“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 1^st 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.