Bible Dictionary
Kedesh
Kedesh means “sanctuary” and names several places. The best-known was a fortified city of Naphtali, assigned to the Levites and appointed as a city of refuge.
Definition
Kedesh means “sanctuary” and names several places. These include a southern place probably associated with Kadesh-barnea, a city of Issachar, and especially a fortified city of Naphtali. Naphtali’s Kedesh was assigned to the Gershonite Levites and made a city of refuge.
Biblical Usage
Naphtali’s Kedesh was associated with Barak and Deborah, who gathered the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali there before the conflict with Sisera. It was also one of the cities of refuge and was later taken by Tiglath-pileser.
Historical Background
The principal Kedesh was probably near the northern end of the Sea of Galilee and has been identified with modern Kedes. It was originally a Canaanite royal city. A separate Kedesh of Issachar has been associated with Tell Abu Kadeis.
Scripture References
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Sanctuary. (1.) A place in the extreme south of Judah (Josh. 15:23). Probably the same as Kadesh-barnea (q.v.). (2.) A city of Issachar (1 Chr. 6:72). Possibly Tell Abu Kadeis, near Lejjun. (3.) 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.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
(a sanctuary).