1 Samuel 17:4 (KJV)

Passage

And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.

Nearby Context

1 Samuel 17:2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines.

1 Samuel 17:3 And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them.

1 Samuel 17:4 And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.

1 Samuel 17:5 And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass.

1 Samuel 17:6 And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "went", "champion", "camp", "philistines", "named", "goliath", "gath", and "whose". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "went" and "champion", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "And the Philistines stood on a mountain..." into verse 5's "And he had an helmet of brass...", so "went" and "champion" 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 "champion" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.