And the name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz; and the name of the captain of his host was Abner, the son of Ner, Saul's uncle.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And Kish the father of Saul, and Ner the father of Abner were sons of Abiel.
Chapter 14 closes by summing up Saul's reign, and this verse traces the family behind both the king and his army commander back to Abiel. Why does Scripture pause over a family tree — and what do these names say about the kingdom Saul built?
One writer reads short lists like this one as a window into a whole reign.
We have already learned that a list of a few names may supply us with plenty of hints about the moral character of what is not much dwelt upon. So we might expect to find in these members of Saul's family, and in those he gathered around him, suggestions of both the strength and the weakness that lay under his whole administration.
The verse sets Kish beside Ner and traces the line back to Abiel. One dictionary makes Abiel the father of both men, which puts Saul and Abner in the same close family. Chronicles, though, arranges the names differently.
Father of Kish and of Ner, and grandfather of Saul and of Abner. Ner appears as Saul's uncle in 1 Sam. 9:1 and 1 Sam. 14:50-51, which confirms that this is the most likely genealogy. But 1 Chr. 8:33 and 1 Chr. 9:39 call Saul the son of Kish, the son of Ner. This Ner may have been an earlier ancestor; and here Abiel is not named at all. It was not unusual to leave out many names in the genealogies.
Readers have long disagreed about who this Ner was.
This differs from Chronicles, where Ner is the son of Jehiel of Gibeon and the father of Kish, the father of Saul. 1 Chr. 8:33; 1 Chr. 9:36, 39. The rabbis say that this Ner is the same person as Abiel. Others think he was some earlier ancestor, not mentioned anywhere else.
Both names in this verse carry meanings, and one of them does not fit the man who bore it.
The odd thing about the name strikes you at once. Abner means "the father of Ner," yet he is Ner's son. That reverses the fact. Ner means "lamp," the container of light. It is the symbol of joy, prosperity and all that we naturally connect with the thought of light... He was the fitting general for such a king, though we find nothing really great done by him or credited to him. Both Abner and Saul trace their descent from a certain Abiel, "the father of might." Heredity shows itself clearly in them.
Another writer follows the same odd name beyond Abner altogether.
Abner, "the father of light," is also the son of Ner, "light" — a strange combination. One cannot be both father and son, root and fruit... The only "Father of lights" Scripture speaks of is Someone else entirely, not the captain of Saul's host. It will be well for the kingdoms of this world when they are led on to victory under His glorious leadership. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and His face is like the sun shining in full strength.
Abner, named in this verse, later backed Ish-bosheth's claim to Saul's throne. One writer names the principle he was defending.
In supporting Ish-bosheth he is supporting the principle of succession by natural family ties, dressed up with the appearance of right, because God had chosen Saul. Men defend this principle to the extreme, because it is the principle of their fathers' religion, their national religion. That religion looks far more respectable in men's eyes than the opinion of some who stand out by following the son of Jesse [David]... Only that this whole system is opposed to the mind of God and makes war against His anointed.
- Root. Kish and Ner share one father, Abiel. The king and his commander spring from one family stock.
- Name. The names promise strength and light: "father of might" and "lamp." Yet Abner, "father of Ner," was Ner's son, and no great deed stands to his credit.
- Reach. Short lists are not filler. A few names can hint at the strength and the weakness under a whole reign.
- Record. The line does not match Chronicles. Genealogies often skip names, and writers differ over whether Ner there is an earlier ancestor or Abiel under a second name.
- Result. These family ties later hardened into a cause: succession by natural ties, set against God's anointed. The true "Father of lights" is Another, and the kingdoms of this world still await His leadership.