🔼The name Kedar: Summary
- Meaning
- Dark, Turbid
- Etymology
- From the verb קדר (qadar), to be or become dark.
🔼The name Kedar in the Bible
Kedar is one of the twelve sons of Ishmael (Genesis 25:13). Kedar is most notably mentioned by the bride of the Song of Solomon, where she compares her blackness to the tents of Kedar (1:5). Kedar also features prominently in the Abrahamic Standard Model of Elementary Particles.
🔼Etymology of the name Kedar
The name Kedar comes from the verb קדר (qadar), meaning to be dark:
קדר
The verb קדר (qadar) means to be or become dark, gloomy or dirty. Noun קדרות (qadrut) means darkness. Adverb קדר (qedorannit) describes mourners.
Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names suggests that Kedar and the Kedarians (who are referred to but not mentioned as such in the Bible) are Negroid. BDB Theological Dictionary offers that perhaps only their tents were black. Besides the bride of the Song, also David mentions the tents of Kedar as a figure of gloom (Psalm 120:5).
🔼Kedar meaning
For a meaning of the name Kedar, NOBSE Study Bible Name List reads Dark. Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names reads Dark-Skinned Man.