Kish

A bow. (1.) A Levite of the family of Merari (1 Chr. 23:21; 24:29). "(2.) A Benjamite of Jerusalem (1 Chr. 8:30; 9:36). (3.) A Levite in the time of Hezekiah (2 Chr. 29:12). (4.) The great-grandfather of Mordecai (Esther 2:5). "(5.) A Benjamite, the son of Abiel, and father of king Saul (1 "Sam. 9:1, 3; 10:11, 21; 14:51; 2 Sam. 21:14). All that is" recorded of him is that he sent his son Saul in search of his "asses that had strayed, and that he was buried in Zelah. Called" "Cis, Acts 13:21 (R.V., Kish)."

"Hardness, a city of Issachar assigned to the Gershonite Levites" "(Josh. 19:20), the same as Kishon (21:28)."

"Winding, a winter torrent of Central Palestine, which rises" "about the roots of Tabor and Gilboa, and passing in a northerly" "direction through the plains of Esdraelon and Acre, falls into" the Mediterranean at the north-eastern corner of the bay of "Acre, at the foot of Carmel. It is the drain by which the waters" of the plain of Esdraelon and of the mountains that surround it find their way to the sea. It bears the modern name of Nahr "el-Mokattah, i.e., "the river of slaughter" (comp. 1 Kings" 18:40). In the triumphal song of Deborah (Judg. 5:21) it is "spoken of as "that ancient river," either (1) because it had" "flowed on for ages, or (2), according to the Targum, because it" "was "the torrent in which were shown signs and wonders to Israel" "of old;" or (3) probably the reference is to the exploits in" "that region among the ancient Canaanites, for the adjoining" plain of Esdraelon was the great battle-field of Palestine. "This was the scene of the defeat of Sisera (Judg. 4:7, 13), and of the destruction of the prophets of Baal by Elijah (1 Kings "18:40). "When the Kishon was at its height, it would be, partly" "on account of its quicksands, as impassable as the ocean itself" "to a retreating army." (See [343]DEBORAH.)"

Definition of Kish:
"hard; difficult; straw; for age"