Now Heber the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, even from the children of Hobab the brother-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far as the oak in Zaanannim, which is by Kedesh.
Apparently some of the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, Moses’ brother-in-law, had moved north to continue their semi-nomadic life in the northern part of western Manasseh. Hobab was probably Moses’ brother-in-law (NIV) rather than his father-in-law (AV, NASB; cf. Numbers 10:29). The consonants of the Hebrew words translated "father-in-law" and "brother-in-law" are the same (i.e., htn). Only the vowels, which later scribes supplied, are different (hoten being "father-in-law" and hatan being "brother-in-law").