But as one was felling a beam, the ax head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.
But as one was felling a beam, the ax head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.
But as one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water; and he cried, and said, Alas, my master! for it was borrowed.
But one of them, while cutting a board, let the head of his axe go into the water; and he gave a cry, and said, This is a bad business, my master, for it is another's.
But as one was felling a beam, the ax head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.
But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water. Then he cried, and said, "Alas, my master! For it was borrowed."
But as one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, my master! for it was borrowed.
Alas, master! for it was borrowed - אהה אדני והוא שאול ahah adonia, vehu shaul! Ah! ah, my master; and it has been sought. It has fallen in, and I have sought it in vain. Or, it was borrowed, and therefore I am the more afflicted for its loss; and Jarchi adds, I have nothing wherewith to repay it.
The ax head - literally, as in the margin. The Jews used iron for the heads of axes at a very early date (see Deuteronomy 19:5). They probably acquired a knowledge of the smelting process in Egypt, where iron was employed at least from the time of the third Rameses.