Now there was a man of Benjamin
Of the tribe of Benjamin, which had its name from the youngest son of Jacob, and one of this tribe was the first king of Israel:
whose name was Kish:
whom the apostle calls Cis, ( Acts 13:21 ) , and Josephus F9 Cises; his name, according to Hillerus F11, signifies "ensnared"; for what reason it was given him is not certain:
the son of Abiel;
in ( 1 Chronicles 8:33 ) ( 9:39 ) , he is called Ner that begat Kish; and in this book, ( 1 Samuel 14:50 1 Samuel 14:51 ) Ner and Kish are represented as brethren, the sons of Abiel: to reconcile this, it may be observed, that Ner being the elder brother, on the death of his father Abiel, had the care and bringing up of his younger brother Kish; and therefore when he is said to beget him, the meaning is, not that he was the parent of him, but the bringer up of him; or rather, as Kimchi thinks, Abiel had two sons, one of which was Ner; and that he had two sons, one that was called after his own name Ner, who was the father of Abner; and the other Kish, the father of Saul:
the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite;
of these persons we nowhere else read:
a mighty man of power;
not a man of riches, or of authority, neither a wealthy man, nor a magistrate, for his family was mean and contemptible, ( 1 Samuel 9:21 ) ( 10:27 ) but a man of great strength, an able bodied man, and of great natural fortitude, and courage of mind.