KADESH ON THE ORONTES kā’ dĭsh, ōrŏn’-tez (קָדֵ֥שׁ). A town on the Orontes River, just S of the Lake of Humus. The familiar battle between Rameses II and the Hittites took place here in 1288 b.c. It is the modern Tell Nebi Mend, some forty m. S of Hamath and fifty m. N of Damascus.

In Scripture, Kadesh is mentioned as the northern extension of Israel in David’s day (2 Sam 24:6). Some scholars doubt this location for the city feeling that it is too far N to suit the passage. KJV has tr. the whole phrase “Tahtim-hod shi.”