In Gibeah, or, in the hill, as the very same word is rendered, 1 Samuel 13:16, and that was the fittest place for watchmen. The multitude, to wit, of that numerous host of the Philistines. Melted away, i.e. were strangely and suddenly dispersed, and put to flight. Beating down one another; either,
1. Accidentally, through hasty flight; or,
2. With design to destroy one another, as the authors or abettors of the present calamity. Possibly God blinded their eyes or their minds, that they could not distinguish friends from foes. Compare Judges 7:22 2 Kings 6:18, &c.; 2 Chronicles 20:23.