1 Samuel 9:1

1 Now there was a man of Binyamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Aviel, the son of Tzeror, the son of Bekhorat, the son of Afiach, the son of a Binyamini, a mighty man of valor.

1 Samuel 9:1 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 9:1

Now there was a man of Benjamin
Of the tribe of Benjamin, which had its name from the youngest son of Jacob, and one of this tribe was the first king of Israel:

whose name was Kish:
whom the apostle calls Cis, ( Acts 13:21 ) , and Josephus ^F9 Cises; his name, according to Hillerus ^F11, signifies "ensnared"; for what reason it was given him is not certain:

the son of Abiel;
in ( 1 Chronicles 8:33 ) ( 9:39 ) , he is called Ner that begat Kish; and in this book, ( 1 Samuel 14:50 1 Samuel 14:51 ) Ner and Kish are represented as brethren, the sons of Abiel: to reconcile this, it may be observed, that Ner being the elder brother, on the death of his father Abiel, had the care and bringing up of his younger brother Kish; and therefore when he is said to beget him, the meaning is, not that he was the parent of him, but the bringer up of him; or rather, as Kimchi thinks, Abiel had two sons, one of which was Ner; and that he had two sons, one that was called after his own name Ner, who was the father of Abner; and the other Kish, the father of Saul:

the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite;
of these persons we nowhere else read:

a mighty man of power;
not a man of riches, or of authority, neither a wealthy man, nor a magistrate, for his family was mean and contemptible, ( 1 Samuel 9:21 ) ( 10:27 ) but a man of great strength, an able bodied man, and of great natural fortitude, and courage of mind.

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FOOTNOTES:

F9 Antiqu. l. 6. c. 4. sect. 1.
F11 Onomastic. Sacr. p. 405.

1 Samuel 9:1 In-Context

1 Now there was a man of Binyamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Aviel, the son of Tzeror, the son of Bekhorat, the son of Afiach, the son of a Binyamini, a mighty man of valor.

2 He had a son, whose name was Sha'ul, a young man and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Yisra'el a better person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.

3 The donkeys of Kish, Sha'ul's father, were lost. Kish said to Sha'ul his son, Take now one of the servants with you, and arise, go seek the donkeys.

4 He passed through the hill-country of Efrayim, and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they didn't find them: then they passed through the land of Sha`alim, and there they weren't there: and he passed through the land of the Binyamini, but they didn't find them.

5 When they had come to the land of Tzuf, Sha'ul said to his servant who was with him, Come, and let us return, lest my father leave off caring for the donkeys, and be anxious for us.