1 Samuel 17:56 (LSB)

Passage

And the king said, “You inquire whose son the youth is.”

Nearby Context

1 Samuel 17:54 And David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his weapons in his tent.

1 Samuel 17:55 Now when Saul saw David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this young man?” And Abner said, “By your life, O king, I do not know.”

1 Samuel 17:56 And the king said, “You inquire whose son the youth is.”

1 Samuel 17:57 So when David returned from striking down the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the Philistine’s head in his hand.

1 Samuel 17:58 And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "king", "said", "inquire", "whose", and "youth". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "king" and "said", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 55's "Now when Saul saw David going out..." into verse 57's "So when David returned from striking down...", so "king" and "said" 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 "king" and "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.