1 Chronicles 8 · a question people ask
Was Kish the son of Ner or the son of Abiel?
The books give the family differently, and none of them explains it. Here: "Ner became the father of Kish. Kish became the father of Saul" (8:33), and 9:39 has the same words. 1 Samuel brings Kish in as "Kish the son of Abiel" (1 Samuel 9:1), names Saul's captain as "Abner the son of Ner, Saul’s uncle" (1 Samuel 14:50), and says, "Kish was the father of Saul, and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel" (1 Samuel 14:51). 1 Chronicles 9 also names both Kish and Ner among the sons of "Jeiel the father of Gibeon" (9:35-36), while 8:30-32 gives the list without Ner. The books set these down without making them match, and this answer doesn't try to either. The family tree keeps Kish and Ner as 1 Samuel 9:1 and 14:51 have them and adds no link from 8:33.
The verses
“with his firstborn son Abdon, Zur, Kish, Baal, Nadab, Gedor, Ahio, Zecher, and Mikloth, who became the father of Shimeah. They also lived with their families in Jerusalem, near their relatives.”
“Ner became the father of Kish. Kish became the father of Saul. Saul became the father of Jonathan, Malchishua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal.”
“Jeiel the father of Gibeon, whose wife’s name was Maacah, lived in Gibeon. His firstborn son was Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab,”
“Ner became the father of Kish. Kish became the father of Saul. Saul became the father of Jonathan, Malchishua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal.”