Kish (Bible)
Kish ( Hebrew קישׁ Ḳish ) is a person from the Bible. Saul , the first king of the Israelites , is called "the son of Kish".
First Book of Samuel
The 9th chapter of the 1st book Samuel describes Kish as "son of Abiёl". The family belonged to the Benjamin tribe . By Kish in 1 Sam 9,1 EU Hebrew גבור חיל gibbor ḥayil is called, depending on the Bible translation: a capable man ( Luther Bible ), a wealthy Benjaminite ( standard translation ), a capable warrior ( Zurich Bible ), he is in any case identified as a person of high status. This is important in the context of the narrative because it contrasts with Saul's low self-assessment 1 Sam 9.21 EU .
When donkeys disappeared from Kish's herd, he sent his son Saul to look for them. During this search Saul met Samuel , who anointed him king ( 1 Sam 9 EU ).
Other mentions
Kish is mentioned elsewhere in the Bible . He is mentioned as Saul's father both in the Old Testament in the 1st book of the Chronicle ( 1 Chr 8,33 EU ) and in the New Testament in the Acts of the Apostles ( Acts 13,21 EU ). Here in the Greek text the name is Κίς Kís .
Flavius Josephus mentions the person in the Jewish antiquities under the name Κείς Keís .
Individual evidence
- ^ Paul S. Evans: From a Head above the Rest to no Head at all: Transformations in the Life of Saul . In: Keith Bodner, Benjamin JM Johnson (eds.): Characters and Characterization in the Book of Samuel , London et al. 2020, pp. 101–120, here pp. 107 f.
- ↑ Flavius Josephus: Jüdische Antiquities 6, 45 f., 52.62.268.