But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock.
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Interpretation
See how politic the Philistines were when they had power; they not only prevented the people of Israel from making weapons of war, but obliged them to depend upon their enemies, even for instruments of husbandry. How impolitic Saul was, who did not, in the beginning of his reign, set himself to redress this.
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This thought runs through 1 Samuel 13:19-23.