1 Samuel 17:38 (DBY)

Passage

And Saul clothed David with his dress, and put a helmet of bronze upon his head, and clothed him with a corselet.

Nearby Context

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

1 Samuel 17:37 And David said, Jehovah who 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 to David, Go, and Jehovah be with thee.

1 Samuel 17:38 And Saul clothed David with his dress, and put a helmet of bronze upon his head, and clothed him with a corselet.

1 Samuel 17:39 And David girded his sword upon his dress, and endeavoured to go; for he had not yet tried [it]. And David said to Saul, I cannot go in these; for I have never tried [them]. And David put them off him.

1 Samuel 17:40 And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in the shepherd's bag that he had, into the pocket; and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "saul", "clothed", "david", "dress", "helmet", "bronze", "upon", and "head". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "saul" and "clothed", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 37's "And David said Jehovah who delivered me..." into verse 39's "And David girded his sword upon his...", so "saul" and "clothed" 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 "saul" and "clothed" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.