1 Samuel 17:47 (LSB)

Passage

and that all this assembly may know that Yahweh does not save by sword or by spear; for the battle is Yahweh’s, and He will give you into our hands.”

Nearby Context

1 Samuel 17:45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of Yahweh of hosts, the God of the battle lines of Israel, whom you have reproached.

1 Samuel 17:46 This day Yahweh will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the camp of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,

1 Samuel 17:47 and that all this assembly may know that Yahweh does not save by sword or by spear; for the battle is Yahweh’s, and He will give you into our hands.”

1 Samuel 17:48 Then it happened when the Philistine rose and came and drew near to meet David, that David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.

1 Samuel 17:49 And David sent his hand down into his bag and took from it a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. And the stone sank into his forehead, so that he fell on his face to the ground.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "assembly", "yahweh", "does", "save", "sword", "spear", and "battle". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "assembly" and "yahweh", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 46's "This day Yahweh will deliver you up..." into verse 48's "Then it happened when the Philistine rose...", so "assembly" and "yahweh" 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 "assembly" and "yahweh" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.