• Kir of Moab
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    • KIR OF MOAB

      An important city of Moab, probably a onetime capital. The Aramaic Targum consistently refers to Kir (of Moab), Kir-hareseth and Kir-heres as Kerak, indicating that these are but alternative names for the same place. “Kir of Moab” is therefore usually identified with modern Kerak. (Isa. 15:1) This city is situated on a small plateau over 3,000 feet (900 meters) above sea level and about eleven miles (18 kilometers) E of a point just below the Dead Sea peninsula El-Lisan. Steep valleys separate most of Kerak from the loftier neighboring mountains.

      Toward the close of the tenth century B.C.E. the allied forces of Israel, Judah and Edom attacked Kir-hareseth. If the site is correctly identified with Kerak, doubtless from the nearby mountains slingers bombarded the city with stones. Although Kir-hareseth evidently was not taken, the battle went hard against the king of Moab. For some unstated reason he, along with 700 warriors, sought to break through the battle lines in order to reach the king of Edom but was unsuccessful. As a last resort it appears that the king of Moab publicly sacrificed his own firstborn son, probably to appease the god Chemosh. (2 Ki. 3:5, 9, 25-27) The Hebrew text (2 Ki. 3:27) may also be understood to mean the firstborn son of the king of Edom, and some suggest that this is alluded to at Amos 2:1. But this is less likely.

      Isaiah’s prophecy indicated that the Moabites would mourn for Kir-hareseth’s raisin cakes, perhaps a principal product of the city’s trade. (Isa. 16:6, 7) Isaiah also spoke of his being boisterous like a harp over Moab and Kir-hareseth. As the strings of a harp vibrate with sound, so Isaiah’s inward parts were moved by the message of woe for Kir-hareseth.—Isa. 16:11; see also Jeremiah 48:31, 36.

  • Kish
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    • KISH

      [bow, power].

      l. A Merarite Levite who was the son of Mahli and brother of Eleazar. As Eleazar died without sons, having had only daughters, the sons of Kish took these heiresses as wives. One of the “sons of Kish” was Jerahmeel.—1 Chron. 23:21, 22; 24:29.

      2. A Benjamite; the son of Jeiel and his wife Maacah. (1 Chron. 8:29, 30) His brother Ner was the grandfather of Saul, Israel’s first king. (1 Chron. 9:35-39) Apparently Kish’s father Jeiel was also called Abiel.—See ABIEL No. 1.

      3. A Benjamite who was the father of King Saul. (1 Sam. 14:51; Acts 13:21) He was a wealthy member of the family of the Matrites. (1 Sam. 9:1; 10:21) This Kish was the son of Ner and grandson of Jeiel (Abiel), thus being the nephew of the Kish mentioned above. (1 Chron. 8:29-33; 9:35-39) However, 1 Samuel 9:1 calls him the son of Abiel, apparently using the term “son” to represent him not as the immediate son of Abiel (Jeiel), but rather as his grandson.

      The home of Kish was evidently at Gibeah, in Benjamin (1 Sam. 10:26), although his burial place was in Zela. (2 Sam. 21:14) The only event mentioned in the Bible regarding Kish concerns his sending his son Saul and an attendant out to search for some lost she-asses.—1 Sam. 9:3, 4.

      4. A Levite of King Hezekiah’s time; son of Abdi of the sons of Merari. Kish was one of the Levites who helped to cleanse the temple in the first year of Hezekiah’s reign.—2 Chron. 29:1-5, 12-17.

      5. A Benjamite ancestor of Esther’s cousin Mordecai.—Esther 2:5-7.

  • Kishon, Torrent Valley of
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • KISHON, TORRENT VALLEY OF

      (Kiʹshon), [possibly, bending, curving].

      A stream identified as the Nahr el-Muqattaʽ. The Kishon winds its way in a northwesterly direction through the Plain of Esdraelon and, after flowing through a narrow gorge between Mount Carmel and a spur of the Galilean hills, enters the Plain of Acco (Acre) before finally emptying into the Mediterranean. The airline distance from the Kishon’s sources to its mouth at the Bay of Acco is about twenty-three miles (37 kilometers). Approximately twenty feet (6 meters) wide in the spring, the portion of the Kishon flowing through the Plain of Esdraelon increases in width by some ten feet (3 meters) in the western section of the plain. The Kishon’s greatest width of about sixty-five feet (20 meters) is reached in the Plain of Acco. With the exception of the last seven miles (11 kilometers) of its course, the Kishon is usually dry during the summer. But in the rainy season it becomes a rushing torrent, flooding its banks and sweeping everything in its path. The plain through which the Kishon flows then becomes a marshy region.

