1 Samuel 20:21

21 Then I'll send the servant boy, saying, ‘Go retrieve the arrow.' If I yell to the boy, ‘Hey! The arrow is on this side of you. Get it!' then you can come out because it will be safe for you. There won't be any trouble—I make a pledge on the LORD's life.

1 Samuel 20:21 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 20:21

And, behold, I will send a lad
That attended on him, and carried his bow and arrows, and fetched his arrows when he had shot them:

[saying], go, find out the arrows;
where they are fallen, and return them:

if I expressly say unto the lad, behold, the arrows [are] on this side
of thee, take them;
on one side of him, whether the one or the other, which he would bid him take up, and bring them to him:

then come thou;
David, out of the place where he hid himself:

for [there is] peace to thee, and no hurt, [as] the Lord liveth;
he might appear, and not be afraid of being seen by any, since by this sign he might be assured that Saul was well affected to him, and would show him favour, and do him no injury; and that he might promise himself prosperity and safety, and be assured of it for the present.

1 Samuel 20:21 In-Context

19 The day after tomorrow, go all the way to the spot where you hid on the day of the incident, and stay close to that mound.
20 On the third day I will shoot an arrow to the side of the mound as if aiming at a target.
21 Then I'll send the servant boy, saying, ‘Go retrieve the arrow.' If I yell to the boy, ‘Hey! The arrow is on this side of you. Get it!' then you can come out because it will be safe for you. There won't be any trouble—I make a pledge on the LORD's life.
22 But if I yell to the young man, ‘Hey! The arrow is past you,' then run for it, because the LORD has sent you away.
23 Either way, the LORD is witness between us forever regarding the promise we made to each other."
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