1 Samuel 31:3

3 The heaviest fighting was against Saul. When the archers got him in their range, he was badly wounded by them.

1 Samuel 31:3 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 31:3

And the battle went sore against Saul
Pressed heavy upon him; he was the butt of the Philistines, they aimed at his person and life:

and the archers hit him;
or "found him" ^F1; the place where was, and directed their arrows at him:

and he was sore wounded of the archers;
or rather "he was afraid" of them, as the Targum, for as yet he was not wounded; and so the Syriac and Arabic versions render it, and is the sense Kimchi and Ben Melech give of the word: he was not afraid of death, as Abarbinel observes, he chose to die; but he was afraid he should be hit by the archers in such a way that he should not die immediately, and should be taken alive and ill used; the Philistines, especially the Cherethites, were famous for archery; (See Gill on Zephaniah 2:5).

---

FOOTNOTES:

F1 (whaumyw) "et inveserust cum", Pagninus, Montanus.

1 Samuel 31:3 In-Context

1 When the Philistines were fighting against Israel, the men of Israel fled from the Philistines and were killed in battle on Mount Gilboa.

2 The Philistines caught up to Saul and his sons. They killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul's sons.

3 The heaviest fighting was against Saul. When the archers got him in their range, he was badly wounded by them.

4 Saul told his armorbearer, "Draw your sword! Stab me, or these godless men will come, stab me, and make fun of me." But his armorbearer refused because he was terrified. So Saul took the sword and fell on it.

5 When the armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him.