The battle was scattered over all the country In that neighbourhood; both in the field and in the wood. The wood devoured more people than the sword Some think the wood is said to devour them because they fell into pits, or stumbled upon stumps of trees, or pressed one another to death, as they came into strait places, or were killed by wild beasts. But the most natural meaning of the words is, that there were more slain in the wood, into which Absalom's men fled, than in the open field; that is, more in their flight, which was stopped by the wood, than in the battle.
Related Commentaries of 2 Samuel 18:8
2 Samuel 18:8
8 For the battle was there scattered over the face of all the country: and the wood devouredb more people that day than the sword devoured.