Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:
Seven Hebrew words so translated. It was of stone or iron, crudely fastened to a handle of wood (Deut. 19:5; 2 Kings 6:5-7).
“Saws” From Concise Bible Dictionary:
Ancient Egyptian saws have been discovered, and a double handed one was found at Nimrood. They are such as would be used for wood, but there must have been other kinds, for 1 Kings 7:9 speaks of stones that were “sawed with saws.” The inhabitants of Rabbah, when conquered by David, were “cut with saws and harrows of iron and axes” (1 Chron. 20:3). They had perhaps thus treated the captives they had taken, and this was God’s judgment upon them (compare Heb. 11:37).
“Ax, Axe” From Concise Bible Dictionary:
There are seven different Hebrew words translated “ax” or “axe,” with various shades of meaning (Deut. 19:5; Judg. 9:48; 2 Sam. 12:31; 1 Chron. 20:3; Psa. 74:6; Jer. 10:3; Ezek. 26:9; Matt. 3:10: Luke 3:9).
Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew Words:
From Manners and Customs of the Bible:
1 Kings 7:9. All these were of costly stones, according to the measures of hewed stones, sawed with saws.
When the saw was invented is not known. It is seen on the Egyptian monuments, and also on the Assyrian. The saws referred to in the text were doubtless double-handed, since they were used for sawing stones. A striking peculiarity of the Oriental saw is that the teeth usually incline toward the handle instead of from it, as in the saws used among us.