Source: TW
Rechabite
The Rechabites were a small religious sect that lived during the time of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 35). They were descended from the Kenites according to the book of Chronicles (1 Chronicles 2:55). They were Yahwists who lived in tents, did not practice agriculture and abstained from alcohol. They rejected the culture of Canaan especially the worship of Baal. Their strictness may have been a reaction to the policies of Ahab (his support of Baal worship).
The Rechabites were a conservative Yahwistic sect that lived during the time of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 35). They were descended from the Kenites according to the book of Chronicles (1 Chronicles 2:55). They followed the ordinances of their ancestor Jehonadab. They lived in tents, did not practice agriculture and abstained from alcohol. Their modest, non materialistic lifestyle emphasised freedom and spirituality. They rejected the culture of Canaan especially the worship of Baal. Their strictness may have been a reaction to the policies of Ahab (his support of Baal worship). The Midianites and Kenites were described as semi nomadic, living in tents but not exclusively like the Rechabites as some Kenites also lived in towns.
Sources: Uzi Avner, Sacred Stones in the Desert.
Jewish Encyclopedia, Rechabites.
Encyclopedia Brittanica, Rechabite
Kenite Smith
The Kenites were described as semi nomadic, living in tents but not exclusively like the Rechabites.
The Kenites were always portrayed as Yahwistic, they are connected with the Rechabites whose zeal for Yahwism was renowned, untouched by Canaanite cults and who abstained from alcohol. Source: YHWH: Origin of a Desert God, Robert D Miller II
Midianite Kenites were known to be tent dwellers, shepherds and metalworkers. The Bible connects the descendants of their eponymous ancestor Cain with metallurgy, music, cattle keeping and tent dwelling (Genesis 4).
The Kenites were a non Israelite Yahwistic tribe mentioned in the Bible. The Torah describes Moses’ father in law Jethro as a Kenite and also the priest of Midian (Exodus 3:1, Judges 1:16). “Kenites” was likely another name for the semi nomadic Midianites who were primarily metallurgists as “Kenites” means smiths. Smiths were often ritual specialists in the ancient world, they would perform circumcisions and sacrifices for other tribes. As travelling smiths, the Midianite Kenites were in an ideal position to influence others and to introduce Yahwism to the Israelites.
Source: YHWH, Origin of a Desert God, Robert D Miller II
Religion
The Kenites are associated with early Yahwism in the Hebrew Bible and also by many scholars. Some of the information from scholars include that the Midianite Kenites were aniconic, monolatrous and that they avoided alcohol. They used standing stones to represent God or as altars but these were not allowed to be made into an image.
Ambivalence
The semi nomadic Kenites had close ties with early Israel. The negativity towards Midian in some biblical texts suggests a real connection that some authors tried to soften. Some parts of the biblical text suggest that the Kenites had close ties with early Israel, others describe them as enemies of Israel. The book of Judges describes Yael, a Kenite woman who helped the Israelites by defeating Canaanite Sisera as “most blessed of women”. The Kenites also helped guide the Israelites who escaped from Egypt through the desert. Source: Hovav the Midianite, Why Was the End of the Story Cut? Prof Israel Knohl.
Jeremiah seemed very sympathetic towards the Rechabites (Jeremiah 35) and held them up as an example to the Israelites on how to serve YHWH. According to Chronicles, the Rechabites were a Kenite sub clan.
Midianite connection
Moses’ in-laws are called both Kenite and Midianite. Though there are some contradictions in the Bible, this isn’t one of them. One could be both a Kenite and Midianite, a smith and a Midianite at the same time. The eponym Qayin comes from the Semitic root q-y-n which means to forge or to be a smith. It is also related to the root q-n-h which means to create.
Source: Jacob Edward Dunn, A land whose stones are iron and from hills you can mine copper.
