1 Samuel 20:36

36 And he saith to his youth, `Run, find, I pray thee, the arrows which I am shooting;' the youth is running, and he hath shot the arrow, causing [it] 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 And Jonathan riseth from the table in the heat of anger, and hath not eaten food on the second day of the new moon, for he hath been grieved for David, for his father put him to shame.

35 And it cometh to pass in the morning, that Jonathan goeth out into the field for the appointment with David, and a little youth [is] with him.

36 And he saith to his youth, `Run, find, I pray thee, the arrows which I am shooting;' the youth is running, and he hath shot the arrow, causing [it] to pass over him.

37 And the youth cometh unto the place of the arrow which Jonathan hath shot, and Jonathan calleth after the youth, and saith, `Is not the arrow beyond thee?'

38 and Jonathan calleth after the youth, `Speed, haste, stand not;' and Jonathan's youth gathereth the arrows, and cometh unto his lord.