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1 Samuel 9:1

in 1 Samuel 9

Now there was a Benjamite, a powerful man, whose name was Kish son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah of Benjamin.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjamite, a mighty man of valor.

KJV

Now 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, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power.

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This verse in 1 Samuel 9

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jerome

HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 3 (PS 7) · Written before 420.

on 1 Samuel 9:1-2

The name Benjamin is a combination, then, of two words, son and right hand: ben means "son" and jamin means "right hand."Let us remember once for all that the tribe of Benjamin was called Jemini.

This site's exposition

a mighty man of power

Saul's introduction opens with his father's five-generation pedigree, a mighty man of power, meaning a man of standing and property in Benjamin rather than a warrior's title. The genealogy roots the coming king's line before naming him, the same convention Judges used for Gideon and Samson. Samuel's own book began with Elkanah's line at 1:1 in the same way, weight given to family before the man himself appears.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

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.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The genealogy of Saul is here given as far as Aphiah (“Abiah,” 1Ch 7:8), who was of the house of Becher the son of Benjamin Gen 46:21. “Kish” 1Ch 9:35-39 was the son of “Ner” the son of “Jehiel,” (or, “Abiel” here and 1Sa 14:51), the first settler (“father,” 1Ch 9:35) at Gibeon, or Gibeah of Saul, and who married “Maachah,” a daughter or granddaughter of Caleb. If so, it is obvious that the names of several generations are omitted between Kish and Abiel, and among them that from which the family of Matri 1Sa 10:21 was called.

The words behind it

18 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַֽיְהִי־and he was

    vayhi-H1961 →3559 times

  • אִ֣ישׁa man

    ʾishH376 →1663 times

  • מִבִּנְיָמִ֗יןfrom Benjamin

    mibinyaminH1144 →166 times

  • וּ֠שְׁמוֹand name his

    ushemoH8034 →864 times

  • קִ֣ישׁ[was] Kish

    kishH7027 →21 times

  • בֶּן־[the] son of

    ben-H1121 →4930 times

  • אֲבִיאֵ֞לAbiel

    ʾavielH22 →

  • בֶּן־[the] son of

    ben-H1121 →4930 times

  • צְר֧וֹרZeror

    tzerorH6872 →

  • בֶּן־[the] son of

    ben-H1121 →4930 times

  • בְּכוֹרַ֛תBecorath

    bekhoratH1064 →

  • בֶּן־[the] son of

    ben-H1121 →4930 times

  • אֲפִ֖יחַAphiah

    ʾafiachH647 →

  • בֶּן־a son of

    ben-H1121 →4930 times

  • אִ֣ישׁa man

    ʾishH376 →1663 times

  • יְמִינִ֑יa Jaminite

    yeminiH3227 →

  • גִּבּ֖וֹרa mighty [man] of

    giborH1368 →158 times

  • חָֽיִל׃wealth

    chayilH2428 →246 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

12 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

1 Samuel 14:51Saul’s father Kish and Abner’s father Ner were sons of Abiel.9 works1 Chronicles 8:33Ner was the father of Kish, Kish was the father of Saul, and Saul was the father of Jonathan, Malchishua, Abinadab, and Esh-baal.7 worksActs 13:21Then the people asked for a king, and God gave them forty years under Saul son of Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin.6 works1 Chronicles 9:36–39Abdon was his firstborn son, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab,4 works1 Samuel 25:2Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. He was a very wealthy man with a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel.3 works1 Chronicles 8:30–33and Abdon was his firstborn son, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Nadab,3 works
The other 6 cross-references, with their words ▾
Esther 2:5Now there was at the citadel of Susa a Jewish man from the tribe of Benjamin named Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish.3 worksJob 1:3and he owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man of all the people of the East.2 works1 Samuel 11:5Just then Saul was returning from the field, behind his oxen. “What troubles the people?” asked Saul. “Why are they weeping?” And they relayed to him the words of the men from Jabesh.2 works1 Samuel 26:5Then David set out and went to the place where Saul had camped. He saw the place where Saul and Abner son of Ner, the general of his army, had lain down. Saul was lying inside the inner circle of the camp, with the troops camped around him.2 works2 Samuel 9:9Then the king summoned Saul’s servant Ziba and said to him, “I have given to your master’s grandson all that belonged to Saul and to all his house.2 works2 Samuel 19:32Barzillai was quite old, eighty years of age, and since he was a very wealthy man, he had provided for the king while he stayed in Mahanaim.1 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Acts 13:21

    Then the people asked for a king, and God gave them forty years under Saul son of Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin.

    it leads to

    • 1 Samuel 10:1

      Then Samuel took a flask of oil, poured it on Saul’s head, kissed him, and said, “Has not the LORD anointed you ruler over His inheritance?

    • 1 Samuel 15:1

      Then Samuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you king over His people Israel. Now therefore, listen to the words of the LORD.

  • Through

    1 Samuel 25:2

    Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. He was a very wealthy man with a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel.

    it leads to

    • Genesis 38:13

      When Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,”

    • 1 Samuel 23:24

      So they set out and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the Wilderness of Maon in the Arabah south of Jeshimon,

    • Joshua 15:55

      Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah,

    • Luke 16:19–25

      Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor.

    • 2 Samuel 19:32

      Barzillai was quite old, eighty years of age, and since he was a very wealthy man, he had provided for the king while he stayed in Mahanaim.

  • Through

    1 Samuel 14:51

    Saul’s father Kish and Abner’s father Ner were sons of Abiel.

    it leads to

    • 1 Samuel 9:21

      Saul replied, “Am I not a Benjamite from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of Benjamin? So why would you say such a thing…

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

About 1 Samuel

David Slays Goliath — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
David Slays Goliath — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
1 Samuel: the study guide →Read 1 Samuel 9 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jerome, HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 3 (PS 7) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 1 Samuel 9 →