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Mordechai and Kish

I know you must be extremely busy but I was wondering if you could answer a question of mine. Was Mordechai related to King Saul (son of Kish)? Or is this a different Kish than Saul’s father?
Thank you for your consideration in answering these two questions,
Janet

Answer:

It is possible that the Kish mentioned in the ancestry of Mordechai is the same Kish as Saul’s father. A Midrashic source (Panim Acherim 2:2) assumes this to be true, explaining that there were many generations between Mordechai and Kish (historically, there would have to be, because some 500 years come between them), and listing them (see also Targum Yerushalmi to Shemos 17:16).

It is interesting, in this sense, that Kish, and not Saul himself, is mentioned, and Ibn Ezra writes that this difficulty actually proves that the Kish mentioned in the verse is not the father of Saul, but a different Kish.

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