Was Ner the father of Kish or the son of Abiel? 1 Chronicles 8:33
1 Samuel 14:51 refers to “Ner the father of Abner” who was Saul’s cousin. Saul’s father, Kish, and Abner’s father, Ner, were brothers, having the same father, Abiel (1 Sam. 14:51, NIV). But in 1 Chronicles 8:33 “Ner begot Kish, Kish begot Saul,” which would make Ner Saul’s grandfather. But if Ner was the father of Abner (as 1 Sam. 14:51 says), who was Saul’s cousin, then Ner would have been Saul’s uncle. Which was he?
1 Chronicles 8:1 - 40
ESV - 1 Benjamin fathered Bela his firstborn, Ashbel the second, Aharah the third. 2 Nohah the fourth, and Rapha the fifth.
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Tim Maas
Ner was the son of Abiel, and the brother (not the father) of Kish. I found a convincing exposition of this at the following website: https://www.contradictingbiblecontradictions.com/?p=2710
Jack Gutknecht
There were probably two men named Ner, one Saul’s uncle and the other his great grandfather. The same names were not uncommon in family trees. Thus, Saul had both an uncle and a great grandfather by the same name, Ner. --Norman Geisler and Thomas Howe Lockyer's All the Men of the Bible, one of my favorite biographical books, has this: "Ner [Nûr]—a lamp or brightness. A Benjamite, son of Abiel and father of Abner, Saul’s chief captain (1 Sam. 14:50, 51)."
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