1 Samuel 17:53 (YLT)

Passage

and the sons of Israel turn back from burning after the Philistines, and spoil their camps.

Nearby Context

1 Samuel 17:51 and David runneth and standeth over the Philistine, and taketh his sword, and draweth it out of its sheath, and putteth him to death, and cutteth off with it his head; and the Philistines see that their hero <FI>is<Fi> dead, and flee.

1 Samuel 17:52 And the men of Israel rise--also Judah--and shout, and pursue the Philistines till thou enter the valley, and unto the gates of Ekron, and the wounded of the Philistines fall in the way of Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron,

1 Samuel 17:53 and the sons of Israel turn back from burning after the Philistines, and spoil their camps.

1 Samuel 17:54 And David taketh the head of the Philistine, and bringeth it in to Jerusalem, and his weapons he hath put in his own tent.

1 Samuel 17:55 And when Saul seeth David going out to meet the Philistine, he hath said unto Abner, head of the host, `Whose son <FI>is<Fi> this--the youth, Abner?' and Abner saith, `Thy soul liveth, O king, I have not known.'

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sons", "israel", "turn", "back", "burning", "after", "philistines", and "spoil". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sons" and "israel", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 52's "And the men of Israel rise--also Judah--and..." into verse 54's "And David taketh the head of the...", so "sons" and "israel" 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 "sons" and "israel" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.