Judges 4:11

11. The Kenite On the Kenites, see note at chap. Judges 1:16. The Hebrew reads, And Heber the Kenite had separated himself from Kain, of the sons of Hobab. Heber’s emigration from the wilderness south of Arad, and his settlement here near Kedesh, is introduced at this point to prepare the reader for what follows in Judges 4:17-22.

Hobab See at Numbers 10:29.

Father-in-law of Moses In Numbers he is called the son of Raguel, (Raguel or Reuel is the same person as Jethro; compare Exodus 2:18, with Judges 3:1,) and that is probably the more accurate statement. In this merely casual reference the writer does not pause for exact and detailed statements. According to Cassel “ חתן means to contract affinity by marriage; and just as in German schwaker (father-in-law) and schwager (brother-in-law) are at bottom one, so the Hebrew חתן may stand for both father in law and brother in law.”

The plain of Zaanaim Rather, the oak in Zaanaim. The Zaanannim of Joshua 19:33, was probably the same place. “The oak was probably some noted tree, perhaps a patriarch in a sacred grove, beneath or around which the nomad shepherds of those days were accustomed to pitch their tents, as Abraham pitched his by the oak of Mamre. The green pastures which abound around the ruins of Kedesh are studded to this day with large oak trees; and the writer has seen, at more than one place, the black tents of the nomad Turkman pitched beneath them. The name Zaanaim, which appears to signify removings, (as if a camping ground,) has passed away; at least no trace of it has bees discovered.” Porter.