Kish

April 2, 2015

Mordecai and Esther (Esth 2:5-2:7)

“Now there was a Jew in Susa the capital, whose name was Mordecai, son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin. The family of Kish had been carried away from Jerusalem, among the captives carried away with King Jeconiah of Judah, whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had captured. Mordecai had brought up Hadassah, that is Esther, his cousin. She did not have a father or mother. She was the daughter of his uncle, Aminadab. Esther was fair and beautiful in appearance. When her parents died, he brought her up to womanhood as his own daughter.”

Mordecai was a Benjaminite, the same as King Saul, and thus part of Judah. His family was brought into captivity by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon with the sitting king of Judah in 587 BCE. Things turned better for the captured Jews under the Persian kings, especially after King Cyrus in 539 BCE. This is about 50 years after that. Anyway, Mordecai’s uncle Aminadab and his wife had died, so that he took care of their young daughter Esther, who was his first cousin. He was either her foster father or adopted father, but really was a first cousin, since their father’s were brothers. Once again, there are slight differences between the Hebrew and Greek text. Aminadab was not mentioned in the Hebrew text, only in the Greek text. Also the Jewish name of Esther is only found in the Hebrew text as Hadassah, but not in the Greek text.

 

March 31, 2015

Mordecai (Greek text only)

“In the second year of the reign of King Artaxerxes the Great, on the first day of Nisan, Mordecai son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, had a dream. He was a Jew, living in the city of Susa, a great man, serving in the court of the king. He was one of the captives whom King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had brought from Jerusalem with King Jeconiah of Judea.”

First you will notice there is no chapter and verse. To be honest, that was a medieval concept. The idea of chapter divisions began in the 9th century CE, but was codified in the 13th century CE with Stephan Langton. Finally in the 16th century, with the widespread use of printing, chapter and verse numbers became common. However, the problem here is that these additions are only in the Greek Septuagint edition of this work, while the official Hebrew version has chapter and verse numbers. The Jerusalem Bible puts these verses in italics, while the Oxford Bible calls them additions. I have decided to use the pre-medieval technique of using neither chapters nor verses, just simply the phrase “Greek text only.” I have inserted these texts where they are found in these 2 biblical additions.

Interesting enough, the setting is slightly earlier than Nehemiah and Ezra, but during the reign of King Artaxerxes the Great (465-424 BCE). It also takes place at the capital of Persia, Susa. Mordecai, like Nehemiah, was a Jewish court official. Apparently some of the captive Jews served the royal family in various positions. Once again, it is the Persians who are tolerant of the Jews. The text says that Mordecai was a captive taken in the Babylonian captivity of King Nebuchadnezzar, but that would put Mordecai over a 100 years old. He may have been a member of a Jewish family that was taken captive in 587 BCE. Unlike Tobit, who was a northern Israelite, Mordecai was a Benjaminite which puts him closer to Saul than David.

January 14, 2015

The response of the Levites (2 Chr 29:12-29:15)

“Then the Levites arose. Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites arose. Of the sons of Merari, Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel arose. Of the Gershonites, Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah arose. The sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeuel also arose. Of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah arose. Of the sons of Heman, Jehuel and Shimei arose. Of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel arose. They gathered their brothers. They sanctified themselves. They went in as the king had commanded, by the words of Yahweh, to cleanse the house of Yahweh.”

The Levites responded positively. 2 people from each of the Levitical tribes arose from the Kohathites, the Merarites, and the Gershonites. The same was true for the 3 groups of singers or cantors, the sons of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, all had 2 people stand up. On top of that, the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeuel also rose up. They gathered their brother Levites and sanctified themselves. Then they went in to cleanse the house of Yahweh. I wonder why they had not done more to sustain the house of Yahweh even in the face of indifference.

November 16, 2014

The family of Saul (1 Chr 9:39-9:39)

“Ner became the father of Kish. Kish became the father of Saul. Saul became the father of Jonathan, Malchishua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal.”

Now we see the family of Saul that is repeated almost word for word in the previous chapter. The 1st indication of the family of Saul was in 1 Samuel, chapter 14, where only 3 sons were listed, (1) Jonathan, Ishvi, and (2) Malchishua. There is no mention of Saul’s two daughters here. There is hardly any mention of Malchishua except in the listings of the sons of Saul. (3) Abinadab has been added to the list since he was the youngest son that was killed in 1 Samuel, chapter 31. Ishvi has become (4) Eshbaal here and is only mentioned in the 2 lists in this book. Saul’s uncle was also called Ner, while Kish was the father of Saul. Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel. There is plenty of information about Jonathan, whose name appears over a 100 times, especially in 1 Samuel, chapters 14-20, as a good friend of David. Of course, Saul is a major figure since his name appears over 370 times.

