1 Samuel 17:34 (YLT)

Passage

And David saith unto Saul, `A shepherd hath thy servant been to his father among the sheep, and the lion hath come--and the bear--and hath taken away a sheep out of the drove,

Nearby Context

1 Samuel 17:32 and David saith unto Saul, `Let no man's heart fall because of him, thy servant doth go, and hath fought with this Philistine.'

1 Samuel 17:33 And Saul saith unto David, `Thou art not able to go unto this Philistine, to fight with him, for a youth thou <FI>art<Fi> , and he a man of war from his youth.'

1 Samuel 17:34 And David saith unto Saul, `A shepherd hath thy servant been to his father among the sheep, and the lion hath come--and the bear--and hath taken away a sheep out of the drove,

1 Samuel 17:35 and I have gone out after him, and smitten him, and delivered out of his mouth, and he riseth against me, and I have taken hold on his beard, and smitten him, and put him to death.

1 Samuel 17:36 Both the lion and the bear hath thy servant smitten, and this uncircumcised Philistine hath been as one of them, for he hath reproached the ranks of the living God.'

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sheep", "david", "saith", "saul", "shepherd", "hath", "servant", and "been". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sheep" and "david", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 33's "And Saul saith unto David Thou art..." into verse 35's "and I have gone out after him...", so "sheep" and "david" 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 "sheep" and "david" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.