1 Samuel 13:19-23

The disarmament of the Israelites

19. Now there was no smith found, &c. A signal proof of the severity of the Philistine oppression, and the difficulties against which Saul had to contend. This general disarmament clearly points to the lasting subjugation of a large district in the later years of Samuel's judgeship and the beginning of Saul's reign, and was not merely the temporary result of the present invasion. A similar tyranny was practised by the Canaanites before Deborah's victory (Judges 5:8, cp. Judges 3:31); and Porsena is reported by Pliny to have prohibited the Romans from using iron except for agricultural purposes (Hist. Nat.XXXIV. 14).