1 Samuel 9:1

1 There was a wealthy and influential man named Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin; he was the son of Abiel and grandson of Zeror, and belonged to the family of Becorath, a part of the clan of Aphiah.

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 There was a wealthy and influential man named Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin; he was the son of Abiel and grandson of Zeror, and belonged to the family of Becorath, a part of the clan of Aphiah.

2 He had a son named Saul, a handsome man in the prime of life. Saul was a foot taller than anyone else in Israel and more handsome as well.

3 Some donkeys belonging to Kish had wandered off, so he said to Saul, "Take one of the servants with you and go and look for the donkeys."

4 They went through the hill country of Ephraim and the region of Shalishah, but did not find them; so they went on through the region of Shaalim, but the donkeys were not there. Then they went through the territory of Benjamin, but still did not find them.

5 When they came into the region of Zuph, Saul said to his servant, "Let's go back home, or my father might stop thinking about the donkeys and start worrying about us."