1 Samuel 14:50-51

14:50 The name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz. The name of the general in command of his army was Abner son of Ner, Saul’s uncle. ¹  14:51 Kish was the father of Saul, and Ner the father of Abner was the son ²  of Abiel.

1 Samuel 14:2

14:2 Now Saul was sitting under a pomegranate tree in Migron, on the outskirts of Gibeah. The army that was with him numbered about six hundred men.

1 Samuel 3:1

The Call of Samuel

3:1 Now the boy Samuel continued serving the Lord under Eli’s supervision. ³  Word from the Lord was rare in those days; revelatory visions were infrequent.

1 Samuel 3:1

The Call of Samuel

3:1 Now the boy Samuel continued serving the Lord under Eli’s supervision. ⁴  Word from the Lord was rare in those days; revelatory visions were infrequent.

[14:50]  ¹ sn The word “uncle” can modify either Abner or Ner. See the note on the word “son” in v. 51 for further discussion.

[14:51]  ² tn 1 Chr 9:35-36 indicates that Jeiel (= Abiel?) had two sons (among others) named Ner and Kish (see also 1 Sam 9:1 and 1 Chr 8:30, where some Greek manuscripts include the name Ner, though it is absent in the Hebrew text). If this Kish was the father of Saul and Ner was the father of Abner, then Saul and Abner were cousins. However, according to 1 Chr 8:33 and 9:39, Ner, not Abiel, was the father of Kish. In this case, Kish and Abner were brothers and Abner was Saul’s uncle. The simplest solution to the problem is to see two men named Kish in the genealogy: Abiel (Jeiel) was the father of Ner and Kish I. Ner was the father of Abner and Kish II. Kish II was the father of Saul. The Kish mentioned in 1 Sam 9:1 was the father of Saul (v.2) and must be identified as Kish II. In this case the genealogy is “gapped,” with Ner being omitted. Abiel was the grandfather of Kish II.

[3:1]  ³ tn Heb “before Eli.”

[3:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “before Eli.”