1 Chronicles 10:3
in 1 Chronicles 10When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers overtook him and wounded him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers overtook him; and he was distressed by reason of the archers.
KJV
And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him, and he was wounded of the archers.
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This verse in 1 Chronicles 10
Commentary
3 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
the battle went sore against Saul; and the archers hit him, and he was wounded--The Hebrew words may be thus rendered: "The archers found (attacked) him, and he feared the archers." He was not wounded, at least not dangerously, when he resolved on committing suicide. The deed was the effect of sudden terror and overwhelming depression of spirits [CALMET].
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This site's exposition
followed hard after Saul
on 1 Chronicles 10:2-3
Jonathan falls with his brothers Abinadab and Malchishua before the battle reaches Saul himself, the same order 1 Samuel 31:2 gives. Chronicles needs from these two verses only the bare fact: the covenant friend who might have inherited the throne dies with his father's army. The archers wound Saul next.
This site's exposition
the archers overtook him and
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown render the Hebrew as the archers found him and he feared the archers. On that reading Saul was at most lightly wounded when he chose death, and terror drove the act. 1 Samuel 31:3 carries the same clause.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Vayyadbequ Pelishtim (=The Philistines pursued and caught up to). This is equivalent to vayyadbiqu.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתִּכְבַּ֤ד | vatikhbad | and it was heavy | H3513 → | 113 times |
| הַמִּלְחָמָה֙ | hamilchamah | the battle | H4421 → | 320 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| שָׁא֔וּל | shaul | Saul | H7586 → | 402 times |
| וַיִּמְצָאֻ֖הוּ | vaiyimtzauhu | and they found him | H4672 → | 455 times |
| הַמּוֹרִ֣ים | hamorim | the archers | H3384 → | |
| בַּקָּ֑שֶׁת | bakashet | with the bow | H7198 → | 76 times |
| וַיָּ֖חֶל | vaiyachel | and he was in severe pain | H2342 → | |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הַיּוֹרִֽים׃ | haiyorim | the archers | H3384 → |
וַתִּכְבַּ֤דand it was heavy
vatikhbadH3513 →113 times
הַמִּלְחָמָה֙the battle
hamilchamahH4421 →320 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
שָׁא֔וּלSaul
shaulH7586 →402 times
וַיִּמְצָאֻ֖הוּand they found him
vaiyimtzauhuH4672 →455 times
הַמּוֹרִ֣יםthe archers
hamorimH3384 →
בַּקָּ֑שֶׁתwith the bow
bakashetH7198 →76 times
וַיָּ֖חֶלand he was in severe pain
vaiyachelH2342 →
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הַיּוֹרִֽים׃the archers
haiyorimH3384 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Amos 2:14Escape will fail the swift, the strong will not prevail by his strength, and the mighty will not save his life.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 9:23
This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the wealthy man in his riches.
- Psalms 33:16
No king is saved by his vast army; no warrior is delivered by his great strength.
- Ecclesiastes 9:11
I saw something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; neither is the bread to the wise, nor the wealth to the intelligent, nor…
- Amos 9:1–3
I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said: “Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Topple them on the heads of all the people, and I will…
- Isaiah 30:16–17
“No,” you say, “we will flee on horses.” Therefore you will flee! “We will ride swift horses,” but your pursuers will be faster.
- Jeremiah 9:23
Where this verse is studied
About 1 Chronicles

Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Berean Standard Bible, 1 Samuel 31:3; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
