1 Samuel 20:36

36 He said to his servant, "Run, please find the arrows that I am shooting!" The boy ran, and he shot the arrow to pass [over] him.

1 Samuel 20:36 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 20:36

And he said unto his lad, run, find out now the arrows which
I shoot
He no doubt told him the mark which he should shoot at, the stone Ezel, and bid him look out about that for them:

[and] as the lad ran;
before he had got to the mark:

he shot an arrow beyond him:
or it; beyond the lad, or beyond the mark he shot at; purposely shooting with great strength, that he might exceed, and thereby give notice to David how things stood, which was the sign agreed on.

1 Samuel 20:36 In-Context

34 Jonathan got up from the table {enraged}, and did not eat on the second day of the new moon because he was upset about David, because his father had disgraced him.

35 {And then} in the morning Jonathan went out to the field for the appointment with David, and a young boy [was] with him.

36 He said to his servant, "Run, please find the arrows that I am shooting!" The boy ran, and he shot the arrow to pass [over] him.

37 When the boy came up to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called out after the boy and said, "[Is] not the arrow {beyond you}?"

38 Then Jonathan called out after the boy, "Quick, hurry, do not linger!" And Jonathan's servant collected the arrows and came to his master.

Footnotes

• [a] Or "boy"
• [b] Or "servant"