KENIZZITES . A clan named from an eponymous ancestor, Kenaz . According to J [Note: Jahwist.] ( Joshua 15:17 , Judges 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 Joshua 14:6; Joshua 14:14 definitely calls Caleb a Kenizzite, as P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] does in Numbers 32:12 . R [Note: Redactor.] also ( Genesis 15:18-21 ) counts the Kenizzites among the pre-Israelitish inhabitants of Palestine. P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] in Genesis 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 ( Genesis 36:11; Genesis 36:16 ). The Chronicler names Kenaz as a grandson of Esau ( 1 Chronicles 1:36 ), and also as a descendant of Judah ( 1 Chronicles 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.