‘In addition to making a new bow, Nephi also makes a new arrow. But his bow broke, not his arrows. Why does he make an arrow? David S. Fox suggests:

Consider what happens to an arrow at the instant the string is released: the full force of the drawn string is applied to the end of the arrow, trying to accelerate it, but also tending to bend or buckle the arrow. If the bow’s draw weight and the arrow’s stiffness are not perfectly matched, the arrow will stray off the intended course or fall short of the mark. An arrow that is too flexible will leave the bow with a vibration that can cause the arrow to behave erratically. On the other hand, an arrow that is too stiff is probably too heavy for the bow.

Nephi’s steel bow likely used heavier, stiffer arrows than his simply fashioned wooden bow could handle. Nephi was physically large (see 1 Ne. 2:16, 4:31), and he would have had little reason to use a bow made from metal if he did not have considerable strength. The arrows to match the steel bow used by such a man would undoubtedly have been quite heavy in order for them to be of adequate stiffness. One experienced archer reports, “The arrows from the steel bow when shot from the wooden bow would be like shooting telephone poles.” Hence, it is accurate that Nephi should mention, in one and the same breath, the fact that he made an arrow as well as a bow. Bow wood and arrow wood from the same tree or area could be matched as well.

Potter and Wellington confirmed that arrows were made from the wild olive tree in Dhofar.

Nephi also armed himself with a sling and stones, a weapon suitable for smaller game like hare. Arrows would be required for the larger antelope, gazelle, or oryx. If Nephi made only a single arrow, his faith in Yahweh’s guidance would have been tremendous, as he allowed for no error. However, this might be a linguistic convention, and we should probably be cautious about reading too much into the mention of an “arrow,” rather than “arrows.” Because he kills multiple “beasts” (v. 31–32), he probably had more than a single arrow.’ (Brant Gardner, Second Witness – Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon)