1 Samuel 31:3

3 And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded by the archers.

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).

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FOOTNOTES:

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

1 Samuel 31:3 In-Context

1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain on Mount Gilboa.

2 And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchishua, Saul's sons.

3 And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded by the archers.

4 Then said Saul unto his armorbearer, "Draw thy sword and thrust me through therewith, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through and abuse me." But his armorbearer would not, for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.

5 And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword and died with him.