 43:11) in the midst of the wilderness of Arabia, apparently in a mountainous and rocky district, and as being skilful in the use of the bow (&nbsp;Isaiah 21:17); particulars which eminently agree with all descriptions of the manners and mode of life of the nomade Arabs bordering Palestine on the east, from the Red Sea to Asia Minor (Wellsted, &nbsp;Travels in Arabia, ii, 231 sq.; Wallin, in the &nbsp;Journ. of R. Geog. Soc. vols. xx and xxiv). (See [[Arabia]]). </p>

<p> ''''' kē´dar ''''' (&nbsp; קדר , <i> ''''' ḳēdhār ''''' </i> ; &nbsp; Κηδάρ , <i> ''''' Kēdâr ''''' </i> ): Second in order of the sons of [[Ishmael]] (&nbsp; Genesis 25:13 parallel &nbsp; 1 Chronicles 1:29 ). The name occurs as typical of a distant eastern country in opposition to the lands of the [[Mediterranean]] (&nbsp;Jeremiah 2:10 ). The author of Second Isa introduces this tribe in company with Nebaioth, and both are represented as owners of flocks (&nbsp;Isaiah 60:7 ). Evidence of their nomadic habits appears in &nbsp;Jeremiah 49:28 , &nbsp;Jeremiah 49:29 , where they are classed among the <i> '''''Benē''''' </i> - <i> '''''Ḳedhem''''' </i> , and mention is made of their flocks, camels, tents, curtains and furniture. They are spoken of (&nbsp;Isaiah 42:11 ) as dwelling in <i> '''''ḥăcērı̄m''''' </i> ("villages"), from which it would appear that they were a somewhat settled tribe, corresponding to the Arabic <i> '''''ḥaḍarı̄ya''''' </i> or "town-dwellers," as distinct from <i> '''''wabarı̄ya''''' </i> or "nomads." Ezekiel (&nbsp;Ezekiel 27:21 ) gives another hint of their pastoral nature where, in his detailed picture of the wealth of Tyre, Kedar and Arabia provide the Tyrians with lambs, rams and goats. The fame of the tribe is further reflected in &nbsp;Isaiah 21:16 , &nbsp;Isaiah 21:17 (the only allusion to their might in war), and in the figurative references to their tents (&nbsp; Psalm 120:5; &nbsp;Song of Solomon 1:5 ). In this last passage where the tents are made symbolic of dark beauty, the word <i> '''''ḳādhar''''' </i> ("to be black") may have been in the writer's mind. </p> <p> The settlements of Kedar were probably in the Northwest of Arabia, not far from the borders of Palestine. Assyrian inscriptions have thrown light upon the history of the tribe. There Kedar is mentioned along with the Arabs and Nebaioth, which decides its identity with Kedar of the Old Testament, and there is found also an account of the conflicts between the tribe and King [[Assurbanipal]] (see Margoliouth in <i> Hdb </i> ). </p> <p> Of the Ishmaelite tribes, Kedar must have been one of the most important, and thus in later times the name came to be applied to all the wild tribes of the desert. It is through Kedar (Arabic, keidar) that Muslim genealogists trace the descent of Mohammed from Ishmael. </p>