16 Saul and his son Jonathan and the men with them were staying in Gibeah in Benjamin, while the Philistines camped at Mikmash. 17 Raiding parties went out from the Philistine camp in three detachments. One turned toward Ophrah in the vicinity of Shual, 18 another toward Beth Horon, and the third toward the borderland overlooking the Valley of Zeboyim facing the wilderness.19 Not a blacksmith could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, “Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!” 20 So all Israel went down to the Philistines to have their plow points, mattocks, axes and sickles sharpened. 21 The price was two-thirds of a shekel for sharpening plow points and mattocks, and a third of a shekel for sharpening forks and axes and for repointing goads.
22 So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them.
In the passage, king Saul and son Jonathan are facing against Philistines who send out parties to raid them.
However, the Israelites lack a blacksmith in their whole land so they cannot make swords or spears (vs. 19); or sharpen everyday implements like plow points (20).
At some point, the Philistines had gained control of the abilities to both make and sharpen metal tools.
The Philistines’ control over these basic abilities allows them to prevent the Israelites from raising up and training a single blacksmith of their own (19).
And by controlling these abilities, the Philistines cause the Israelites to need to travel to Philistine land to sharpen tools; and pay prices the Philistines set (21).
How did the Israelites bring about the conditions leading to 1 Samuel 13? I’d guess that in earlier years, Israelite tribes probably learned about how to mine, refine, produce, and sharpen iron tools; and set up a localized set of systems in each tribe.1
In this way, each tribe could possess the means to produce armaments and infrastructure to carry out the conquests described in Joshua, Judges,2 and3 Ruth.4
But, as Joshua and Judges describe, the Israelite tribes neglected and failed to obey God’s commands completely; and as a result, reap the consequences of their failure.
If only the Israelites had completely obeyed God; and vigilantly protected their local and decentralized iron production and sharpening system!5
The History of Iron in Ancient Israel, The Torah Deuteronomy describes the land as abundant in copper in iron; and in Joshua, the Josephites (Ephraim and Manessah) prepare for the conquest of the Canaanites with chariots fitted with iron. ↩︎
Judges 17 (NIV) For example, Samson reveals to a Philistine lover that cutting off his hair will sap him of strength ↩︎
Judges 18 (NIV)
The writer of Judges 18 observes repeatedly that “In those days Israel had no king.” That is, the people carried out what they wanted, instead of following God’s commands. Thereafter, God would provide Saul, David, among the earthly kings who would rule, who all represented imperfect models of Jesus the true king. ↩︎Ruth 4 (NIV)
Even during the Israelites’ failure and resulting distress, God sovereignly works to deliver the Israelites from their spiritual distress. In Ruth, Ruth, a Moabite widow, faithfully remains with her mother-in-law; and marries Boaz and gives birth to Jesse who gives rise one day to Jesus. ↩︎And… my fun sidenote: enforced the antitrust laws to protect against the handful of greedy individuals consolidating the local mines and blacksmiths and outsourcing production abroad to hostile nations who compete by exploiting workers! ↩︎