The Philistines followed hard after Saul. — Literally, clave to Saul, that is, hotly pursued him. (Comp. 1 Kings 22:31.) The destruction of the king and his sons would make their triumph complete.
The sons of Saul. — Omit the. Eshbaal, Saul’s fourth son, was not in the battle (2 Samuel 2:8. Comp. 1 Chronicles 8:33). Like Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, Saul may have witnessed the death of his sons (2 Kings 25:7). Jonathan, at least, would not be far from him in the last struggle. “In their deaths they were not divided.”