KADMONITES (kăd'mŏn-īts, Heb. kadmōnî, children of the East). A very ancient tribe, one of the ten whose possessions God gave to the descendants of Abraham. They lived somewhere between Egypt and the Euphrates (Gen.15.18-Gen.15.21).
KADMONITES kăd’ mə nīts
, meaning easterner
, i.e., one of the E country). A people whose land was promised to Abraham’s descendants (Gen 15:19
). They are mentioned with other peoples as a people whose land was somewhere within the region stretching between the river of Egypt on the S and the river Euphrates on the N. Qadmōnî
is a derivative of the root q-d-m
which means “front” or “before.” The Hebrews and other peoples designated directions by facing toward the direction of the rising sun: “before” or “front” was the direction E, to the right was S, etc. Accordingly, the land eastward was the “land of Qedem” or “east country” (Gen 25:6
, RSV and KJV). Kadmonites therefore were people of the “east country.” The people of the “east country” also are called “sons of Qedem,” i.e., “people of the east,” who were the people of Job (Job 1:3
), of camel-riding kings from Midian (Judg 8:10-12
), and of certain wise men of Solomon’s time (1 Kings 4:30
). Within the stretch between the river of Egypt and the Euphrates River, the Syrian desert E of Byblos is perhaps more specifically the region of the “Kadomites.”
R. A. Bowman, “Kadmonites,” IDB, K-Q (1962), 2.