And the battle went hard against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was severely wounded of the archers.
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George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
Overtook. Hebrew, "attacked, found, or hit him. "He was running away. (Haydock)
Wounded. Some translate Hebrew, "terrified "as they believe the words of the Amalecite, "my whole life is in me. "But that wretch deserves no credit; and Saul would probably not take the desperate resolution of killing himself, till he saw there was no possibility of escaping. Septuagint, "the archers find him, and they wounded him in the lower belly. "Theodotion, "in the part near the liver."
“I will inebriate my arrows with blood, and my sword will devour flesh.” These are the spiritual arrows of the Lord with which he strikes the heart of the human race and drains our spiritual blood. For just as Christ himself is called an arrow, chosen by the hand of the Father, so also his apostles are named arrows metaphorically, whom his powerful bow dispersed throughout the entire breadth of the world. Perhaps Jonathan shot the same arrows as a sign that David should flee from the hand of his cruel king. And Saul was struck by these very arrows, that such an obviously worthless king would be deprived of the Israelite kingdom. These are the arrows that drink the blood of our infidelity and carnal sins, for which reason it is said concerning them: “They will eat the sins of my people.” - "Commentary on the Ecclesiastical Canticles, On Deuteronomy 43"
