mattock

An agricultural tool with a double-bladed metal head, often made with one blade attached at a hoelike angle and the other in an axelike position. Farmers used the mattock to loosen soil and dig weeds in fields and terraced vineyards (Isa 5:6; Isa 7:5). The NRSV uses “mattock” only in (1Sam 13:20-21), a passage that says the Hebrews were obliged to take their farm implements to the Philistines for sharpening. The tool might also be referenced in (2Chr 34:6 and Isa 7:25).