3 others in the registry answer to the name Kish. Every Kish in the Bible
- verses
- 13
- first named
- 1 Samuel 9:1
- last named
- Acts 13:21
- period
- United Monarchy
- tribe
- Benjamin
Description
Who was Kish?
Kish, a Benjamite from the family of Matri, was the father of Saul, the first king of Israel. He is introduced in 1Sa.9.1 as a wealthy and influential man. Kish's donkeys went missing, and he sent his son Saul and a servant to search for them (1Sa.9.3). This journey led to Saul's meeting with the prophet Samuel, who anointed him as king over Israel (1Sa.10.1).
Kish is mentioned several times in the context of Saul's kingship. He was present when Saul was chosen by lot as king at Mizpah (1Sa.10.21). Later, when Saul faced a Philistine threat, some people questioned his ability to lead, referring to him as "the son of Kish" (1Sa.10.11).
Kish's family background is further elaborated in the genealogies of the tribe of Benjamin (1Ch.8.30, 33; 9.36, 39). These passages confirm Kish as the father of Saul and provide details about his ancestors and descendants.
After Saul's death, David honored the remains of Saul and his son Jonathan by burying them in the tomb of Kish at Zela (2Sa.21.14). This act demonstrates David's respect for Saul's family and his desire to bring closure to the tragic events surrounding Saul's reign.
In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul, in his speech at Antioch, mentions Kish as the father of Saul when recounting the history of Israel (Act.13.21).
Throughout the biblical narrative, Kish is primarily known as the father of Saul, the first king of Israel. His life and influence are closely tied to the rise and reign of his son, and his legacy is remembered in the context of Israel's early monarchy.
Relations
Direct connections
Every entity the graph places in a stated relation with this one, grouped by the kind of link. Each relation is authored once and its inverse derived, so both ends always agree. Rows marked “registry” come from the identity spine rather than from a verse, and a row marked “which bearer is the source’s decision” is one where the name could have meant more than one person. The last group is not a relation at all — it counts the events two entities stand in together.
The 10 best-attested of 13 are drawn. All 13 are listed below.
Child of
- Abielregistry1 Samuel 9:11 Samuel 14:511 Chronicles 9:36
- Maacahregistry, no verse
- Ner1 Chronicles 9:39
Father of
- Saulregistry1 Samuel 9:21 Samuel 9:31 Samuel 14:51 +7
Sibling of
Stands in the same events as
- Saul1 event
- Saul Donkeys1 event
Places
Where this happens
A person is placed by the events they take part in, and an event has to clear three things to place them: it must say where it happened, that place must be one the gazetteer can put a coordinate on, and the verse must report it rather than foretell, command or ask it. Nothing anchored here clears all three. Where the text names a setting no gazetteer surveys — a vineyard, a palace, a plot of ground — it is left off rather than guessed at; where a place is named only in a prophecy, the map does not draw what was said to be coming as though it had happened; and a place reached only through a relation is not inherited, because standing beside somebody is not being somewhere.
No verse Atlas has read as a report puts this person anywhere.
Not read yet
The pattern
Where Kish is named
Every book of the corpus in the order it is read, each as wide as the chapters it holds. A bar is the verses of that book which write the name, and the flat stretches are as much of the answer as the bars.
13 verses across 4 of 66 books; 62 write the name nowhere. Named in 1 Samuel (5), 2 Samuel (1), 1 Chronicles (6) and Acts (1).
Read it
Where to read it
Every verse of the text carried here that names this entity — 13, across 4 books. The name is written 16 times in them.
Onward
Where this page goes
Not the direct relations above — these are one hop further out, ranked so that a rare shared connection outweighs a common one. Descriptions by STEPBible TIPNR.
Where they appear
Chapter by chapter
Atlas's reading of each chapter this person appears in, in canonical order. One line per chapter, and each leads to the whole of it.
Sources