1 Chronicles 8:29-32 introduces Jeiel the father of Gibeon and his wife Maacah, whose sons—including Kish and Baal and Nadab—settled in Gibeon and Jerusalem, establishing the family from which King Saul would come.
1 Chronicles 8:29-32 plants the ancestral household of Israel's first royal family in the town of Gibeon. The record introduces its founder with unusual fullness: Now in Gibeon, Jeiel, the father of Gibeon lived, and his wife's name was Maacah (v 29). Calling Jeielthe father of Gibeon (v 29) marks him as the town's founding patriarch or principal settler, and the naming of his wife Maacah is a rare touch in these lists—wives appear only when the record wants the reader to slow down. The genealogy is preparing to deliver a king, and it starts at the family hearth.
The sons follow: and his firstborn son was Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Nadab, Gedor, Ahio and Zecher (vv 30-31). Among these many sons stands Kish, the name consistently recorded at the head of Saul's line. Yet, there seems to be a missing name here. The parallel account of Saul's genealogy also supplies Ner among these same brothers (1 Chronicles 9:36). Because chapter 8 does not include a Ner in the sons of Jeiel, however, it causes the reader to later question where 1 Chronicles 8:33 gets this "Ner" who "becamethe father ofKish."
There are a couple possibilities that scholars have put forth to explain this apparent inconsistency, and a few passages throughout Scripture to draw clarity from. First of all, when Saul is initially introduced in 1 Samuel 9, his generations are presented like so:
"Now there was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjamite, a mighty man of valor" (1 Samuel 9:1)
Instead of Kish, son of Ner, we see Kish, son of Abiel here. It is quite widely accepted that Abiel is an alternate name for Jeiel, the father of Gibeon (v 29). However, we see no Ner in this line, as both the Chronicles accounts describe. Does 1 Samuel 9:1 just skip him? Some propose that Ner is also another name for Jeiel, like Abiel. This would mean that 1 Chronicles 8:33, and 9:39 effectively begin reiterating Saul's line, using the name Ner instead of Jeiel, though they are the same.
The other possibility is that Saul is descended from the Ner mentioned among the sons of Jeiel (1 Chronicles 9:36), not Kish, and this Ner had his own son name Kish. We often see sons named after uncles in these genealogies. There are some issues with this stance, however. First of all, why does 1 Chronicles 8 not include Ner among the brothers if he takes such a key place in Saul's line? Second of all, 1 Samuel 14 seems to describe a Ner who was Saul's uncle,
"The name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. And the name of the captain of his army was Abner the son of Ner, Saul's uncle. Kish was the father of Saul, and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel" (1 Samuel 14:50-51).
Looking at Scripture as a whole, the most likely option seems to be that the father of Gibeon went by many names: Jeiel, Abiel, and Ner. Furthermore, he also had a son named Ner, brother to Kish and father to Abner, though excluded from this chapter.
The location where this complicated family tree grew was Gibeon. Its inhabitants once deceived Joshua into a covenant of peace (Joshua 9:3-15), and the city later became a Levitical town in Benjamin (Joshua 21:17). By David's day the tabernacle of the LORD stood at "the high place which was at Gibeon," where sacrifices were offered on the bronze altar (1 Chronicles 16:39; 21:29), and there Solomon prayed for wisdom (2 Chronicles 1:3-10). The town that raised Saul's ancestors also housed the altar of God for a season—Benjamin's soil held both the monarchy's roots and the sanctuary's resting place.
The passage closes with the family's spread: Mikloth became the father of Shimeah. And they also lived with their relatives in Jerusalem opposite their other relatives (v 32). Like Ner, Mikloth is another son left off of the list of brothers in verses 30-31. 1 Chronicles 9:37 later clarifies the confusion by including him at the end of the list. We see here that part of the Gibeon clan took up residence in Jerusalem, joining the Benjamite chief men counted at 1 Chronicles 8:28 and living opposite—across from, alongside—their kin. The future king's family thus had a foothold in both towns: Gibeon, where the tabernacle would stand, and Jerusalem, where the ark and temple would come to rest. God was weaving Saul's family into the geography of worship even before Israel asked for a king.
Gibeon would also witness the agony of Saul's house after his death. At the pool of Gibeon, the servants of Saul's son Ish-bosheth under Abner met David's men under Joab, and a grim contest there ignited the long war between the two houses (2 Samuel 2:12-17; 3:1). The town of the family's origin became the stage where its claim to the throne bled away. This little register of Jeiel, Maacah, and their sons thus carries more history than its quiet form suggests: from this hearth came a dynasty, and at this town's pool the dynasty's hopes fell.
