1 Samuel 15:6

1Sa 15:6 And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.

Ver. 6. And Saul said unto the Kenites.] Who were the posterity of Jethro, {Jdg 1:16} who, though he went not with Israel, yet some of his children did, and were helpful. They dwelt at this time in the borders of Amalek, but in tents, as did their issue, the Rechabites, - they are therefore warned to move their habitations, lest they should perish with ill neighbours, {Zec 9:2} Hamath lying nigh to Damascus, partook of its punishment. See 2Co 6:17 Rev 18:4).

Go, depart, get you dawn,] Congeries asyndetos celeritatis index: pack away with all speed. And when the Kenites pack up their fardles {little bundles}, it is time to expect judgment, Migremus hinc is a sad foretoken.

So the Kenites departed.] This they could soon do, as being Scenites, dwellers in tents.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Sa 15:6. Saul said unto the Kenites — A people descended from, or nearly related to, Jethro, who anciently dwelt in rocks near the Amalekites, (Num 24:21,) and afterward some of them dwelt in Judah, (Jdg 1:16,) whence it is probable they removed (which, dwelling in tents, they could easily do) and retired to their old habitation, because of the wars and troubles wherewith Judah was annoyed. Ye showed kindness — Some of your progenitors did so, and, for their sakes, all of you shall be spared and kindly treated. You were not guilty of that sin for which Amalek is now to be destroyed. When destroying judgments are abroad, God takes care to separate the precious from the vile. It is then especially dangerous to be found in the company of God’s enemies. The Jews have a saying, Wo to a wicked man and to his neighbour.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

15:6 The Kenites were nomadic metalworkers and descendants of Moses’ father-in-law (Judg 1:16). • you showed kindness: See Exod 18; Num 10:29-32.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

For Jethro came to visit them, and gave them good counsel, Exod. 18:19.

Which were the posterity of Jethro Moses’ father-in-law.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Kenites--(See on Jdg 1:16). In consequence, probably, of the unsettled state of Judah, they seem to have returned to their old desert tracts. Though now intermingled with the Amalekites, they were not implicated in the offenses of that wicked race; but for the sake of their ancestors, between whom and those of Israel there had been a league of amity, a timely warning was afforded them to remove from the scene of danger.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 6. Said unto the Kenites] The Kenites were an ancient people. Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, was a Kenite. Hobab his son (if the same person be not meant) was guide to the Hebrews through the wilderness. They had a portion of the promised land, near to the city Arad. See Jdg 1:16; and for more particulars concerning them and the Amalekites, see the notes on Nu 26:20-21.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(6) And Saul said unto the Kenites.—The Kenites, like the Amalekites, were a nomad race of Arabs, but seem to have been ever friendly to the Israelites. This kindly feeling sprang up soon after the departure from Egypt, and was, no doubt, in the first instance owing to the fact of Hobab, the father-in-law of Moses, belonging to this people.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6. the Kenites] This tribe, as may be inferred from the fact that Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, the priest of Midian (Exo_3:1), is called a Kenite in Jdg_1:16, was an offshoot from the Midianites. The services done to Israel by Jethro and his son Hobab (Exodus 18; Num_10:29-32) led to a firm alliance. The Kenites accompanied the Israelites on their march as far as Jericho (Jdg_1:16), and then went and dwelt among the Amalekites in the desert to the south of Judah. They are mentioned again in 1Sa_27:10, 1Sa_30:29, as the friends of Israel. Famous among the Kenites was Jael, whose husband Heber had migrated into northern Palestine (Jdg_4:11); and the Rechabites who belonged to this tribe (1Ch_2:55) long preserved the nomad habits of their ancestors (Jer_35:7-10).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Saul said unto the Kenites,.... Who were of the posterity of Jethro the father-in-law of Moses, or related to him; why Josephus (x) calls them the nation of the Sicimites, who dwelt in the midst of the land of Midian, I know not:

go, depart, get ye down from among the Amalekites; for though some of these people came with Israel into the land of Canaan, and were first at Jericho, and then came into the wilderness of Judah, Jdg 1:16 and were in other tribes also; yet as they removed from place to place, and from country to country, for the convenience of their flocks and herds, they dwelling in tents, might come into the country of Amalek and pitch there, and as they chose to dwell in rocks, and the caverns of them, to be near their flocks and herds in the valleys, they are called upon to get down from thence, see Num 24:21.

