דברי הימים א, פרק י׳, פסוק ג׳

The final moments of the king on the battlefield stand as a tragic climax, where he faces both a relentless enemy and his ultimate fate. With his sons already killed, the enemy's focus shifted entirely to him, making him the primary target [מצודת דוד, מלבי״ם]. He was left with only a small group of fighters by his side [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Despite this desperate situation, his decision to remain on the battlefield reveals his great righteousness. Even after witnessing the death of his three sons, he chose not to flee. Instead, he stood bravely to accept divine judgment, doing so to earn a place alongside the prophet Samuel in the world to come [חומת אנך].

At this critical juncture, a company of Philistine archers located him and began firing arrows his way [מצודת ציון, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. The fact that he was struck by arrows carries a message of divine providence. Throughout history, his own tribe of Benjamin was famous for its great skill with a bow. Yet, once God removed His support from him, the king was defeated by the very weapon most associated with his people [רש״י]. Furthermore, he himself was not an archer, unlike his son Jonathan who had already fallen in the battle [מלבי״ם].

Facing this barrage, the king's condition is understood in two ways. The primary approach among commentators is that he was overcome with deep fear and trembling. He was terrified that the archers would capture him alive and torture him [רש״י, מצודת ציון, מצודת דוד, רלב״ג]. Another perspective suggests that he suffered severe physical injury. Because the Philistines shot at him from a distance rather than engaging in hand-to-hand combat, he was badly wounded by their arrows [ביאור שטיינזלץ].