Kish

A father sends his son to look for lost donkeys, and the errand ends with the son anointed king. That is how Kish enters the story. He was a Benjamite, “a mighty man of power,” and his son was Saul, taller than anyone in Israel. Most of what Scripture says about Kish is family record: his father and grandfather are named, and Saul is always “the son of Kish.” The name is shared by a few other men, including a Levite in Chronicles and an ancestor of Mordecai in Esther. To meet the best-known Kish, begin at 1 Samuel 9, where the search for the donkeys begins.

8 verses

1 Samuel

1 Samuel 9:1

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.

1 Samuel 9:2

And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.

1 Samuel 9:3

And the asses of Kish Saul's father were lost. And Kish said to Saul his son, Take now one of the servants with thee, and arise, go seek the asses.

1 Samuel 10:21

When he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, the family of Matri was taken, and Saul the son of Kish was taken: and when they sought him, he could not be found.

1 Chronicles

1 Chronicles 8:30

And his firstborn son Abdon, and Zur, and Kish, and Baal, and Nadab,

1 Chronicles 23:21

The sons of Merari; Mahli, and Mushi. The sons of Mahli; Eleazar, and Kish.

1 Chronicles 23:22

And Eleazar died, and had no sons, but daughters: and their brethren the sons of Kish took them.

Esther

Esther 2:5

Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite;

From Easton's Bible Dictionary

Matthew George Easton, 1897

A bow. (1.) A Levite of the family of Merari (1 Chr. 23:21; 24:29).

(2.) A Benjamite of Jerusalem (1 Chr. 8:30; 9:36).

(3.) A Levite in the time of Hezekiah (2 Chr. 29:12).

(4.) The great-grandfather of Mordecai (Esther 2:5).

(5.) A Benjamite, the son of Abiel, and father of king Saul (1 Sam. 9:1, 3; 10:11, 21; 14:51; 2 Sam. 21:14). All that is recorded of him is that he sent his son Saul in search of his asses that had strayed, and that he was buried in Zelah. Called Cis, Acts 13:21 (R.V., Kish).

From Smith's Bible Dictionary

William Smith, 1884

(a bow).

(1.) The father of Saul; a Benjamite of the family of Matri. (B.C. 1095.)

(2.) Son of Jehiel and uncle to the preceding. (1 Chronicles 9:36)

(3.) A Benjamite, great-grandfather of Mordecai. (Esther 2:5)

(4.) A Merarite of the house of Mahli, of the tribe of Levi. (1 Chronicles 23:21,22; 24:28,29)