The naming of Kish (1 Chronicles 8:33) prompts the listing of King Saul’s descendants. 1 Chronicles 8:33–38 comprises by far the most extensive genealogy of Saul in the Hebrew Scriptures, spanning fifteen generations1 and is repeated (with minor variations) in 1 Chronicles 9:39–44 as an introduction to the death of King Saul (1 Chronicles 10:1–14).2 While Kish is clearly Saul’s father, elsewhere Kish and Ner are not son and father but brothers. It seems likely that the name Ner should be added to the list of Jeiel’s descendants in 1 Chronicles 8:30 on the basis of the Septaugint, which means Ner was probably the name of both Saul’s uncle and grandfather (1 Chronicles 8:33).
The record begins in Gibeon with Jeiel (1 Chronicles 9:35) who was chief man of the place (thus father
) and from him sprang the family of Saul. The line is easily traced: Ner (1 Chronicles 9:36), Kish (1 Chronicles 9:39), and Saul (1 Chronicles 9:39), and even beyond with Saul’s descendants Jonathan and Meri-Baal (1 Chronicles 8:33–40), both well-known in the narrative. The names beyond this, presumably through to the time of the Chronicler, cannot be identified because they occur only here.
The fact that Jeiel is without doubt the great-grandfather of Saul assists in forming some kind of timeframe. Saul was born ca. 1090 BC, his father probably twenty-five years earlier (ca. 1130), his grandfather twenty-five years before that (ca. 1155), and Jeiel around 1180, well back into the chaotic days of the judges. The retention of the name Baal (1 Chronicles 8:30), the well-known Canaanite god, is noteworthy and suggests that the data of this list is taken from ancient sources, or from the postexilic period, when the threat of Canaanite syncretism was no longer strong.3,4
Saul’s four sons, Jonathan, Malkishua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal, are mentioned in 1 Chronicles 8:33. At the start of 1 Chronicles 10:1–14, the Chronicler begins his account with a description of the death of the first three sons. Eshbaal, the youngest son of Saul and his heir (2 Samuel 2:8), was also called Ishbosheth. Esh-/Ish- means either man
or gift.
The meaning of Esh-baal, (man of the Master
) is changed throughout 2 Samuel 2:8–4:12 to Ish-bosheth (man of shame
). The alternative name replaces the word Baal
(lord, master)5 with the word shame
(bo’shhěth) and possibly represents a deliberate excision of the name of this god. The LXX renders the name as Ishyo (man of the Lord.)6 The same alteration is encountered in the name of Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 4:4), who first was also known as Merib-baal (Man who contends
; 1 Chronicles 8:34; 1 Chronicles 9:40). Interestingly, the Chronicler used the term baal
in association with Saul’s family, possibly a subtle undermining of a king he considered illegitimate.7
Theologically, even though all his house
(1 Chronicles 10:6) was destroyed at Gilboa, God graciously continued Saul’s line. Even though Saul was rejected as king, the faithfulness of God to all Israel
was demonstrated in his continuation of Saul’s genealogy into the postexilic period.8
The genealogy of Benjamin concludes with references to Micah’s fourth son, Azel, and his sons and the sons of Eshek, the brother of Azel (1 Chronicles 8:38–40).9 The reference to Eshek and his firstborn son Ulam in 1 Chronicles 8:39–40 seem detached from the rest of the record. The description of being mighty warriors would indicate that the list was probably gleaned from military records. This brings the genealogy down to somewhere near the exile.10 It is uncertain whether they come down to the exile as in the lines of David (1 Chronicles 3:10–16) and the high priests (1 Chronicles 6:1–15), especially as the number of generations here is smaller.11 Benjamin is the first and last Hebrew term in this chapter (1 Chronicles 8:1, 1 Chronicles 8:40). Benjamin, therefore, acts as bookends on either side of the chapter, thus forming a self-contained unit. The Chronicler’s interest in Benjamin is expansive, limited not only to genealogical information but also geographical. The extensive listing of the Benjamites in 1 Chronicles 8:1–40 reflects the widespread interest in that tribe in the postexilic period. The widespread locations where Benjamites were to be found—Geba, Moab, Ono, Lod, Gibeon, and Jerusalem itself—indicate that over the centuries members of this tribe were scattered through other tribal areas.12 Despite Benjamin’s failures (e.g., Saul), they are, along with Judah and Levi, the most significant postexilic clan.13
Benjamin was one of the tribes instrumental in the restoration of Judah and Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile (1 Chronicles 9:3). The Chronicler’s genealogy of Benjamin is both a reminder to the postexilic Benjamites of their noble heritage and a call to follow their example of faith and intertribal cooperation.14
33 Ner was the father of Kish, Kish of Saul, Saul of Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab and Eshbaal;