Ritual specialists
According to Jacob E Dunn, it is likely that the Kenites enjoyed the status of ritual specialists who had a special relationship with YHWH. Jethro is called a Kenite and also a Midianite priest. priest. Similar observations have been made by Robert Miller, who noted that blacksmiths in Africa performed religious rites like circumcisions and conducted sacrifices on behalf of neighbouring tribes. In his view, Kenite means smith and is another name for the semi nomadic Midianites who were primarily shepherds and smiths. The Semitic root q-y-n means to forge or to be a smith.
Edomites
Why did the Midianites seem to disappear in the late Iron Age I? What happened to them is not certain, but there are plausible theories. Jacob E Dunn suggested that the Midianites were absorbed into the Edomite chiefdom, the Midianites were proto-Edomites in his view.
YHWH is mentioned as coming from Midian, Teman and Edom in the Hebrew Bible. The Edomite god Qos is never condemned in the Hebrew Bible. Some scholars think YHWH and Qos are the same God, others disagree. Both the Midianites and Edomites were metallurgists who produced copper and bronze and their pottery was very similar. Midianite ware has been found in an Edomite context, so has the name Reuel one of the names given for Moses’ father in law in the Hebrew Bible. The Kenites, descendants of Moses’ father in law lived in the wilderness of Judah to the south of Arad according to the book of Judges. Source: Jacob E Dunn, metallurgy, pottery and the Midianite Qenite hypothesis.
The Israelites were warned not to loathe an Edomite because “he is your brother” (Deuteronomy 23:8). Moses married Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro the priest of Midian (Exodus 2:21). These traditions were earlier than the supposed animosity between Israel and Midian and Edom.
There is no mention or condemnation of an Edomite or Midianite deity in the Hebrew Bible. I believe this is because the Midianites worshipped YHWH, and in the case of Edom that their God Qos is either the same or so similar to YHWH that it was hard to reject him.
Midianite
Midian was located in northwest Arabia and southern Transjordan, it may have also extended into the Sinai. Source: Clinton Bailey, Bedouin culture in the Bible
The Midianites were a semi nomadic Proto-Arabian tribe who were shepherds and produced distinct decorated pottery known as Qurayyah painted ware. They were also experts in metallurgy, specifically the smelting of copper and production of bronze.
Source: Prof Israel Knohl, YHWH: The Original Arabic Meaning of the Name.
The Midianites left no written texts, but some things are known about them from archaeology. The main evidence for them is Qurayyah Painted Ware which is found in Northwest Arabia and the Southern Levant. This pottery moved with them from the Hejaz to the Negev. They were also shepherds and experts in metallurgy, specifically the smelting of copper and the production of bronze. Source: Prof Israel Knohl, YHWH: The Original Arabic Meaning of The Name
The Midianites were part of the spice trade, they would pass through Israel on their way to the Mediterranean and Egypt. Genesis also calls the eponymous mother of the Midianites “Keturah” meaning incense (Genesis 25:1-2). The biblical story of Joseph describes Midianite and Ishmaelite traders heading to Egypt with spices and slaves (Genesis 37:25). Source: YHWH the Original Arabic meaning of the name, Prof Israel Knohl
The Midianites were semi-nomadic, some of them lived in towns and others were more nomadic. Midianite Kenites lived in tents below the hills at Timna. They were involved in gold and copper mining and were shepherds (Exodus 2). Others were more settled and engaged in agriculture
Influence
Hundreds of years before the Nabateans, in the same geographical area aniconism was practised by the Midianites, a tribe known from the Hebrew Bible. The Midianites represented God using imageless stelae just like the later Nabateans. This influenced Islam, Islamic art is non figurative. Source: Joseph Patrich, The Formation of Nabatean Art
Midianite aniconism influenced Israelite religion which later extended to Islam due to shared traditions. This influence can be seen in the second commandment of the Bible, which forbids the construction of graven images. Islam also adopted aniconism, strictly prohibiting the worship and construction of graven images. Professor Israel Knohl highlighted that the Nabateans, another northern Arabian tribe were also aniconic.
Negev presence
Qurayyah painted ware was discovered north of the core Midianite zone, showing Midianite presence in the Negev. By the 8th century BC, the Negev was a mixing bowl of Judahites, Midianites, Edomites and South Arabians. Source: Robert Miller, YHWH Origin of a Desert God.
