"K1"

Kadesh
The sacred city of the Hittites, on the left bank of the Orontes, about 4 miles south of the Lake of Homs. It is identified with the great mound Tell Neby Mendeh, some 50 to 100 feet high, and 400 yards long. On the ruins of the temple of Karnak, in Egypt, has been found an inscription recording the capture of this city by Rameses II. (See PHARAOH.) Here the sculptor "has chiselled in deep work on the stone, with a bold execution of the several parts, the procession of the warriors, the battle before Kadesh, the storming of the fortress, the overthrow of the enemy, and the camp life of the Egyptians."

Kanah
Reedy; brook of reeds. A stream forming the boundary between Ephraim and Manasseh, from the Mediterranean eastward to Tappuah (Josh. 16:8). It has been identified with the sedgy streams that constitute the Wady Talaik, which enters the sea between Joppa and Caesarea. Others identify it with the river' Aujeh. A town in the north of Asher (Josh. 19:28). It has been identified with 'Ain-Kana, a village on the brow of a valley some 7 miles south-east of Tyre. About a mile north of this place are many colossal ruins strown about. And in the side of a neighbouring ravine are figures of men, women, and children cut in the face of the rock. These are supposed to be of Phoenician origin.

Kedar
Dark-skinned, the second son of Ishmael (Gen. 25:13). It is the name for the nomadic tribes of Arabs, the Bedouins generally (Isa. 21:16; 42:11; 60:7; Jer. 2:10; Ezek. 27:21), who dwelt in the north-west of Arabia. They lived in black hair-tents (Cant. 1:5). To "dwell in the tents of Kedar" was to be cut off from the worship of the true God (Ps. 120:5). The Kedarites suffered at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar (Jer. 49:28, 29).

Kedesh
Sanctuary. A place in the extreme south of Judah (Josh. 15:23). Probably the same as Kadesh-barnea (q.v.). A city of Issachar (1 Chr. 6:72). Possibly Tell Abu Kadeis, near Lejjun. A "fenced city" of Naphtali, one of the cities of refuge (Josh. 19:37; Judg. 4:6). It was assigned to the Gershonite Levites (Josh. 21:32). It was originally a Canaanite royal city (Josh. 12:22), and was the residence of Barak (Judg. 4:6); and here he and Deborah assembled the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali before the commencement of the conflict with Sisera in the plain of Esdraelon, "for Jehovah among the mighty" (9, 10). In the reign of Pekah it was taken by Tiglath-Pileser (2 Kings 15:29). It was situated near the "plain" (rather "the oak") of Zaanaim, and has been identified with the modern Kedes, on the hills fully four miles north-west of Lake El Huleh. It has been supposed by some that the Kedesh of the narrative, where Barak assembled his troops, was not the place in Upper Galilee so named, which was 30 miles distant from the plain of Esdraelon, but Kedish, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, 12 miles from Tabor.

Kenites
Smiths, the name of a tribe inhabiting the desert lying between southern Palestine and the mountains of Sinai. Jethro was of this tribe (Judg. 1:16). He is called a "Midianite" (Num. 10:29), and hence it is concluded that the Midianites and the Kenites were the same tribe. They were wandering smiths, "the gipsies and travelling tinkers of the old Oriental world. They formed an important guild in an age when the art of metallurgy was confined to a few" (Sayce's Races, etc.). They showed kindness to Israel in their journey through the wilderness. They accompanied them in their march as far as Jericho (Judg. 1:16), and then returned to their old haunts among the Amalekites, in the desert to the south of Judah. They sustained afterwards friendly relations with the Israelites when settled in Canaan (Judg. 4:11, 17-21; 1 Sam. 27:10; 30:29). The Rechabites belonged to this tribe (1 Chr. 2:55) and in the days of Jeremiah (35:7-10) are referred to as following their nomad habits. Saul bade them depart from the Amalekites (1 Sam. 15:6) when, in obedience to the divine commission, he was about to "smite Amalek." And his reason is, "for ye showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt." Thus "God is not unrighteous to forget the kindnesses shown to his people; but they shall be remembered another day, at the farthest in the great day, and recompensed in the resurrection of the just" (M. Henry's Commentary). They are mentioned for the last time in Scripture in 1 Sam. 27:10; comp. 30:20.

Keturah
Incense, the wife of Abraham, whom he married probably after Sarah's death (Gen. 25:1-6), by whom he had six sons, whom he sent away into the east country. Her nationality is unknown. She is styled "Abraham's concubine" (1 Chr. 1:32). Through the offshoots of the Keturah line Abraham became the "father of many nations."

King
Is in Scripture very generally used to denote one invested with authority, whether extensive or limited. There were thirty-one kings in Canaan (Josh. 12:9, 24), whom Joshua subdued. Adonibezek subdued seventy kings (Judg. 1:7). In the New Testament the Roman emperor is spoken of as a king (1 Pet. 2:13, 17); and Herod Antipas, who was only a tetrarch, is also called a king (Matt. 14:9; Mark 6:22). This title is applied to God (1 Tim. 1:17), and to Christ, the Son of God (1 Tim. 6:15, 16; Matt. 27:11). The people of God are also called "kings" (Dan. 7:22, 27; Matt. 19:28; Rev. 1:6, etc.). Death is called the "king of terrors" (Job 18:14). Jehovah was the sole King of the Jewish nation (1 Sam. 8:7; Isa. 33:22). But there came a time in the history of that people when a king was demanded, that they might be like other nations (1 Sam. 8:5). The prophet Samuel remonstrated with them, but the people cried out, "Nay, but we will have a king over us." The misconduct of Samuel's sons was the immediate cause of this demand. The Hebrew kings did not rule in their own right, nor in name of the people who had chosen them, but partly as servants and partly as representatives of Jehovah, the true King of Israel (1 Sam. 10:1). The limits of the king's power were prescribed (1 Sam. 10:25). The officers of his court were, the recorder or remembrancer (2 Sam. 8:16; 1 Kings 4:3); the scribe (2 Sam. 8:17; 20:25); the officer over the house, the chief steward (Isa. 22:15); the "king's friend," a confidential companion (1 Kings 4:5); the keeper of the wardrobe (2 Kings 22:14); captain of the bodyguard (2 Sam. 20:23); officers over the king's treasures, etc. (1 Chr. 27:25-31); commander-in-chief of the army (1 Chr. 27:34); the royal counsellor (1 Chr. 27:32; 2 Sam. 16:20-23).