Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageBut as one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axe-head flew off and sank into the water. 'Oh no, my master!' he cried. 'It was borrowed!'
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GBut as one was felling a log, the iron axe-head fell into the water. He cried out, 'Oh no, my master — it was borrowed!'
KJV
King James VersionBut as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleAs one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axe head fell into the water. “Oh, my master,” he cried out, “it was borrowed!”
Footnotes
Iron implements were considerably valuable in ancient Yisra'el, not easily replaced. The man's distress — 'it was borrowed' (*שָׁאוּל הוּא*, *sha'ul hu*) — signals not just material loss but social obligation: he is liable for what is not his own. The detail humanises the miracle that follows: YHWH's power is deployed not for strategic victory but for the small, indebting anxieties of ordinary life. The word *sha'ul* ('borrowed') shares its root with the name Sha'ul/Saul, though the connection here is purely lexical.