1 Samuel 17:35 (KJV)

Passage

And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.

Nearby Context

1 Samuel 17:33 And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.

1 Samuel 17:34 And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:

1 Samuel 17:35 And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.

1 Samuel 17:36 Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.

1 Samuel 17:37 David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "went", "after", "smote", "delivered", "mouth", "arose", "against", and "caught". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "went" and "after", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 34's "And David said unto Saul Thy servant..." into verse 36's "Thy servant slew both the lion and...", so "went" and "after" belong inside that flow. In 1 Samuel context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "went" and "after" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.