Discovery Box1 Samuel 13:21 
Context13:21 They charged 1 two-thirds of a shekel 2 to sharpen plowshares and cutting instruments, and a third of a shekel 3 to sharpen picks and axes, and to set ox goads.
1 Samuel 17:52
Context17:52 Then the men of Israel and Judah charged forward, shouting a battle cry. 4 They chased the Philistines to the valley 5 and to the very gates of Ekron. The Philistine corpses lay fallen along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.
1 tn Heb “the price was.” The meaning of the Hebrew word פְּצִירָה (pÿtsirah) is uncertain. This is the only place it occurs in the OT. Some propose the meaning “sharpening,” but “price” is a more likely meaning if the following term refers to a weight (see the following note on the word “shekel”). See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 238.
2 tn This word, which appears only here in the OT, probably refers to a stone weight. Stones marked פִּים (pim) have been found in excavations of Palestinian sites. The average weight of such stones is 0.268 ounces, which is equivalent to about two-thirds of a shekel. This probably refers to the price charged by the Philistines for the services listed. See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 238; DNWSI 2:910; and G. I. Davies, Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions, 259.
3 tc Heb “and for a third, a pick.” The Hebrew text suffers from haplography at this point. The translation follows the textual reconstruction offered by P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 235.
4 tn Heb “arose and cried out.”
5 tc Most of the LXX
