Bird's-eye view
This short, almost parenthetical, passage provides a crucial piece of information that explains the military and spiritual state of Israel under Saul's early reign. It is a snapshot of national humiliation and utter dependency on their sworn enemies, the Philistines. The writer zooms in on a specific technological and economic reality: the Philistines held a monopoly on all blacksmithing. This was a deliberate and strategic policy of disarmament. By controlling the means of producing and maintaining weapons, the Philistines kept Israel in a state of perpetual vulnerability, reducing them to a nation of farmers with dull tools. The passage vividly illustrates the practical consequences of Israel's spiritual waywardness. Their earlier demand for a king "like the nations" has led them into a state of servility, and their unfaithfulness has resulted in a tangible, iron-clad helplessness. Yet, in the midst of this bleak picture, God is setting the stage. The fact that only Saul and Jonathan possess swords highlights their unique position and foreshadows the coming conflict where God will demonstrate that victory does not depend on the multitude of weapons, but on His sovereign power working through faith-filled obedience.
The scene is one of pathetic subjugation. Israelite farmers must travel to their oppressors, hat in hand, and pay an exorbitant fee simply to sharpen their agricultural implements. This is not just a military crisis; it is a picture of covenantal destitution. God had promised to make Israel the head and not the tail, but their sin has inverted this reality. This passage, therefore, serves as the necessary backdrop for the heroic faith of Jonathan in the following chapter. God loves to work when the odds are impossible and the resources are nil, because it is in those moments that His glory shines most brightly. He is about to show Israel that He does not need an arsenal of swords and spears to deliver His people; He needs only a man who trusts Him.
Outline
- 1. The Disarmed Covenant People (1 Sam 13:19-23)
- a. The Philistine Monopoly on Iron (1 Sam 13:19)
- b. The Humiliation of Dependency (1 Sam 13:20)
- c. The Extortionate Cost of Servitude (1 Sam 13:21)
- d. A Nation Without Weapons (1 Sam 13:22)
- e. The Enemy's Advance (1 Sam 13:23)
Context In 1 Samuel
This passage sits in the middle of a narrative detailing King Saul's first great failure. In the preceding verses (1 Sam 13:1-14), Saul has mustered an army to face the Philistines, but has grown impatient waiting for Samuel. He presumptuously offers the burnt offering himself, a direct violation of his role as king and an act of disobedience to God's command through the prophet. Immediately following this sin, Samuel arrives and pronounces God's judgment: Saul's kingdom will not endure, and God has already sought out a man after His own heart to be king. Our text (vv. 19-23) then functions as an explanation for the dire military situation Saul is in. It underscores the foolishness of his sin. He is facing a technologically superior, well-armed enemy, and his own people are effectively disarmed. This information heightens the tension and sets the stage for the events of chapter 14, where Jonathan, in stark contrast to his father's faithlessness, will attack a Philistine garrison with only his armor-bearer, trusting entirely in God for victory. The disarmament of Israel makes Jonathan's subsequent faith and God's subsequent deliverance all the more spectacular.
Key Issues
- The Politics of Technology
- Consequences of Covenant Unfaithfulness
- God's Sovereignty in Human Helplessness
- Economic Oppression as a Tool of War
- The Contrast Between Saul's Fear and Jonathan's Faith
- The Folly of Trusting in Carnal Weapons
The Theology of the Blacksmith
It is easy to read a passage like this and see it as a simple historical or military detail. But in the economy of Scripture, there are no throwaway details. The absence of blacksmiths is profoundly theological. A blacksmith in the ancient world was not just a craftsman; he was a cornerstone of civilization. He produced the tools for farming (plowshares, mattocks) and the weapons for defense (swords, spears). To control the forge was to control the food supply and the army. The Philistines, having mastered the new technology of iron smelting, used this advantage as a key instrument of statecraft to keep Israel subjugated.
This is a picture of what happens when God's people abandon their covenantal distinctiveness. They had demanded a king so they could be "like all the other nations" (1 Sam 8:20). God gave them their request, and the result is that they have become a vassal state, utterly dependent on a pagan nation for their most basic needs. Their desire for worldly power led to worldly weakness. God had promised to bless their basket and their kneading bowl, to make them lenders and not borrowers. But their sin has reversed the blessing. They are now disarmed, impoverished, and humiliated. This technological deficit is a physical manifestation of their spiritual bankruptcy. And it is into this precise state of helplessness that God is about to inject His miraculous power.
