Difference between revisions of "Kedar"

<p> [[Kedar]] (''Kç'Dar'' ), ''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> (Heb. Kedar', קֵדָר, dark-skinned; Sept. Κηδάρ ''),'' 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" (בֶּנֵי 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]] ''(Onomast. S.V. Μαδιάν)'' places them in the Saracenic desert, on the east of the Red Sea, which identifies them with the ''Cedrei'' of Pliny (v, 12) as neighbors of the Nabatheans (comp. &nbsp;Isaiah 40:7). [[Stephen]] of [[Byzantium]] reckons them ''(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 ( ערים and 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, ''Travels In Arabia,'' ii, 231 sq.; Wallin, in the ''Journ. Of R. Geog. Soc.'' vols. xx and xxiv). (See Arabia). </p>

<p> ''''' kē´dar ''''' ( קדר , <i> ''''' ḳēdhār ''''' </i> ; 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>