For the battle was there scattered over the face of all the country: and the wood devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.
The wood devoured more people ... than the sword. The thick forest of oaks and terebinths, by obstructing the flight, greatly aided the victors in the pursuit, and was the occasion of more being slain in the rout than in the battle. This view is supported by Josephus: 'David's men were conquerors, as being superior in military strength and skill; so they pursued the rebels, as they fled away through the forests and valleys; some they took prisoners, and they killed many, more in the flight than on the field, because there fell about 20,000 that day' ('Antiquities,' b. 7:, ch. 10:, sec. 2).