The Kadmonites ( ''Qaḏmōnī'') were, according to the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

in a covenant to

Abraham Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the Covenant (biblical), covenanta ...

in . The tribe's identity is unknown. According to M.G. Eastons Bible Dictionary, the Kadmonites inhabited the northeastern part of

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

, and it is supposed that they are identical to the "children of the east", which inhabited the land between Palestine and the Euphrat. According to the ''

Jewish Encyclopedia ''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on the ...

'', R. Judah b. Hai identified the Kadmonites with the Nabateans. ''

Encyclopaedia Judaica The ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' is a multi-volume English-language encyclopedia of the Jewish people, Judaism, and Israel. It covers diverse areas of the Jewish world and civilization, including Jewish history of all eras, culture, Jewish holida ...

'' writes that opinions diverge as to the identity of the tribes of the

Kenites According to the Hebrew Bible, the Kenites/Qenites ( or ; ) were a tribe in the ancient Levant. They settled in the towns and cities in the northeastern Negev in an area known as the "Negev of the Kenites" near Arad, Israel, Arad, and played an ...

, Kenizzites and Kadmonites: a plausible interpretation laid forward by R. Judah is that they were Arab tribes bordering Canaan; another interpretation by R. Eliezer is that the tribes refer to

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...

and

Carthage Carthage was an ancient city in Northern Africa, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classic ...

. Jewish tradition regards the term as being identical to ''Bnei Kedem'' ("Children of the East") a designation of the relatives of the Hebrews who lived east of them.Encyclopedia Judaica 1997 CD-ROM Edition, article Kedemites or Easterners

References

Hebrew Bible nations