Habakkuk 3:3 mentions God coming from Teiman (Tayma). Tayma was part of Midian and is located in northwest Saudi Arabia, today the Tabuk region of Saudi Arabia.
Moses’s wife
The story of Moses marrying a Midianite woman and a Midianite priest leading a sacrifice to YHWH are unlikely to have been invented and are likely to have a historical basis. The Israelite people have memories of Midianite Kenites mixing with early Israel, especially Hobab the Kenite. These stories have the mark of authenticity, why would a marriage to a non Israelite woman be invented? Later texts describe Midianites as enemies so inventing these traditions would make little sense.
Sources: YHWH: Origin of a Desert God Robert D Miller II , Andre Lemaire, the birth of monotheism, the rise and disappearance of Yahwism, YHWH: The Original Arabic Meaning of The Name, Prof Israel Knohl.
The story of Moses marrying a Midianite woman and a Midianite priest leading a sacrifice to YHWH are unlikely to have been invented and are likely to have a historical basis. The Israelite people have memories of Midianite Kenites mixing with early Israel, especially Hobab the Kenite. These stories have the mark of authenticity, why would a marriage to a non Israelite woman be invented? Later texts describe Midianites as enemies so inventing these traditions would make little sense.
Sources: YHWH: Origin of a Desert God Robert D Miller II , Andre Lemaire, the birth of monotheism, the rise and disappearance of Yahwism, YHWH: The Original Arabic Meaning of The Name, Prof Israel Knohl.
Elimination
“It appears that the Torah contains two contradictory approaches: one highlighting positively the Midianites actions and their close association with Israel,
and the second adopting a negative approach towards this people and erasing any reference to Midianite influence over Israelite society, let alone a close genealogical relation between these two ethnic groups.It may be that the common origin of Israel and Midian is the impetus for the ambivalence the Israelite authors feel about Midian, which expresses itself in these two divergent approaches. This kinship is reflected not only in the account of the birth of Midian as the son of Abraham and Keturah (Gen 25:2), but also hinted at in accounts of the Israelites’ past, which emphasize their origins in the southern wilderness.”
Source: Hovav the Midianite, Why Was the End of the Story Cut?
Who led the Israelites into the worship of Baal Peor? Numbers 25:1-5 says only Moabites. A later reworking adds Midianites! The story starting at Numbers 25 belongs to the priestly source, it appears the Aaronid priests added Midianites to suit their own ideology. Other reworkings by the “priestly” source either degrade the Midianites or omit references to Moses’ connection to Midian and the Midianite origin of Yahwism. Source: Contradictions in the Bible, Dr Steven DiMattei - Baal Peor Moabites or Midianites?
Covenant
The covenant with Israel is said to have taken place at Mt Sinai/Horeb. This is the mountain of God, which is located in the wilderness not far from Midian. In the Torah, Moses was called by God at Horeb the mountain of God, while he was looking after his Midianite father in law’s sheep. Later, Moses meets the elders of Israel at Horeb and builds 12 masseboth at the foot of the mountain. A similar thing was found at Midianite tent shrine in Timna, masseboth and basins used in sacrifices according to Jacob Dunn.
Exodus myth
The Historicity of the Exodus
There is no evidence for the Exodus as described in the Bible. This story may have come from ancient memory of the Egyptian rule over Canaan, when the Egyptians ruled and enslaved Canaanites in their own land. Some of these Canaanites were taken to Egypt and some of these later became Israel. Another possibility is that the Exodus occurred on a smaller scale. Prof Israel Knohl estimated that about 500 persons escaped Egypt, there is no evidence against this amount of people leaving Egypt. The Moses group could have conceivably survived in the Sinai desert if they were this size. Survival of 600,000 as claimed in Numbers 1:45 would have been impossible due to the limited water and food sources available in the desert.
Sources:
Freedom from the Egyptian Empire, Prof Ronald Handel Bedouin culture in the Bible, Clinton Bailey.