1 Samuel 9:1

And there was a man from Benjamin named Kish, son of Abiel, etc. In this Saul the king, who was chosen by the people instead of Samuel, who persecuted David, committed other crimes, rejected David, and dying received a successor to the kingdom: he signifies …

When the person of the king to be appointed is set forth, why are the names of his fathers described, unless so that his kingdom might be perceived as not enduring? For concerning the kingdom which Moses had foreseen would come, he said: "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a ruler from his thigh, until he comes who is to be sent; and he shall be the expectation of the nations" (Gen. 49:10). Because therefore the tribe of Judah had been foreseen for the lasting duration of the kingdom, the lineage of Kish is mentioned, so that the royal dignity which was being established in his son might be openly known to be dispensatory, not permanent. But he who begets the carnal king, Kish—that is, "hard" as it is rendered in our language—is also proclaimed strong in might. Now also many carnal people are within the holy Church who seem to do great things; yet they are carnal because they do not have the grace of the Holy Spirit. They are therefore strong in might because everything which they seem to do greatly is bodily. For Kish the father of Saul is called strong in might so that he might be understood to have possessed great bodily strength. He who is strong in might, therefore, is hard, because he who displays great things carnally does not have a heart softened through compassion in fraternal charity. He acts powerfully in things which men outwardly cannot imitate, but inwardly he does not know how to be joined to fraternal minds through the affection of love. He does mighty things which God rejects, and he does not care to display the affection of charity which God approves. He is therefore hard, because while he does bodily things with a proud heart, the grace of the Holy Spirit does not soften his mind. Against this the holy man glories, saying: "God has softened my heart, and the Almighty has troubled me" (Job 23:16). […]

But now he sets forth what kind of pastor is fit for these things, saying: "There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a man of Jemini, mighty in strength. And he had a son whose name was Saul, chosen and good." What does it mean that when the king to be appointed is shown, the names of the fathers are proclaimed, unless that he is unworthily taken up to the leadership of the holy Church who does not maintain the nobility of the holy Fathers in his conduct? Moreover, six names of fathers are assigned, so that the perfection of their holy way of life in good action might be designated. For the world was created in six days and is completed in six ages. Therefore there are six fathers who are named in the order of the genealogy of the chosen pastors of the holy Church: because indeed those who obtain the summit of perfection in the pattern of those who follow are sons by imitation. But the father of the king, Kish, is said to mean "hard": because surely those whom the holy preachers imitate are not lax in life and zeal. For they are hard because they do not speak soft things to sinners; they are also hard because, in order to correct others well, they demonstrate in their own conduct the hard things they prescribe to them. For he seemed hard who rebuked the Jews, saying: "O generation of vipers, who has shown you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth worthy fruits of repentance" (Matt. 3:7). But he who was hard to others was not lenient with himself. For to show that he maintained the harshness of penance that he preached, the Evangelist says: "He had a garment of camel's hair, and a leather belt around his loins; and his food was locusts and wild honey" (Mark 1:6). […]

He was of the tribe of Benjamin; so was the New-Testament Saul, who also was called Paul, and he mentions it as his honour, for Benjamin was a favourite, Rom. xi.

Now there was a man of Benjamin,....