      In the time of Barak and Deborah the torrent valley of Kishon figured in the deliverance of the Israelites from Canaanite oppression. Barak and his troops took a position on Mount Tabor, this action drawing army chief Sisera, with his well-equipped forces and 900 chariots, to the Kishon. (Judg. 4:6, 7, 12, 13) The Israelites appeared to be at a military disadvantage. Yet, when directed to do so, Barak and his 10,000 men descended from Mount Tabor to engage the enemy. Jehovah God then intervened. “From heaven did the stars fight, from their orbits they fought against Sisera.”—Judg. 4:14, 15; 5:20.

      According to the traditional Jewish view expressed in the writings of Josephus, “there came down from heaven a great storm, with a vast quantity of rain and hail, and the wind blew the rain in the faces of the Canaanites, and so darkened their eyes, that their arrows and slings were of no advantage to them.” (Antiquities of the Jews, Book V, chap. V, par. 4) Such a downpour would have turned the ground to mud, immobilizing chariots and causing horses to sink into the mire and the enemy to flee in terror before Barak’s men. By whatever means, with Jehovah’s help, “all the camp of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword. Not as much as one remained.” (Judg. 4:15, 16; see also Psalm 83:9, 10.) Apparently the treacherous torrent of Kishon swept the corpses of the enemy away. (Judg. 5:21) Sisera himself escaped on foot, to suffer inglorious death by the hand of a woman, Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite.—Judg. 4:17-21.

      Later, during the reign of Israel’s King Ahab, the prophet Elijah slaughtered 450 prophets of Baal at the torrent valley of Kishon.—1 Ki. 18:22, 40.

      The “torrent valley that is in front of Jokneam” (Josh. 19:11) is considered to be the Kishon.

  • Kiss
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • KISS

      In Biblical times the act of kissing or touching one’s lips to those of another (Prov. 24:26), to another person’s cheek, or, in an exceptional case, even to his feet (Luke 7:37, 38, 44, 45), served as a token of affection or respect. Kissing was common not only between male and female relatives (Gen. 29:11; 31:28) but also between male relatives. (Gen. 27:26, 27; 45:15; Ex. 18:7; 2 Sam. 14:33) It was likewise a gesture of affection between close friends.—1 Sam. 20:41, 42; 2 Sam. 19:39.

      Kissing might accompany a blessing. (Gen. 31:55) Aged Israel or Jacob kissed and embraced Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, before blessing their father and them. (Gen. 48:8-20) When the patriarch later finished giving commands to his twelve sons he expired and “Joseph fell upon the face of his father and burst into tears over him and kissed him.” (Gen. 49:33–50:1) Samuel kissed Saul when anointing him as Israel’s first king.—1 Sam. 10:1.

      A fond greeting included kissing, perhaps accompanied by weeping and embracing. (Gen. 33:4) The father of the returning prodigal of Jesus Christ’s illustration fell upon his son’s neck and “tenderly kissed him.” (Luke 15:20) Kissing also went with a loving farewell. (Gen. 31:55; Ruth 1:9, 14) When the apostle Paul was about to depart from Miletus, the older men of the Ephesian congregation were so moved that they wept and “fell upon Paul’s neck and tenderly kissed him.”—Acts 20:17, 37.

      The Bible makes brief reference to kisses associated with love between the sexes. (Song of Sol. 1:2; 8:1) In giving advice to guard against the devices of a wicked woman, the book of Proverbs warns of the seductive kiss of a prostitute.—Prov. 7:13.

      Kisses could be hypocritical. Absalom, shrewdly seeking power, kissed men who drew near to bow down to him. (2 Sam. 15:5, 6) Treacherous Joab’s kiss meant death to unsuspecting Amasa. (2 Sam. 20:9, 10) Also, it was with a deceitful kiss that Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus Christ.—Matt. 26:48, 49; Mark 14:44, 45.

      FALSE WORSHIP

      Kissing as an act of adoration toward false gods was forbidden by Jehovah, who mentions 7,000 men who did not bend the knee to Baal and kiss him. (1 Ki. 19:18) Ephraim was scored for making idols and saying: “Let the sacrificers who are men kiss mere calves.” (Hos. 13:1-3) The Greeks and Romans had the practice of throwing a kiss with the hand to their idols, if these were inaccessible, and in this way they also greeted the rising sun. Job 31:27 may allude to a similar idolatrous practice.

