How are the mighty fallen: see verses 19 and 25.

The weapons of war: this is taken by some interpreters as a metaphor for Saul and Jonathan, which it may well be (as, for example, in the footnotes in La Bible Pléiade and Osty-Trinquet). The parallel statements in verses 19 and 25 refer specifically to Saul and Jonathan. In verse 19 “the mighty” is parallel to “your glory.” Here the mighty is parallel to the weapons of war. But since it is also possible that the weapons of war refers to shields, swords, and bows, it will be better to reserve this kind of information for a footnote. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, for example, has the following footnote on these words: “I.e., Saul and Jonathan.” It is not wise to try to make this explicit in the text.

The verb perished may not fit very well in this context, if the reference is to weapons and not to Saul and Jonathan. The idea is that the weapons of Saul and Jonathan are “lost” (Anchor Bible) or “abandoned on the battlefield” (Revised English Bible).

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .