1 Samuel 17:24 (YLT)

Passage

and all the men of Israel when they see the man flee from his presence, and are greatly afraid.

Nearby Context

1 Samuel 17:22 And David letteth down the goods from off him on the hand of a keeper of the goods, and runneth into the rank, and cometh and asketh of his brethren of welfare.

1 Samuel 17:23 And he is speaking with them, and lo, a man of the duellists is coming up, Goliath the Philistine <FI>is<Fi> his name, of Gath, out of the ranks of the Philistines, and he speaketh according to those words, and David heareth;

1 Samuel 17:24 and all the men of Israel when they see the man flee from his presence, and are greatly afraid.

1 Samuel 17:25 And the men of Israel say, `Have ye seen this man who is coming up? for, to reproach Israel he is coming up, and it hath been--the man who smiteth him, the king doth enrich him with great riches, and his daughter he doth give to him, and his father's house doth make free in Israel.'

1 Samuel 17:26 And David speaketh unto the men who are standing by him, saying, `What is done to the man who smiteth this Philistine, and hath turned aside reproach from Israel? for who <FI>is<Fi> this uncircumcised Philistine that he hath reproached the ranks of the living God?'

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "israel", "flee", "presence", "greatly", and "afraid". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "israel" and "flee", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 23's "And he is speaking with them and..." into verse 25's "And the men of Israel say Have...", so "israel" and "flee" 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 "israel" and "flee" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.