So whenever the Israelites needed to sharpen their plowshares, picks, axes, or sickles, they had to take them to a Philistine blacksmith.
Parallel translations
- WEB but all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, each man to sharpen his own plowshare, mattock, ax, and sickle.
- KJV But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock.
- BSB Instead, all the Israelites would go down to the Philistines to sharpen their plowshares, mattocks, axes, and sickles.
- NKJV But all the Israelites would go down to the Philistines to sharpen each man’s plowshare, his mattock, his ax, and his sickle;
- NASB So all Israel went down to the Philistines, each to sharpen his plowshare, his mattock, his axe, and his hoe.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Israelites had to go to the Philistines even to sharpen their farm tools, showing total dependence on their oppressors.
Overview
Deprived of their own smiths, the people were reduced to relying on the very enemy who oppressed them for basic agricultural maintenance. This humiliating dependence underscores how completely the Philistines dominated Israel. It deepens the sense of helplessness against which God's saving power will shine.
Cross-references & the web
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Christ at the center
The rise of the anointed king after Israel's failed first choice points to the true Anointed One (Messiah means 'anointed'), the shepherd-king after God's own heart from Bethlehem.
How 1 Samuel 13:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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