Kish (Heb. id., ■d"'P, a trap, otherwise a hoiii ; Sept. Kji'c: or Ki'f, N. T. K/c, Auth. Yers. " Cis," Acts xiii,21), the name of five men.
1. The second of the two sons of Mahli (grandson of Levi) ; his sons married their cousins, heiresses of his brother Eleazar (1 Chron. xxiii, 21, 22). One of these sons was named Jerahmeel (1 Chron. xxiv, 29). B.C. cLr. 1658.
2. A Bcnjamite of Jerusalem (i.e. the northern neigh- borhood of Jebus), third named of the sons of Jehiel (of Gibeon) by jMaachah (1 Chron. viii, 30 ; ix, 36). B.C. apparently cir. 1618.
3. A wealthy and powerful Bcnjamite, son of Ner (1 Chron. viii, 33 ; ix, 39), and father of king Saul (1 Sam. ix, 3 ; X, 11, 21 ; xiv, 51 ; 1 Chron. ix, 39 ; xii, 1 ; xxvi, 28). He was thus the grandson (1 Sam. ix, 1, " son" [q.v.]) of Abiel (q. v.). See Ner. No incident is men- tioned respecting him excepting his sending Saul in search of the straj'ed asses (1 Sam. ix, 3), and that he was buried in Zelah (2 Sam. xxi, 14). B.C. 1093. In Acts xiii, 21 he is called Cis. See Saul.
4. A Levite of the family of Merari, son of Abdi, and one of those who assisted Ilezekiah in restoring the true religion (2 Chron. xxix, 12). B.C. 726.
5. A Bcnjamite, the father of Shimei, and great- grandfather of Mordccai (Esth. ii, 5). B.C. considera- bly ante 598.
Kish'i (1 Chron. vi,44). See Kushaiail Xish'ion (\lQh. Kishyon' , "jTi^rp, so called from the hardness of the soil; Sept. Ksmwr, Auth. Yers. " Kish- on" in Josh, xxi, 28), a city of the tribe of Issachar (Josh. xix, 20, where it is mentioned between Kabbith and Abez), assigned to the Levites of the family of Ciershom, and for a place of refuge (Josh, xxi, 28) ; elsewhere (1
KISHOX
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KISHOX
Chron. vi,72) called Kedesh (q. v.). De Saulcy found ruins called Kiishaneh (or Kabs/niiieh), an hour and a hair from Kct'r-Kenna, commandinj;; tlie Merj-es-Serbal. north of Jit, Tabor, which he is inclined to identify with the ancient Kishion {Xarrat. ii, 3-25, 32G). Schwarz, citing from Astori, places it 2i miles south of Chesulloth (Iksal); hut lie appears to be misled by the analofiy of the name of this place with that of the brook Kishon {PdWM. p. IGG), which has no connection in origin (see Hamosvcld, iii, 241).
Ki'shon (\ie\). Kishon' , 'lO'^p, windinrj; Septuag. K((7w)'; but inPsa.lxxxiii,9, KtffiTwj/ v. r. Kektwv, Auth. Vers. "Kison"), a torrent or winter stream (Pn3, A. Y. "river") of central Palestine, the scene of two of the grandest achievements of Israclitish history — the defeat of Siscra (Judg.iv, 7, 13 ; v, 21), and the destruction of the prophets of Baal by Elijah (1 Kings xviii, 40). It formed the boundary Ijetween Manasseh and Zebulon (Josh, xix, 11). See Jok:<e.ui. Some portion of it is also thought to be designated as the "waters of Megid- do" (Jadg. V, 19). See Megiddo. The term coupled with the Kishon in Judg. v, 21, as a stream of the an- cients (a'^^n|5il, A. Y. "that ancient river"), has been very variously rendered by the old interpreters. 1. It is taken as a proper name, and thus apparently that of a distinct stream — in some MSS. of the Sept, Kacmieifi (see Barhdt's IlexapltC) ; by Jerome, in the Yulgate, tor- Tcns Cadiimim; in the Peshito and Arabic versions, Citr- miiu This view is also taken by Benjamin of Tndela, who speaks of the river close to Acre (doubtlsss mean- ing thereby the Belus) as the Q^'a'np ^n3. It is pos- sible that the term may refer to an ancient tribe of Ke- dumim — wanderers from the Eastern deserts — who had in remote antiquity settled on the Kishon or one of its tributary wadys. See Kadmoxites. 2. As an epithet of the Kishon itself: ScYit. j(Hjj,uppovg upxaiiov, Aquila, KavcTMinov, perhaps intending to imply a scorching wind or simoom as accompanj-ing the rising of the waters ; Symmachus, ah/ioiv or alywi', perhaps alluding to the swift springing of the torrent (a'iyig is used for high waves by Artemidorus). The Targum, adhering to the signilication " ancient," expands the sentence — " the tor- rent in which were shown signs and wonders to Israel of old;" and this miraculous torrent a later Jewish tra- diti(jn (preserved in the Commenfarius in Canticum Deb- horiF, ascribed to Jerome) would identify with the Bed Sea, the scene of the greatest marvels in Israel's history. The rcntlering of the A.Y. is supported by jNIcndelssohn, Gescnius, I'^wald, and other modern scholars. The ref- erence is probably to exploits among the aboriginal Ca- naanites, as the plain adjoining the stream has always been the great battle-ground of Palestine. See Esdka- ELox. For the Kishon of Josh, xxi, 28, see Kisniox.
By Josephus the Kishon is never named, neither does the name occur in the early Itineraries of Antoninus Au- gustus, or the Bordeaux Pilgrim. Eusebius and Jerome dismiss it in a few -words, and note only its origin in Talmr (Oiiomast. Cison), or such part of it as can be seen thence {Ep. (id Enstochium.^ 13), passing by entirely its connection with Carmel. IJcnjamin of Tudela visited Akka and Carmel. He mentions the river by name as " Nachal Kishon," but onty in the most cursory manner. Brocardiis (cir. 1500) describes the western portion of the stream with a little more fulness, but enlarges most on its Mpjier or eastoru part, which, with the victory of Barak, he places on the cast of Tabor and Ilcrmon, as discharging the water of those mountains into the Sea of Galilee (Dcscr. Terra, S. cap. G, 7). This has been shown by Dr. Bobinson {Bib. lies, ii, 3G4) to allude to the wady cl-Birch, which runs down to the Jordan a few miles above Scytbojiolis.