Verse 1
1. A man of Benjamin The smallest of the tribes, and the one lately devastated by civil war, (Judges 20:0,) has the honour of giving the first king to Israel; but the subsequent conduct and tragic death of Saul made that honour a reproach.
Kish, the son of Abiel On this genealogy, see 1 Samuel 14:50, and 1 Chronicles 8:33; 1 Chronicles 9:39. Zeror, Bechorath, and Aphiah are not mentioned elsewhere.
A mighty man of power A man of wealth, as Boaz, (Judges 2:1,) and also, probably, a man of great physical strength. This latter quality would account for the strength and size of his son Saul.
“When Saul speaks of his family as least of all the families of Benjamin, (1 Samuel 9:21,) it does not follow that Kish was not a powerful chieftain Gibeah apparently belonged to him but that as Benjamin was but a small tribe, so the division of it to which Saul belonged was not that which held the foremost rank. In Saul’s history we find an un-designed corroboration of the narrative in Judges 20:21. Benjamin, according to Numbers 26:38-40, was divided into six or seven families probably the latter number. But Saul’s family, that of Matri, (1 Samuel 10:21,) is not one of them. Doubtless when the tribe was reduced to six hundred men several of the old families were obliterated, and in course of time new ones took their place.” R.P. Smith’s Bampton Lecture for 1869.
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