1 Samuel 17:56 (WEB)

Passage

The king said, “Inquire whose son the young man is!”

Nearby Context

1 Samuel 17:54 David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armor in his tent.

1 Samuel 17:55 When Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the captain of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?” Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I can’t tell.”

1 Samuel 17:56 The king said, “Inquire whose son the young man is!”

1 Samuel 17:57 As David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.

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

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "king", "said", "inquire", "whose", and "young". 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 "When Saul saw David go out against..." into verse 57's "As David returned from the slaughter of...", 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.