John Gill Commentary 1 Samuel 31:3

"And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers overtook him; and he was greatly distressed by reason of the archers." — 1 Samuel 31:3 (ASV)

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.