Kenizzite (Hebrew: קנזי, romanized: Qənizzî, also spelled Cenezite in the Douay–Rheims Bible) was an Edomite[citation needed] tribe referred to in the covenant God made with Abraham (Genesis 15:19).
The Kenizzites are identified in various ways according to different sources: The Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah) and the Jerusalem Talmud offer multiple views, including that the Kenizzites may be the Nabataeans, Edomites, or the people of Asia Minor (situated north of Israel).
According to this view, the Kenizzites' identity evolved, and they may be mentioned under different names.
Finally, Rabbi Elijah Kramer of Vilna equates the Kenizzites with the Zemarites, thus aligning them with a specific group in the Holy Land's immediate vicinity.
[1] In Numbers 32:12 Jephunneh, father of the Israelite leader Caleb, is called a Kenizzite.