1 Samuel 31:3
And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers.
a. NASB 1995: The battle went heavily against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was badly wounded by the archers. [New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.]
b. NKJV: The battle became fierce against Saul. The archers hit him, and he was severely wounded by the archers. [Scripture quotations marked "NKJV" are taken from the New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.]
c. Classic Amplified Bible: The battle went heavily against Saul, and the archers severely wounded him. [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]
d. The Rubin Edition, The Early Prophets: 1 & 2 Samuel, Rabbinic Commentary: Th battle bore down heavily against Saul. The archers, the men with bows found him, and Saul was terrified of the archers [THE ARTSCROLL SERIES/RUBIN EDITION THE PROPHETS: SAMUEL Ⓒ Copyright 2002 by MESORAH PUBLICATIONS, Ltd.]
e. ESV: The battle pressed hard against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was badly wounded by the archers. [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]
f. Unless otherwise stated, all Greek and Hebrew definitions are from Blue Letter Bible
1. “And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers.”
a. [And the] battle [Strong: 4421 milchâmâh, mil-khaw-maw'; from H3898 (in the sense of fighting); a battle (i.e. the engagement); generally, war (i.e. war-fare):—battle, fight(-ing), war(-rior).]
b. [went] sore [Strong: 3513 kâbad, kaw-bad'; or כָּבֵד kâbêd; a primitive root; to be heavy, i.e. in a bad sense (burdensome, severe, dull) or in a good sense (numerous, rich, honorable); causatively, to make weighty (in the same two senses):—abounding with, more grievously afflict, boast, be chargeable, × be dim, glorify, be (make) glorious (things), glory, (very) great, be grievous, harden, be (make) heavy, be heavier, lay heavily, (bring to, come to, do, get, be had in) honour (self), (be) honourable (man), lade, × more be laid, make self many, nobles, prevail, promote (to honour), be rich, be (go) sore, stop.]
c. against [Strong: 413 ʼêl, ale; (but used only in the shortened constructive form אֶל ʼel, el); a primitive particle; properly, denoting motion towards, but occasionally used of a quiescent position, i.e. near, with or among; often in general, to:—about, according to, after, against, among, as for, at, because (-fore, -side), both...and, by, concerning, for, from, × hath, in (-to), near, (out) of, over, through, to (-ward), under, unto, upon, whether, with (-in).]
d. Saul [Strong: [Strong: 7586 Shâʼûwl, shaw-ool'; passive participle of H7592; asked; Shaul, the name of an Edomite and two Israelites:—Saul, Shaul.]
e. [Strong: 4672 mâtsâʼ, maw-tsaw'; a primitive root; properly, to come forth to, i.e. appear or exist; transitively, to attain, i.e. find or acquire; figuratively, to occur, meet or be present:— be able, befall, being, catch, × certainly, (cause to) come (on, to, to hand), deliver, be enough (cause to) find(-ing, occasion, out), get (hold upon), × have (here), be here, hit, be left, light (up-) on, meet (with), × occasion serve, (be) present, ready, speed, suffice, take hold on.]
f. the] archers [Strong: 3384 yârâh, yaw-raw'; or (2 Chronicles 26:15) יָרָא yârâʼ; a primitive root; properly, to flow as water (i.e. to rain); transitively, to lay or throw (especially an arrow, i.e. to shoot); figuratively, to point out (as if by aiming the finger), to teach:—(+) archer, cast, direct, inform, instruct, lay, shew, shoot, teach(-er,-ing), through.]
g. [Strong: 376 ʼîysh, eesh; contracted for H582 (or perhaps rather from an unused root meaning to be extant); a man as an individual or a male person; often used as an adjunct to a more definite term (and in such cases frequently not expressed in translation):—also, another, any (man), a certain, champion, consent, each, every (one), fellow, (foot-, husband-) man, (good-, great, mighty) man, he, high (degree), him (that is), husband, man(-kind), none, one, people, person, steward, what (man) soever, whoso(-ever), worthy.]
h. [and the] archers [Strong: 7198 qesheth, keh'-sheth; from H7185 in the original sense (of H6983) of bending; a bow, for shooting (hence, figuratively, strength) or the iris:—× arch(-er), arrow, bow(-man, -shot).]
i. wounded [Strong: 2342 chûwl, khool; or חִיל chîyl; a primitive root; properly, to twist or whirl (in a circular or spiral manner), i.e. (specifically) to dance, to writhe in pain (especially of parturition) or fear; figuratively, to wait, to pervert:—bear, (make to) bring forth, (make to) calve, dance, drive away, fall grievously (with pain), fear, form, great, grieve, (be) grievous, hope, look, make, be in pain, be much (sore) pained, rest, shake, shapen, (be) sorrow(-ful), stay, tarry, travail (with pain), tremble, trust, wait carefully (patiently), be wounded.]
j. [and he was] sore wounded [Strong: 3966 mᵉʼôd, meh-ode'; from the same as H181; properly, vehemence, i.e. (with or without preposition) vehemently; by implication, wholly, speedily, etc. (often with other words as an intensive or superlative; especially when repeated):—diligently, especially, exceeding(-ly), far, fast, good, great(-ly), × louder and louder, might(-ily, -y), (so) much, quickly, (so) sore, utterly, very ( much, sore), well.]
k. [of the] archers [Strong: 3384 yârâh, yaw-raw'; or (2 Chronicles 26:15) יָרָא yârâʼ; a primitive root; properly, to flow as water (i.e. to rain); transitively, to lay or throw (especially an arrow, i.e. to shoot); figuratively, to point out (as if by aiming the finger), to teach:—(+) archer, cast, direct, inform, instruct, lay, shew, shoot, teach(-er,-ing), through.]
1). Comparative passage.
a). 2 Chronicles 10:1-6 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa.
10:2 And the Philistines followed hard after Saul, and after his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, the sons of Saul.
10:3 And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him, and he was wounded of the archers.
10:4 Then said Saul to his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. So Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.
10:5 And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise on the sword, and died.
10:6 So Saul died, and his three sons, and all his house died together.