1 Samuel 31:3
ESV
The battle pressed hard against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was badly wounded by the archers.
NIV
The fighting grew fierce around Saul, and when the archers overtook him, they wounded him critically.
NASB
The battle went heavily against Saul, and the archers found him; and he was gravely wounded by the archers.
CSB
When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers found him and severely wounded him.
NLT
The fighting grew very fierce around Saul, and the Philistine archers caught up with him and wounded him severely.
KJV
And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers.
NKJV
The battle became fierce against Saul. The archers hit him, and he was severely wounded by the archers.
What does 1 Samuel 31:3 mean?
King Saul is in a fight for his life. But he knows he won't win (1 Samuel 28:17–19). The attacking Philistines have overwhelmed the outnumbered Israelites. They've killed three of Saul's sons in the battle (1 Samuel 31:2), and now the Philistine archers mortally wound the king.Saul knows he will die, but that's better than being captured. He's fought the Philistines nearly his entire reign. He can imagine what the Philistines will do to him if he's captured. He tells his armor-bearer to finish him off. His The servant won't kill his king. So, Saul takes his own life. The Philistines will take his body, cut off his head, display his armor in the temple of the goddess Ashtaroth, and hang his body and the bodies of his sons on the wall of Beth-shan (1 Samuel 31:8–10). Saul will be humiliated, treated like a trophy. But at least he won't be alive for any of it.
From the context of the narrative, it seems that Saul is brought down by arrows shot from some distance. If the archers had been closer to Saul, it seems unlikely that he would have had time for the exchange with his armor-bearer in the following verses. Saul knows that he is out of the fight, but he is not yet dead.
