after Saul and after his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and [1]Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. 3And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers overtook him; and he was distressed by reason of the archers. 4Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and [2]abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took his sword, and fell upon it. 5And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he likewise fell upon his sword, and died. 6So Saul died, and his three sons; and all his house died together. 7And when all the men of Israel that were in the valley saw that they fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they
could act with decisive effect. At the N.E. end of the plain rose the heights of Gilboa. When Saul and his Benjamites advanced to meet the Philistines, the latter succeeded in interposing themselves between the Israelite army and its base in Benjamin—an easy achievement for an enemy who by his chariots possessed a high degree of mobility. Saul was therefore driven to take up his position on the north side of the plain on Mount Gilboa, where he was attacked by the Philistines, probably from the S.W., on which side the slopes of the mountain are comparatively gentle. The Israelites, cut off from their homes, outmarched, outgeneralled, and probably outnumbered, were speedily routed. The battle of Gilboa was won, like that of Hastings, by cavalry (chariots) and archers (ver. 3) against infantry, which was obliged to stand on the defensive, under pain of being cut to pieces if it ventured to attack. See G. A. Smith, Historical Geography of the Holy Land, pp. 400 ff.
2. Malchi-shua] This is the correct spelling, not Melchi-shua.
4. unto his armourbearer] Cp. Judg. ix. 54 (the death of Abimelech). One function of an armourbearer was to give the "coup de grâce" to fallen enemies (1 Sam. xiv. 13), but sometimes the same office had to be executed for friends. Possibly the man refused from fear of blood-revenge, which would be the more certainly exacted in the case of the Lord's Anointed, cp. 1 Sam. ii. 22, xxvi. 9 (so Curtis).
and abuse me] i.e. wreak their cruel will upon me; cp. Judg. i. 6.
6. all his house] In Samuel "his armourbearer and all his men." The reference may be to Saul's servants: his family was not exterminated in this battle.
7. that were in the valley] The "valley of Jezreel" (Hos. i. 5), called in later times the "plain of Esdrelon" (Esdraelon), is meant.
