And I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark.
David is hiding in a field, and Saul's real intentions are still untested. A bow, three arrows and a boy must now carry one message across open ground — was that plan faith, or fear?
A signal hidden in plain sight
Jonathan could not meet David openly, so he chose a cover that no one would question.
Leslie M. GrantJonathan expected David's absence to show on the first day of the new moon. Even so, Saul would make no issue of it until later. So he arranges with David that he should be present at the stone Ezel, hidden, on the third day. On that day Jonathan would come to that area with bow and arrows, and a young boy with him. Practising archery like this was quite normal. It would raise no suspicion among the people.
What each arrow was to mean
The arrows themselves carried no message. The message was in where they fell, and in the words Jonathan would shout to the boy.
Leslie M. GrantIn sending a boy to find three arrows, Jonathan would shoot them either short of where the boy was or beyond him. If short, he would call out to the boy that the arrows were on this side of him. This would show that Saul's plans against David stopped short of wanting to kill him. But if he called out that the arrows were beyond the boy, the message was different. Saul would not stop short of killing David, given the chance. In that case the only wise course would be for David to leave.
The boy who carried the arrows and knew nothing
Two people heard Jonathan's shout. The boy picked up the arrows and understood nothing. David, hidden behind the stone, understood everything. One writer links this to the Lord's own contrast between servants and friends.
William KellyOn John 15:15 — compare Luke 12:4, where the Lord had already called the disciples His "friends." Jonathan and his attendant (1 Sam. 20) show the striking difference between a "friend" and a "servant." The difference lies in what each one is told.
Careful planning, but not the highest ground
David's safety now depended on a piece of play-acting.
Samuel RidoutSo the plan is arranged — another trick. Jonathan is to pretend that he is practising his marksmanship.
The same writer then weighs the plan, and his verdict has two sides.
Samuel RidoutThere seems a certain lack of dignity about it all, which may not fully agree with a strong faith; and yet we must be slow to condemn. It shows, however, how dangerous David's position was, and how few his helpers were.
God's use of a very human arrangement
The plan was meant to answer one question. God used it to train David's heart.
The Bible TreasuryBut God graciously uses this to discipline David's heart. In time faith leads him out beyond the region of fears and alarms. It leads him to walk with God in the calm security of His presence, wherever God may lead. If He is for us, who can be against us? The bow, the arrows, the field and the boy all mean what the arranged signals say they mean — signals that flesh and blood can understand.
Where the arrow left each man standing
When the arrow flew past the boy, it did more than warn David. It sent the two friends down different roads.
F. W. GrantJonathan has to see Saul's hatred of David for himself. This is not a passing fit of madness. It is a malignant spirit, ready to sacrifice Jonathan himself once more for standing in the way of its stubborn pride. He has to accept David's departure, for the arrow does not fall within the limit of safety for him. So they part. Jonathan goes to position and honour, and then to the fatal battle at Gilboa. David goes through present suffering and rejection to a throne. We find our own appointed path here too: "if we endure, we will also reign with Him."
Jonathan's love was genuine, but one writer marks the limit it never crossed.
W. W. FeredayJonathan would strip himself for David; he would speak up for him; he would kiss him; but he was not willing to share his rejection. So the one went where he could, to the hillside and the cave, and the other returned to the comforts of the city.
Summary
- Hidden — David waits unseen by the stone Ezel. The archery practice is a cover, so one message can cross open ground without raising suspicion.
- Shot — three arrows, and the code is in their landing: short of the boy means safety, beyond him means flee.
- Heard — the boy runs and understands nothing. David hears the same words and understands everything. That is the difference between a servant and a friend.
- Weighed — commentators say the plan lacks the dignity of strong faith, yet they urge us to be slow to condemn. God used it to lead David beyond fear into calm dependence on Him.
- Parted — the arrow fell beyond the boy, and the roads divided. Jonathan went to honour and to Gilboa. David went through rejection to a throne. That is the path of all who endure with Christ and will reign with Him.