Verse 3
3. Battle went sore This verse is rendered better thus: Then the battle was heavy against Saul, and the archers, men with the bow, discovered him, and he became greatly terrified because of the archers After his sons had fallen, Saul was in worse straits than ever, for now the brunt of the battle came on him.
Archers מורים , shooters; explained further by the phrase men with the bow; that is, men who shot arrows with the bow. ימצאהו , found him; discovered him; singled him out; not hit him, as our version. After the fall of his sons, the archers discovered Saul, and began to aim their missiles at him. ויחל , imperfect, shortened from חול , to writhe, to quake with pain. The word nowhere means to be wounded, as our version has it here. It is, indeed, probable that some of their arrows struck him, and this caused his alarm. He saw that he was the mark of the Philistine sharp-shooters, and he therefore writhed and quaked with terror at the thought of falling by such hands.
Be the first to react on this!
