KEDESH

(Keʹdesh) [sacred place, sanctuary].

1. A city in southern Judah (Josh. 15:21, 23), possibly the same as Kadesh-barnea.—See KADESH, KADESH-BARNEA.

2. A city of Naphtali given to the Gershonites and set aside as a city of refuge. (Josh. 20:7; 21:32, 33; 1 Chron. 6:71, 76) Because of its location it was also called “Kedesh-naphtali” (Judg. 4:6) and “Kedesh in Galilee.” (Josh. 20:7) Apparently the residence of Judge Barak, Kedesh served as the rallying point for his ten thousand men from Naphtali and Zebulun prior to their victory over the Canaanite army under Sisera. (Judg. 4:6, 10) Centuries later the city was conquered by Assyrian King Tigloth-pileser III during the rule of Israel’s King Pekah (778-758 B.C.E.).—2 Ki. 15:29.

Kedesh has been linked with Tell Qades, a mound overlooking a small, but fertile plain some four miles (6 kilometers) NW of the Huleh Basin.

3. A site in Issachar assigned to the “sons of Gershom” (1 Chron. 6:71, 72), seemingly the same as the “Kishion” mentioned in the parallel list at Joshua 21:28. Tell Abu Qedeis, about two and a half miles (4 kilometers) SE of Megiddo, has been suggested as a possible identification. This would seem to fit Joshua 12:21, 22, where Kedesh appears to be placed in the vicinity of Megiddo and Jokneam. Since Barak defeated Sisera in the Megiddo area (Judg. 5:19), it may have been near this Kedesh (and not No. 2 above) that Jael killed Canaanite army chief Sisera in her tent.—Judg. 4:11, 17, 21.