1 Chronicles 8:29-32
29 Now in Gibeon, Jeiel, the father of Gibeon lived, and his wife's name was Maacah;
30 and his firstborn son was Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Nadab,
31 Gedor, Ahio and Zecher.
32 Mikloth became the father of Shimeah. And they also lived with their relatives in Jerusalem opposite their other relatives.
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1 Chronicles 8:29-32 meaning
1 Chronicles 8:29-32 plants the ancestral household of Israel's first royal family in the town of Gibeon. The record introduces its founder with unusual fullness: Now in Gibeon, Jeiel, the father of Gibeon lived, and his wife's name was Maacah (v 29). Calling Jeiel the father of Gibeon (v 29) marks him as the town's founding patriarch or principal settler, and the naming of his wife Maacah is a rare touch in these lists—wives appear only when the record wants the reader to slow down. The genealogy is preparing to deliver a king, and it starts at the family hearth.
The sons follow: and his firstborn son was Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Nadab, Gedor, Ahio and Zecher (vv 30-31). Among these many sons stands Kish, the name consistently recorded at the head of Saul's line. Yet, there seems to be a missing name here. The parallel account of Saul's genealogy also supplies Ner among these same brothers (1 Chronicles 9:36). Because chapter 8 does not include a Ner in the sons of Jeiel, however, it causes the reader to later question where 1 Chronicles 8:33 gets this "Ner" who "became the father of Kish."
There are a couple possibilities that scholars have put forth to explain this apparent inconsistency, and a few passages throughout Scripture to draw clarity from. First of all, when Saul is initially introduced in 1 Samuel 9, his generations are presented like so:
"Now there was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjamite, a mighty man of valor"
(1 Samuel 9:1)
Instead of Kish, son of Ner, we see Kish, son of Abiel here. It is quite widely accepted that Abiel is an alternate name for Jeiel, the father of Gibeon (v 29). However, we see no Ner in this line, as both the Chronicles accounts describe. Does 1 Samuel 9:1 just skip him? Some propose that Ner is also another name for Jeiel, like Abiel. This would mean that 1 Chronicles 8:33, and 9:39 effectively begin reiterating Saul's line, using the name Ner instead of Jeiel, though they are the same.
The other possibility is that Saul is descended from the Ner mentioned among the sons of Jeiel (1 Chronicles 9:36), not Kish, and this Ner had his own son name Kish. We often see sons named after uncles in these genealogies. There are some issues with this stance, however. First of all, why does 1 Chronicles 8 not include Ner among the brothers if he takes such a key place in Saul's line? Second of all, 1 Samuel 14 seems to describe a Ner who was Saul's uncle,
"The name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. And the name of the captain of his army was Abner the son of Ner, Saul's uncle. Kish was the father of Saul, and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel"
(1 Samuel 14:50-51).
Looking at Scripture as a whole, the most likely option seems to be that the father of Gibeon went by many names: Jeiel, Abiel, and Ner. Furthermore, he also had a son named Ner, brother to Kish and father to Abner, though excluded from this chapter.
The location where this complicated family tree grew was Gibeon. Its inhabitants once deceived Joshua into a covenant of peace (Joshua 9:3-15), and the city later became a Levitical town in Benjamin (Joshua 21:17). By David's day the tabernacle of the LORD stood at "the high place which was at Gibeon," where sacrifices were offered on the bronze altar (1 Chronicles 16:39; 21:29), and there Solomon prayed for wisdom (2 Chronicles 1:3-10). The town that raised Saul's ancestors also housed the altar of God for a season—Benjamin's soil held both the monarchy's roots and the sanctuary's resting place.
The passage closes with the family's spread: Mikloth became the father of Shimeah. And they also lived with their relatives in Jerusalem opposite their other relatives (v 32). Like Ner, Mikloth is another son left off of the list of brothers in verses 30-31. 1 Chronicles 9:37 later clarifies the confusion by including him at the end of the list. We see here that part of the Gibeon clan took up residence in Jerusalem, joining the Benjamite chief men counted at 1 Chronicles 8:28 and living opposite—across from, alongside—their kin. The future king's family thus had a foothold in both towns: Gibeon, where the tabernacle would stand, and Jerusalem, where the ark and temple would come to rest. God was weaving Saul's family into the geography of worship even before Israel asked for a king.
Gibeon would also witness the agony of Saul's house after his death. At the pool of Gibeon, the servants of Saul's son Ish-bosheth under Abner met David's men under Joab, and a grim contest there ignited the long war between the two houses (2 Samuel 2:12-17; 3:1). The town of the family's origin became the stage where its claim to the throne bled away. This little register of Jeiel, Maacah, and their sons thus carries more history than its quiet form suggests: from this hearth came a dynasty, and at this town's pool the dynasty's hopes fell.