lest I destroy you with them; they dwelling among the Amalekites, might perish with them; and especially as the Amalekites, upon their being routed, would naturally flee to the rocks, hills, and mountains, where these people had their tents, they would be in the greater danger of being destroyed with them, unless they removed:

for ye showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt; as Jethro, by the advice he gave to Moses to appoint proper officers in Israel, and Hobab, by being eyes to the people, in conducting them through the wilderness, and accompanying them to the land of Canaan:

so the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites; took the advice of Saul, and removed and pitched their tents, elsewhere.

(x) Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 6. c. 7.) sect. 3.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Egypt. See Judges i. 16., Exodus xviii. 12., and Numbers x. 31., and xxiv. 21. Saul gave private instructions to the Cinite, who had been settled at Arad, and had mixed with Amalec, to depart. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The Kenites; a people descending from or nearly related unto Jethro, who anciently dwelt in rocks near the Amalekites, Num 24:21, and afterwards some of them dwelt in Judah, Jdg 1:16, whence it is probable they removed, (which, dwelling in tents, they could easily do,) and retired to their old habitation, because of the wars and troubles wherewith Judah was annoyed.

Ye showed kindness; some of your progenitors did so, Exo 18:12; Num 10:31, and for their sakes all of you shall fare the better. You were not guilty of that sin for which Amalek is now to be destroyed.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

6. The Kenites — The descendants of Jethro, Moses’ father in law, who is called a Kenite in Jdg_1:16. For the kindness shown to the Israelites by this ancestor of the Kenites, see Exodus 18.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Saul said unto the Kenites. Not while he was lying in ambush in the torrent bed, but after smiting Ir-Amalek. The Kenites were always friendly to the Israelites, but seem, like the Amalekites, to have been a Bedouin nation, ever wandering about without a settled home. In Abraham"s time they were a powerful people, (Gen_15:19) but, for some reason or other, broke up into small tribes, some, as those here spoken of, choosing the wilderness of Judah for their home, (Jud_1:16) others living far to the north in Naphtali, (Jud_1:4:11, 17) others among the rocks of Arabia Petraea. Of these last we know but little, but the rest continued to be on friendly terms with David. (1Sa_30:29)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Kenites - A people descending from, or nearly related to Jethro, who anciently dwelt in rocks near the Amalekites, Num. xxiv, 21, and afterwards some of them dwelt in Judah, Judg. i, 16, whence it is probable they removed, (which, dwelling in tents, they could easily do) and retired to their old habitation, because of the wars and troubles wherewith Judah was annoyed. Shewed kindness - Some of your progenitors did so, and for their sakes all of you shall fare the better. You were not guilty of that sin for which Amalek is now to be destroyed. When destroying judgments are abroad God takes care to separate the precious from the vile. It is then especially dangerous to be found in the company of God's enemies. The Jews have a saying, Woe to a wicked man, and to his neighbour.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Kenites

a nomad people group that had always been friendly to the nation of Israel (See: How to Translate Names)

Havilah ... Shur

These are the names of places. (See: How to Translate Names)

translationWords

Amalek

people group

Egypt

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

To the Kenites. Who were Yisro's descendants, who were residing in the wilderness of Yehudah, in the south of Arod, who went to Ya'aveitz to learn Torah, Arod being Amoleik. The Canaanite king of Arod was Amoleik, for it is stated [about him]; "who lived in the South," and, "Amoleik dwells in the southern part of the land."

To all the Bnei Yisroel. Who partook from his [Yisro's] meal, Moshe, Aharon and all the elders of Yisroel. It is considered as though he acted kindly with all the Bnei Yisroel.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.