      THE “HOLY KISS”

      Among early Christians there was the “holy kiss” (Rom. 16:16; 1 Cor. 16:20; 2 Cor. 13:12; 1 Thess. 5:26) or “kiss of love” (1 Pet. 5:14), possibly bestowed on individuals of the same sex. This early Christian form of greeting may correspond to the ancient Hebrew practice of greeting one with a kiss. Though the Scriptures provide no details, the “holy kiss” or “kiss of love” evidently reflected the wholesome love and unity prevailing in the Christian congregation.—John 13:34, 35.

      FIGURATIVE USE

      Kissing, as representing a demonstration of respect and devotion, is mentioned in the inspired advice to “serve Jehovah with fear” and “kiss the son, that He may not become incensed and you may not perish from the way.” (Ps. 2:11, 12) Persons responding favorably and submitting to God’s king and kingdom will realize great blessings when it can be said: “Righteousness and peace—they have kissed each other,” because the connection of the two will be as evident to all as is the close association of affectionate friends.—Ps. 85:10.

  • Kite
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    • KITE

      [Heb., ʼay·yahʹ, “black kite”; da·ʼahʹ, “red kite”; and perhaps day·yahʹ, “glede,” likely a variety of kite].

      The kite is a bird of prey and scavenger combined. Both the black kite and the red kite, the common varieties found in Palestine, are included among the unclean birds according to the Law. (Lev. 11:13, 14; Deut. 14:12, 13) The Deuteronomy list contains ra·ʼahʹ in place of da·ʼahʹ as in Leviticus, but this is considered as probably due to a scribal substitution of the Hebrew equivalent of “r” (ר) for “d” (ד), the letters being very similar in appearance.

      The Hebrew name ʼay·yahʹ is believed to be in imitation of the piercing cry of the black kite (classified by ornithonlogists as Milvus migrans).

      The original meaning of the Hebrew name da·ʼahʹ is uncertain, but it is suggested that it indicates a “swooping or darting flight,” as in the expression “he came darting [from Heb. da·ʼahʹ] upon the wings of a spirit” (Ps. 18:10), and in references to the ‘pouncing’ of the eagle. (Deut 28:49; Jer. 48:40; 49:22) The name thus points to a bird of prey, and Koehler and Baumgartner (Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti Libros, p. 198) suggest the red kite (Milvus milvus).

      The kite is of the same family as the hawks and falcons and is described as a slender-bodied hawk. A medium-sized bird measuring about twenty-three inches (c. 58 centimeters) in length, the kite has a wingspread of some three feet (1 meter). Its gliding flight is remarkably graceful and effortless and the bird uses its distinctive long forked tail as a rudder to steer through its wheeling and swooping aerial maneuvers.

      Though feeding on small rodents and reptiles, the kite as found in the East is a scavenger, often congregating around villages or cities, where the birds attack any offal or carcasses available. Though it has the characteristic hooked beak of the bird of prey, the kite’s talons do not have the power of the eagle’s or falcon’s but are comparatively weak, like those of the carrion-eating vulture. Job uses the black kite as an example of superior sharp-sightedness, while showing that man’s ingenuity and search for wealth leads him into underground paths that even the farseeing birds of prey cannot see.—Job 28:7.

      The black kite arrives in Palestine in March, having spent the winter in Africa. It is very common in Egypt and may well have been one of the birds Joseph foretold would eat the dead body of Pharaoh’s executed chief baker. (Gen. 40:19) It is represented in Egyptian paintings and even appears among the hieroglyphic characters. During their season in Palestine the black kites range the country in large numbers, building their nests in the forks of trees, or on the ledges of city buildings, often including strips of cloth in the nest-building materials.

      The red kite, which is found in Palestine even during the winter months, is a reddish-brown bird, barred with black, with a grayish-white head. In England, where the bird also migrates, the name “glede” was applied to it due to its gliding flight. The paper kite used by young boys in play also derives its English name from these soaring birds.

      [Picture on page 1010]

      Red kite, with long forked tail and hooked beak

  • Kitron
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    • KITRON

      (Kitʹron).

      A city from which the Zebulunites failed to expel the Canaanite inhabitants. (Judg. 1:30) Kitron is identified by some geographers with Tell el-Far, about seven miles (11 kilometers)