Places in the Bible · People group

Kedar

Kedar is a people group mentioned in 9 verses. Its most likely location is Kedar. The name means “blackness; sorrow.”

ruins in Dumat al Jandal
ruins in Dumat al Jandal · Photo: Imam Khairul Annas (CC-BY-SA-4.0), via Wikimedia Commons

Where is Kedar?

Approx. 29.8114, 39.8683 · OpenStreetMap · Google Maps

Possible modern locations

IdentificationTypeConfidence
Kedarpeople groupHigh

Kedar in the Bible dictionary

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).

Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897), public domain. Full dictionary entry →

Verses that mention Kedar

  • Psalms 120:5

    Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!

  • Song of Solomon 1:5

    I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.

  • Isaiah 21:16

    For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Within a year, according to the years of an hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail:

  • Isaiah 21:17

    And the residue of the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished: for the Lord God of Israel hath spoken it.

  • Isaiah 42:11

    Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains.

  • Isaiah 60:7

    All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory.

  • Jeremiah 2:10

    For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing.

  • Jeremiah 49:28

    Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon shall smite, thus saith the Lord; Arise ye, go up to Kedar, and spoil the men of the east.

  • Ezekiel 27:21

    Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they occupied with thee in lambs, and rams, and goats: in these were they thy merchants.