Ke'dar. (dark-skinned). The second, in order, of the sons of Ishmael, Genesis 25:13; 1 Chronicles 1:29, and the name of a great tribe of Arabs settled on the northwest of the peninsula and on the confines of Palestine. The "glory of Kedar" is recorded by the prophet Isaiah, Isaiah 21:13-17, in the burden upon Arabia; and its importance may also be inferred from the "princes of Kedar" mentioned by Ezekiel, Ezekiel 27:21 , as well as the pastoral character of the tribe.

They appear also to have been, like the wandering tribes of the present day, "archers" and "mighty men." Isaiah 21:17. Compare Psalms 120:5. That they also settled in villages or towns, we find from Isaiah. Isaiah 42:11. The tribe seems to have been one of the most conspicuous of all the Ishmaelite tribes, and hence, the rabbins call the Arabians universally by this name.