NER nûr (נֵ֥ר; LXX, Νήρ). A Benjamite, the son of Abiel (1 Sam 14:51), was the captain of Saul’s forces (26:5).

Ner is mentioned in 1 Samuel 14:50, 51; 26:5, 14; 2 Samuel 2:8, 12; 3:23, 25, 28, 37; 1 Kings 2:5, 32; 1 Chronicles 26:28 in the phrase, “Abner the son of Ner.” In 1 Chronicles 8:33; 9:36, 39 another Ner, prob. a more remote ancestor of Saul, is referred to.

1 Chronicles 8:33 would indicate that a Ner was an ancestor of Saul and of Kish. Yet 1 Samuel 9:1 speaks of Kish as the son of Abiel. One adjustment would be to assume a gap in the genealogy of 1 Samuel 9:1 and make Kish the son of Ner and grandson of Abiel. Abner the son of Ner is then the brother of Kish and Saul’s uncle. This contradicts 1 Samuel 14:50 where Ner is Saul’s uncle. The alternative adjustment would be to place the Ner referred to in 1 Chronicles 8:33 farther back in the line of descent (1 Chron 9:36, 39) and assume that intervening generations (1 Samuel 9:1) are passed over in 1 Chronicles 9:39. Abiel is then the father of Kish and of Ner, Saul’s uncle (1 Sam 14:50). Abner, the son of Ner, is Saul’s cousin.

Cheyne (EB, col. 20) proposes to follow Josephus (Antiq. VI. vi. 6) and read “sons of” instead of “son of” in 1 Samuel 14:51. Josephus says: “For the commander of his [Saul’s] army he had Abenar, his uncle’s son; that uncle was named Ner, and Ner and Kis, the father of Saul, were brothers, sons of Abelios.”

Cheyne also suggests the corresponding emendation of the text of 1 Chronicles 8:33 = 9:39: “And Ner begat Abner, and Kish begat Saul” (loc. cit.).

Bibliography T. K. Cheyne, “Abner,” EB, cols. 20, 21 (1914); T. K. Cheyne, “Ner,” EB, col. 3394 (1914); Loeb Classical Library, Josephus, Vol. V (1934); E. R. Dalglish, “Ner” IDB (1962), Vol. III, 536, 537; M. A. McLeod, “Abner,” 4, The NBD (1962).