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Bible Encyclopedias
Kadmonite
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or (Heb. Kadmoni', קִדְמֹנַי , eastern, as in Ezekiel 10:19, etc., or former, as in Ezekiel 38:17, etc.; only once of a nation, collect. in the sing., Genesis 15 :i9; Sept. Κεδμωνῖοι, Vulg. Cedmoncei, A.V. "Kadmonites"), the name of a Canaanitish tribe, who appear to have dwelt in the north-east part of Palestine, under Mount Hermon, at the time that Abraham sojourned in the land, and are mentioned in a more than ordinarily full list of the aborigines of Canaan (Genesis 15:19). As the name is derived from קֶדֶם, kedem, " east," it is supposed by Dr. Wells and others to denote a people situated to the east of the Jordan, or, rather, that it .was a term applied collectively, like "Orientals," to all the people living in the countries beyond that river. At least it may be a term of contrast with the more western Zidonians. As the term likewise signifies ancient, it may designate the older or aboriginal races of that region in general, who were recognized as the earliest in origin. Both these explanations may be correct, as the Kadmonites are not elsewhere mentioned as a distinct nation; and the subsequent discontinuance of the term, 'in the assigned acceptation, may easily be accounted for by the nations beyond the river having afterwards become more distinctly known, so as to be mentioned by their several distinctive names. (See HIVITE).
The reader may see much ingenious trifling respecting this name in Bochart (Canaan, i, 19); the substance of which is that Cadmus, the founder of Thebes, in Boeotia, was originally a Kadmonite, and that the name of his wife, Hermione, was derived from Mount Hermon. By others the name Kadmonites has been extended as equivalent to " the children of the East" (בְּנֵי קֶדֶם ), i.e. those living beyond the Euphrates (Ewald,. Isr. Gesch. i, 300) (See BENE- KEDEM), and Reland (Palaestina, p. 94)' has sought to identify them with the Nabathaeans of Arabia; but these were Ishmaelites. It was probably applied collectively to various tribes, like the Saracens of the Middle Ages or the Bedouins of modern times (Ritter, Erdkunde, 15:138). According to Dr. Thomson, the name is still preserved among the Nusariyeh north of Tripoli, who have a tradition that their ancestors were expelled from Palestine by Joshua, and who seem in physiognomy and manners to belong to the most ancient inhabitants of the country (Land and Book, i, 242). (See CANAANITE).
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McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Kadmonite'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/k/kadmonite.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
