1 Samuel 20:20

20 I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as if I were aiming at a target.

1 Samuel 20:20 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 20:20

And I will shoot three arrows on the side [thereof]
On the side of the stone Ezel; three are pitched upon, according to the number of the days David was missing:

as though I shot at a mark;
as if he made the stone the mark he shot at; so that his shooting would not be taken notice of.

1 Samuel 20:20 In-Context

18 Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon, and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty.

19 When you have stayed three days, hurry down to the place you hid on the day this trouble began, and remain beside the stone Ezel.

20 I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as if I were aiming at a target.

21 Then I will send a boy and say, ‘Go, find the arrows!’ Now, if I expressly say to him, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; bring them,’ then come, because as surely as the LORD lives, it is safe for you, and there is no danger.

22 But if I say to the young man, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then you must go, for the LORD has sent you away.