1 Samuel 17:29 (GNV)

Passage

Then Dauid sayde, What haue I nowe done? Is there not a cause?

Nearby Context

1 Samuel 17:27 And the people answered him after this maner, saying, Thus shall it be done to the man that killeth him.

1 Samuel 17:28 And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake vnto the men, and Eliab was verie angrie with Dauid, and sayde, Why camest thou downe hither? and with whome hast thou left those fewe sheepe in the wildernesse? I knowe thy pride and the malice of thine heart, that thou art come downe to see the battell.

1 Samuel 17:29 Then Dauid sayde, What haue I nowe done? Is there not a cause?

1 Samuel 17:30 And hee departed from him into the presence of another, and spake of the same maner, and the people answered him according to the former woordes.

1 Samuel 17:31 And they that heard the wordes which Dauid spake, rehearsed them before Saul, which caused him to be brought.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "dauid", "sayde", "haue", "nowe", "done", and "cause". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "dauid" and "sayde", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 28's "And Eliab his eldest brother heard when..." into verse 30's "And hee departed from him into the...", so "dauid" and "sayde" 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 "dauid" and "sayde" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.