1 Samuel 16:20 (DBY)

Passage

And Jesse took an ass with bread, and a flask of wine, and a kid, and sent [them] by David his son to Saul.

Nearby Context

1 Samuel 16:18 And one of the young men answered and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skilled in playing, and he is a valiant man and a man of war, and skilled in speech, and of good presence, and Jehovah is with him.

1 Samuel 16:19 Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, Send me David thy son, who is with the sheep.

1 Samuel 16:20 And Jesse took an ass with bread, and a flask of wine, and a kid, and sent [them] by David his son to Saul.

1 Samuel 16:21 And David came to Saul, and stood before him; and he loved him greatly; and he became his armour-bearer.

1 Samuel 16:22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he has found favour in my sight.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "jesse", "took", "bread", "flask", "wine", "sent", "david", and "saul". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "jesse" and "took", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 19's "Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and..." into verse 21's "And David came to Saul and stood...", so "jesse" and "took" 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 "jesse" and "took" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.