Kish

Biblical Record

Several people named Kish appear in the Bible. The best known is the father of Saul, Israel's first king.

Kish the Father of Saul

1 Samuel 9:1 introduces Kish as a Benjamite, "a mighty man of power," and records that he was the son of Abiel. The expression is understood to describe a man of wealth and influence. When Kish's donkeys were lost, he sent his son Saul, together with a servant, to search for them (1 Samuel 9:3). On this journey Saul met Samuel and was anointed. Thereafter the text frequently calls Saul "the son of Kish" (1 Samuel 10:11; 10:21).

1 Samuel 14:51 records that Kish and Ner, the father of Abner, were both sons of Abiel. By this account, Abner, the captain of Saul's army, was Saul's cousin. After the deaths of Saul and Jonathan, David buried their bones in the tomb of Kish at Zelah in the land of Benjamin (2 Samuel 21:14).

Others with the Same Name

• One of the sons of the father of Gibeon (1 Chronicles 8:30; 9:36)
• A Levite, son of Mahli, of the descendants of Merari (1 Chronicles 23:21–22; 24:29)
• A Levite, son of Abdi, who took part in sanctifying the temple in the time of Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 29:12)
• A Benjamite ancestor of Mordecai (Esther 2:5)

Significance in the Bible

Virtually the only action directly attributed to Kish the father of Saul is sending his son to look for the donkeys. In Scripture his name serves chiefly to identify Saul's family and origin. In the New Testament he appears once, in Acts 13:21. Preaching in Antioch of Pisidia, Paul summarizes the history of Israel and says that God gave them "Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin" as king (the KJV renders the name as "Cis" here). Paul himself was of the tribe of Benjamin (Philippians 3:5).

Interpretation and Issues

• Genealogical differences: 1 Samuel records Kish as the son of Abiel (9:1; 14:51), whereas 1 Chronicles states, "And Ner begat Kish, and Kish begat Saul" (8:33; 9:39). Various explanations have been proposed for this difference: that Abiel and Ner are different names for the same person; that "begat" in genealogies can refer to a more distant ancestor; that there were two individuals named Ner; or that the discrepancy arose in the course of scribal transmission. Commentators differ in their conclusions.
• Kish in the Book of Esther: Some strands of Jewish tradition identify the Kish of Esther 2:5 with the father of Saul. On this reading, Saul's sparing of Agag, king of the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15), and the conflict between Mordecai, a descendant of Kish, and Haman the Agagite form a single continuous narrative thread. Other interpreters regard them as different men who shared the same name. The text does not state the relationship between the two.
• Material beyond the text: The Bible says nothing about Kish's character, his faith, or his attitude toward his son's kingship. Portrayals of these matters in sermons and similar settings belong to the realm of interpretation or imagination.

In the Korean Church

Sermons or teaching devoted specifically to Kish are rare. He is mentioned mainly within the account of Saul's call to kingship. The story of how Saul met Samuel while searching for the lost donkeys is frequently cited in sermons and Sunday school lessons as an example of God's providence at work in ordinary daily life.