The common Hebrew conjunction at the beginning of this verse is left untranslated by Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and most other versions. But Bible en français courant and La Bible du Semeur make explicit what seems to be implied: “From that point on….” Once the sons of Saul were eliminated, the Philistines were able to turn their full attention to Saul himself.

The battle pressed hard upon Saul: in certain languages it may be unnatural to make the battle the subject of such a verb. Either the verb should be changed (“the battle grew fiercer round Saul” [New Jerusalem Bible]) or the whole sentence should be restructured to make Saul the subject: “Saul became the center of more violent fighting.” Or the subject of the sentence can be changed: “the enemies fought even harder against Saul.”

Instead of saying simply the archers, the Hebrew text adds “men with the bow.” Since this is redundant, only the most literal translations retain these words.

The archers found him may mean either that the men with bows and arrows discovered where Saul was hiding, or that their arrows found their target and hit him. Anchor Bible translates “the archers found him with their bows,” implying the latter understanding, which seems more likely. The meaning of this expression is linked to the understanding of the following verb in Hebrew.

Wounded: the Hebrew verb means “to tremble” or “to writhe in pain.” Most English translations render this verb here as “wounded” (New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible; also Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch,Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, Nueva Biblia Española), probably on the assumption that one who writhes in pain must have been badly wounded. The passive was … wounded will have to be translated actively in certain languages. The most logical and simplest model for this may be something like “the archers wounded him” (Knox).

Other interpretations are also possible. French and Spanish translations often understand the primary sense here to be “tremble in fear.” Traduction œcuménique de la Bible translates “At the sight of the archers, he [Saul] had a shiver of fear.” Nouvelle version Segond révisée, La Bible du Semeur, and Bible en français courant likewise say “he was terrified of them” (also Reina-Valera revisada, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). But this is not recommended.

Other translations follow the Septuagint, which says that Saul was “wounded by a heavy blow in the abdomen” (so Osty-Trinquet, New American Bible, “pierced through the abdomen”).

The best solution is probably to choose between the first two interpretations and place the alternative translation in a note, as Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch have done.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .