1 Samuel 17:51 (DBY)

Passage

And David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of its sheath, and killed him completely, and cut off his head with it. And when the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they fled.

Nearby Context

1 Samuel 17:49 And David put his hand into the bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, and the stone sank into his forehead; and he fell on his face to the earth.

1 Samuel 17:50 So David overcame the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and smote the Philistine and killed him; and there was no sword in the hand of David.

1 Samuel 17:51 And David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of its sheath, and killed him completely, and cut off his head with it. And when the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they fled.

1 Samuel 17:52 And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thou comest to the ravine and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down on the way to Shaaraim, even to Gath, and to Ekron.

1 Samuel 17:53 And the children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they pillaged their camps.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "david", "stood", "upon", "philistine", "took", "sword", "drew", and "sheath". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "david" and "stood", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 50's "So David overcame the Philistine with a..." into verse 52's "And the men of Israel and of...", so "david" and "stood" 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 "david" and "stood" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.