KJV ORIGINAL
Yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes, and to sharpen the goads.
Close to the original. Clear modern English.
✦ MADE SIMPLE
But they had to use a file to sharpen their farming tools—their hoes, plowshares, pitchforks, axes, and cattle prods.
⚡ THE BOTTOM LINE
The writer is showing how the Israelites had to maintain their own farming tools with just basic sharpening files.
📚 Historical Context
This verse describes Israel's situation under Philistine oppression, when the Philistines controlled all metalworking to prevent the Israelites from making weapons. The Israelites could only maintain their farming tools with simple files, highlighting their technological dependence on their enemies and their defenseless state.
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