Kindred. — Fellow-tribesmen.
Hitherto. — Up to that time. (Comp., same phrase, 1 Chronicles 9:18.)
Had kept. — Were still keeping guard over the house of Saul. For the phrase comp. Numbers 3:38. The Benjamites, as a whole, were still jealously guarding the interests of their own royal house. This remark, as well as the preceding expression, “Saul’s fellow-tribesmen,” is intended to explain the comparative smallness of the contingent from Benjamin. The tribe’s reluctance to recognise David survived the murder of Ish-bosheth.