Verse by Verse Commentary
19 Now no blacksmith could be found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make swords or spears.”
The historian states the central fact plainly. The craft of the smith was nonexistent in Israel. This was not an accident or a result of economic backwardness. It was a matter of deliberate, calculated policy by their Philistine overlords. The reason is explicitly military: to prevent the Hebrews from forging weapons of war. An armed populace is a threat to a tyrant; a disarmed one is easily controlled. The Philistines understood that technology is power, and they maintained their dominance by enforcing a strict monopoly on it. This is a timeless principle of earthly power politics. But for Israel, this was more than a political problem. It was a sign of God's disfavor. They were the people of the God who created iron, yet they were not permitted to work it.
20 So all Israel went down to the Philistines, each to sharpen his plowshare, his mattock, his axe, and his goad.
The consequence of this policy was a state of complete and humiliating dependency. For the most basic maintenance of their farming tools, the Israelites had to make a journey "down to the Philistines." This was likely a trip from the hill country of Israel down to the coastal plain where the Philistines dwelt. The image is one of submission and servility. The very tools they used to work the land God had given them had to be serviced by their enemies. The list of tools is telling: plowshare, mattock, axe, goad. These are the implements of life, of cultivation, of building. But without a sharp edge, they are next to useless. Israel's ability to provide for itself, to work the covenant land, was held hostage by their oppressors. Every dull blade was a reminder of their subjugation.
21 And the charge was two-thirds of a shekel for the plowshares, the mattocks, the forks, and the axes, and to fix the goad.
To add insult to injury, this service was not cheap. The text gives us a specific price, which scholars believe was exorbitant for the time. The word translated "charge" can also mean "file," but the context points to a set price. They were being fleeced. Economic exploitation is a classic tool of oppression. The Philistines were not only keeping Israel disarmed, they were profiting from their helplessness. This detail makes the humiliation even more concrete. It was a constant drain on their resources, a tax on their existence paid directly to their enemies. Every trip to the Philistine smith was a costly reminder of who was in charge.
22 So it happened on the day of battle that neither sword nor spear was found in the hands of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan, but they were found with Saul and his son Jonathan.
Here the military implication of the blacksmith monopoly is spelled out. When the battle lines were drawn, the Israelite militia was an army in name only. They were a rabble of farmers armed with, at best, sharpened sticks and agricultural tools. There were no swords, no spears, the standard weapons of a real army. The Philistine policy had been brutally effective. The exception is stark and significant: only the king, Saul, and his son, the heir apparent, Jonathan, were armed. As royalty, they likely had access to foreign merchants or had older weapons from a previous era. This sets them apart, but it also highlights the desperation of their situation. Two swords against the "chariots and horsemen and people like the sand which is on the seashore in abundance" (1 Sam 13:5). From a human perspective, the situation is utterly hopeless.
23 And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash.
The chapter concludes by setting the scene for the next major confrontation. The Philistines, confident in their overwhelming superiority, push forward. A garrison, a detached outpost of soldiers, moves to occupy a strategic mountain pass at Michmash. This was a provocation, a tightening of the noose. They were pressing their advantage, daring the Israelites to do something about it. This verse acts as a cliffhanger, leaving the disarmed and fearful Israelites cowering in the hills, while the enemy boldly advances. It is the perfect setup for a divine reversal.
Application
This passage is a powerful illustration of the principle that sin leads to servitude. When God's people compromise with the world and seek to be like the world, they invariably end up in bondage to the world. Israel wanted a king like the nations, and they got a kingdom that was a pathetic vassal of the nations. Their spiritual compromise led to technological, economic, and military subjugation. We must see the warning here. When the church barters away its biblical distinctiveness for the sake of cultural relevance or political influence, it always ends up disarmed and dependent on the very world it is meant to conquer.
But the central lesson is one of hope in the face of impossible odds. God allowed His people to be brought to this point of utter helplessness for a reason. He was stripping them of all their carnal confidence. They could not trust in their swords and spears, because they had none. They had only God. This is often where God does His best work. When we are at the end of our resources, when our strategies fail, when we are staring down a technologically and culturally superior enemy, we are in a position to see the salvation of the Lord. The victory that is coming in the next chapter will not be won by Saul's sword or Jonathan's spear. It will be won by Jonathan's faith in the living God, who can save by many or by few. Our ultimate weapon is not the technology of the age, but trust in the God who made the age. When we feel disarmed and outmatched by the Philistines of our day, we must remember that the Lord of Hosts does not need our blacksmiths to win His battles.