1 Samuel 20:20
New International Version
I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I were shooting at a target.

New Living Translation
I will come out and shoot three arrows to the side of the stone pile as though I were shooting at a target.

English Standard Version
And I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark.

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

King James Bible
And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof, as though I shot at a mark.

New King James Version
Then I will shoot three arrows to the side, as though I shot at a target;

New American Standard Bible
And I will shoot three arrows to the side, as though I shot at a target.

NASB 1995
“I will shoot three arrows to the side, as though I shot at a target.

NASB 1977
“And I will shoot three arrows to the side, as though I shot at a target.

Legacy Standard Bible
And I will shoot three arrows to the side, as though I sent them towards a target.

Amplified Bible
I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a target.

Christian Standard Bible
I will shoot three arrows beside it as if I’m aiming at a target.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
I will shoot three arrows beside it as if I’m aiming at a target.

American Standard Version
And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof, as though I shot at a mark.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And, behold, I will direct to shoot three arrows to set a target

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And I will shoot three arrows, aiming them at a mark.

Contemporary English Version
I'll shoot three arrows at a target off to the side of the rock,

Douay-Rheims Bible
And I will shoot three arrows near it, and will shoot as if I were exercising myself at a mark.

English Revised Version
And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof, as though I shot at a mark.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
I will shoot three arrows from beside it toward a target.

Good News Translation
I will then shoot three arrows at it, as though it were a target.

International Standard Version
I'll shoot three arrows to the side of the rock as though I were shooting at a target.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And I will shoot three arrows to the side-ward, as though I shot at a mark.

Literal Standard Version
And I shoot three of the arrows at the side, sending out at a mark for myself;

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

New American Bible
On the third day of the month I will shoot arrows to the side of it, as though aiming at a target.

NET Bible
I will shoot three arrows near it, as though I were shooting at a target.

New Revised Standard Version
I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark.

New Heart English Bible
And as for me, on the third day I will shoot arrows to its side, as though I shot at a mark.

Webster's Bible Translation
And I will shoot three arrows on the side of it, as though I shot at a mark.

World English Bible
I will shoot three arrows on its side, as though I shot at a mark.

Young's Literal Translation
'And I shoot three of the arrows at the side, sending out for myself at a mark;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Jonathan and David Renew Their Covenant
19When you have stayed three days, hurry down to the place you hid on the day this trouble began, and remain beside the stone Ezel. 20I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as if I were aiming at a target. 21Then 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.…

Cross References
1 Samuel 20:19
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.

1 Samuel 20:21
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.

1 Samuel 20:36
He said to the boy, "Run and find the arrows I shoot." And as the boy ran, Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him.


Treasury of Scripture

And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof, as though I shot at a mark.

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Arrows Bow Mark Sending Shoot Shooting Shot Side Target Thereof Third Three
1 Samuel 20
1. David consults with Jonathan for his safety
11. Jonathan and David renew their covenant by oath
18. Jonathan's token to David
23. Saul, missing David, seeks to kill Jonathan
35. Jonathan affectionately takes his leave of David














(20) I will shoot three arrows.--The two friends agree on a sign. It was a very simple one, and seems to speak of very early primitive times. Jonathan slightly varies from his original purpose. In 1Samuel 20:12 it seems as though he meant to have sent a special messenger had the news been good, but now the arrangement is that in either event he should come himself out from the city into the solitary valley where it was agreed David should remain in hiding by the stone "Ezel." Dean Payne Smith rather strangely conceives that the arrows of the "sign" were to be aimed at the stone Ezel, but the description points to the "mark" as situated on the side of "Ezel," in or behind which David was to be concealed.

The prince agreed that after the feast he would leave the city, as though about to practise shooting at a mark, and that he would bring with him a servant--probably-one of his young armour-bearers--when, at the spot agreed upon in the neighbourhood of David's place of concealment near Ezel, he would post his servant in his place as marker, and then would shoot. After shooting, he would call out to his attendant, "the arrows are on this side of thee" (that is, between the mark and Jonathan himself), then David would know all was well; but if he cried "the arrows are beyond thee," that is, on the further side of the mark, David would understand that all was over, and that he must fly. Jonathan evidently took these precautions not knowing whether or no he would be accompanied by friends of his father from the city, in which case the "sign" agreed upon would be sufficient to tell David what had happened at the feast. As it turned out, Jonathan was able to escape observation, and to go alone with his servant to the place of meeting. He used the sign to attract his friend's attention, and then followed the last sorrowful parting, told in 1Samuel 20:41-42.

Verses 20-23. - The two friends now agree upon the sign. Jonathan was to shoot three arrows at this stone, Ezel, as his mark, and was then to send his servant to gather them up. When he bad gone some distance Jonathan was to shout to him, loud enough for David to hear. If Jonathan said that the arrows were on that side the mark, i.e. between it and Jonathan, David was to come forth boldly, as all was well. But if Jonathan said that the arrows were further on, then David must understand that he was to seek safety in flight. For there is peace to thee, and no hurt, the Hebrew has "there is peace to thee, and it is nothing," a simpler and more idiomatic rendering. As touching the matter, etc. Rather, "As for the word that we have spoken, I and thou, behold, Jehovah is between me and thee forever." The word was the bond and covenant by which they had pledged their truth to one another. Though separated, their love was to continue, and Jehovah was to be their eternal centre of union, and the witness to their covenant.



Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
I
וַאֲנִ֕י (wa·’ă·nî)
Conjunctive waw | Pronoun - first person common singular
Strong's 589: I

will shoot
אוֹרֶ֑ה (’ō·w·reh)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - first person common singular
Strong's 3384: To flow as water, to lay, throw, to point out, to teach

three
שְׁלֹ֥שֶׁת (šə·lō·šeṯ)
Number - masculine singular construct
Strong's 7969: Three, third, thrice

arrows
הַחִצִּ֖ים (ha·ḥiṣ·ṣîm)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 2678: An arrow

to the side of it,
צִדָּ֣ה (ṣid·dāh)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person feminine singular
Strong's 6654: A side, an adversary

as if I were aiming
לְשַֽׁלַּֽח־ (lə·šal·laḥ-)
Preposition-l | Verb - Piel - Infinitive construct
Strong's 7971: To send away, for, out

at a target.
לְמַטָּרָֽה׃ (lə·maṭ·ṭā·rāh)
Preposition-l | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 4307: A guard, ward, prison, target, mark


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OT History: 1 Samuel 20:20 I will shoot three arrows on its (1Sa iSam 1 Sam i sa)
1 Samuel 20:19
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