The tools mentioned in these verses were generally farm equipment, thus emphasizing the fact that the Israelites did not have modern weapons with which to fight against the Philistines. The prices were also very expensive, showing that the Philistines were making a lot of money from the Israelites who came to have their equipment sharpened.1 Without the proper equipment for battle any victory against the Philistines would require some kind of a miraculous intervention from the Lord.2
20 Et chaque homme en Israël descendait chez les Philistins pour aiguiser son soc, son hoyau, sa hache et sa bêche,