15 At that, Samuel got up and left Gilgal. What army there was left followed Saul into battle. They went into the hills from Gilgal toward Gibeah in Benjamin. Saul looked over and assessed the soldiers still with him - a mere six hundred! 16 Saul, his son Jonathan, and the soldiers who had remained made camp at Geba (Gibeah) of Benjamin. The Philistines were camped at Micmash. 17 Three squads of raiding parties were regularly sent out from the Philistine camp. One squadron was assigned to the Ophrah road going toward Shual country; 18 another was assigned to the Beth Horon road; the third took the border road that rimmed the Valley of Hyenas. 19 There wasn't a blacksmith to be found anywhere in Israel. The Philistines made sure of that - "Lest those Hebrews start making swords and spears." 20 That meant that the Israelites had to go down among the Philistines to keep their farm tools - plowshares and mattocks, axes and sickles - sharp and in good repair. 21 They charged a silver coin for the plowshares and mattocks, and half that for the rest. 22 So when the battle of Micmash was joined, there wasn't a sword or spear to be found anywhere in Israel - except for Saul and his son Jonathan; they were both well-armed. 23 A patrol of Philistines took up a position at Micmash Pass.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Samuel 13:15-23
Commentary on 1 Samuel 13:15-23
(Read 1 Samuel 13:15-23)
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. Want of true sense always accompanies want of grace. Sins which appear to us very little, have dangerous consequences. Miserable is a guilty, defenceless nation; much more those who are destitute of the whole armour of God.