November 16, 2014

The ancestors of Saul at Gibeon (1 Chr 9:35-9:38)

“In Gibeon lived the father of Gibeon, Jeiel. The name of his wife was Maacah. Hs first-born son was Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab, Gedor, Ahio, Zechariah and Mikloth. Mikloth became the father of Shimeam. These also lived opposite their kindred in Jerusalem, with their kindred.”

This is exactly the same as in the previous chapter except for Shimeam who was called Shimeah. This is the only time this name appears so it merely was a change from an “h” to an “m.” I will simply repeat what I said last chapter. This is an attempt to show the ancestors of Saul. There are about 10 different people with the name of Jeiel. Jeiel with his wife Maacah had 9 sons. There were 9 different biblical women with the name of Maacah. Gibeon was a city of the Hivites that made a pact with Joshua, Joshua, chapter 9. Gibeon then became a Levitical city in Benjamin territory, about 6 miles northwest from Jerusalem. It is not sure whether there ever was a person called Gibeon. (1) Abdon the first born was the name of one of the judges that preceded Samson in Judges, chapter 12, but there were also a couple of other people with the name of Abdon, including the son of Shashak. There was 1 other (2) Zur who was a king of Midian. There were 5 people with the name of (3) Kish, the most important being the father of Saul. It is not clear whether this is the father of Saul or a great uncle. Although (4) Baal usually refers to the supreme divinity of the Canaanites or any foreign god, there were 2 biblical people with that name, one here and the other a Simeonite. There were 4 biblical people with the name of (5) Nadab, the most famous being the son of Aaron and King Nadab of Israel (910-909 BCE). There are 2 or 3 people named (6) Gedor, but there also was a place called Gedor in the mountains of Judah. (7) Ahio was also the name of one of the sons of Beriah and someone who helped with the ark at the time of David. This is the only time that the name (8) Zecher appears. (9) Mikloth was somehow important because he was the father of Shimeah, which is also the name of one of David’s brothers. They lived in Jerusalem, but it was close to Gibeon.

November 14, 2014

The family of Saul (1 Chr 8:33-8:33)

“Ner became the father of Kish. Kish became the father of Saul. Saul became the father of Jonathan, Malchishua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal.”

Now we see the family of Saul that is repeated almost word for word in the next chapter. The 1st indication of the family of Saul was in 1 Samuel, chapter 14, where only 3 sons were listed, (1) Jonathan, (4) Ishvi, and (2) Malchishua. There was no mention of his two daughters here. There is hardly any mention of Malchishua except in the listings of the sons of Saul. (3) Abinadab has been added to the list since he was the youngest son that was killed in 1 Samuel, chapter 31. Ishvi has become (4) Eshbaal and is only mentioned in the 2 lists in this book. Saul’s uncle was also called Ner, while Kish was the father of Saul. Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel. There is plenty of information about Jonathan, whose name appears over 100 times, especially in 1 Samuel, chapters 14-20, as a good friend of David. Of course, Saul is a major figure since his name appears over 370 times.

November 14, 2014

The ancestors of Saul at Gibeon (1 Chr 8:29-8:32)

“Jeiel the father of Gibeon lived in Gibeon. The name of his wife was Maacah. His first-born son was Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Nadab, Gedor, Ahio, Zecher, and Mikloth, who became the father of Shimeah. Now these also lived opposite their kindred in Jerusalem, with their kindred.”

For some reason, this exact passage appears in the next chapter. This is an attempt to show the ancestors of Saul. There are about 10 different people with the name of Jeiel. Jeiel with his wife Maacah had 9 sons. There were 9 different biblical women with the name of Maacah. Gibeon was a city of the Hivites that made a pact with Joshua, Joshua, chapter 9. Gibeon then became a Levitical city in the Benjamin territory, about 6 miles northwest from Jerusalem. It is not sure whether there ever was a person called Gibeon. (1) Abdon the first born was the name of one of the judges that preceded Samson in Judges, chapter 12, but there were also a couple of other people with the name of Abdon, including the son of Shashak. There was 1 other (2) Zur who was a king of Midian. There were 5 people with the name of (3) Kish, the most important being the father of Saul. It is not clear whether this is the father of Saul or a great uncle. Although (4) Baal usually refers to the supreme divinity of the Canaanites or any foreign god, there were 2 biblical people with that name, one here and the other a Simeonite. There were 4 biblical people with the name of (5) Nadab, the most famous being the son of Aaron and the King Nadab of Israel (910-909 BCE). There are 2 or 3 people named (6) Gedor, but also a place called Gedor in the mountains of Judah. (7) Ahio was also the name of one of the sons of Beriah and someone who helped with the Ark of the Covenant at the time of David. This is the only time that the name (8) Zecher appears. (9) Mikloth somehow was important because he was the father of Shimeah, which is also the name of one of David’s brothers. They lived in Jerusalem, but it was close to Gibeon.