VERSE STUDY • KJV

1 Kings 3:16-28

¹⁶ Then came there two women, [that were] harlots, unto the king, and stood before him. ¹⁷ And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house. ¹⁸ And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we [were] together; [there was] no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house. ¹⁹ And this woman’s child died in the night; because she overlaid it. ²⁰ And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. ²¹ And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear. ²² And the other woman said, Nay; but the living [is] my son, and the dead [is] thy son. And this said, No; but the dead [is] thy son, and the living [is] my son. Thus they spake before the king. ²³ Then said the king, The one saith, This [is] my son that liveth, and thy son [is] the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son [is] the dead, and my son [is] the living. ²⁴ And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. ²⁵ And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. ²⁶ Then spake the woman whose the living child [was] unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, [but] divide [it]. ²⁷ Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she [is] the mother thereof. ²⁸ And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God [was] in him, to do judgment.

Read it in 5 translations

KJV King James Version

¹⁶ Then came there two women, [that were] harlots, unto the king, and stood before him. ¹⁷ And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house. ¹⁸ And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we [were] together; [there was] no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house. ¹⁹ And this woman’s child died in the night; because she overlaid it. ²⁰ And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. ²¹ And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear. ²² And the other woman said, Nay; but the living [is] my son, and the dead [is] thy son. And this said, No; but the dead [is] thy son, and the living [is] my son. Thus they spake before the king. ²³ Then said the king, The one saith, This [is] my son that liveth, and thy son [is] the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son [is] the dead, and my son [is] the living. ²⁴ And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. ²⁵ And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. ²⁶ Then spake the woman whose the living child [was] unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, [but] divide [it]. ²⁷ Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she [is] the mother thereof. ²⁸ And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God [was] in him, to do judgment.

BSB Berean Standard Bible

¹⁶ At that time two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. ¹⁷ One woman said, “Please, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth while she was in the house. ¹⁸ On the third day after I gave birth, this woman also had a baby. We were alone, with no one in the house but the two of us. ¹⁹ During the night this woman’s son died because she rolled over on him. ²⁰ So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I was asleep. She laid him in her bosom and put her dead son at my bosom. ²¹ The next morning, when I got up to nurse my son, I discovered he was dead. But when I examined him, I realized that he was not the son I had borne.” ²² “No,” said the other woman, “the living one is my son and the dead one is your son.” But the first woman insisted, “No, the dead one is yours and the living one is mine.” So they argued before the king. ²³ Then the king replied, “This woman says, ‘My son is alive and yours is dead,’ but that woman says, ‘No, your son is dead and mine is alive.’” ²⁴ The king continued, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought him a sword, ²⁵ and the king declared, “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.” ²⁶ Then the woman whose son was alive spoke to the king because she yearned with compassion for her son. “Please, my lord,” she said, “give her the living baby. Do not kill him!” But the other woman said, “He will be neither mine nor yours. Cut him in two!” ²⁷ Then the king gave his ruling: “Give the living baby to the first woman. By no means should you kill him; she is his mother.” ²⁸ When all Israel heard of the judgment the king had given, they stood in awe of him, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.

WEB World English Bible

¹⁶ Then two women who were prostitutes came to the king, and stood before him. ¹⁷ The one woman said, “Oh, my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house. I delivered a child with her in the house. ¹⁸ It happened the third day after I delivered, that this woman delivered also. We were together. There was no stranger with us in the house, just us two in the house. ¹⁹ This woman’s child died in the night, because she lay on it. ²⁰ She arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while your handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. ²¹ When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, it was dead; but when I had looked at it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, whom I bore.” ²² The other woman said, “No; but the living is my son, and the dead is your son.” This said, “No; but the dead is your son, and the living is my son.” Thus they spoke before the king. ²³ Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son who lives, and your son is the dead;’ and the other says, ‘No; but your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’” ²⁴ The king said, “Get me a sword.” They brought a sword before the king. ²⁵ The king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.” ²⁶ Then the woman whose the living child was spoke to the king, for her heart yearned over her son, and she said, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and in no way kill it!” But the other said, “It shall be neither mine nor yours. Divide it.” ²⁷ Then the king answered, “Give her the living child, and in no way kill it. She is its mother.” ²⁸ All Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do justice.

ASV American Standard Version

¹⁶ Then there came two women that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him. ¹⁷ And the one woman said, Oh, my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house. ¹⁸ And it came to pass the third day after I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also; and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house. ¹⁹ And this woman’s child died in the night, because she lay upon it. ²⁰ And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thy handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. ²¹ And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead; but when I had looked at it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, whom I did bear. ²² And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king. ²³ Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living. ²⁴ And the king said, Fetch me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. ²⁵ And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. ²⁶ Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her heart yearned over her son, and she said, Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, It shall be neither mine nor thine; divide it. ²⁷ Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof. ²⁸ And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do justice.

YLT Young’s Literal Translation

¹⁶ then come in do two women, harlots, unto the king, and stand before him, ¹⁷ and the one woman saith, ‘O, my lord, I and this woman are dwelling in one house, and I bring forth with her, in the house; ¹⁸ and it cometh to pass on the third day of my bringing forth, that this woman also bringeth forth, and we are together, there is no stranger with us in the house, save we two, in the house. ¹⁹ And the son of this woman dieth at night, because she hath lain upon it, ²⁰ and she riseth in the middle of the night, and taketh my son from beside me—and thy handmaid is asleep—and layeth it in her bosom, and her dead son she hath laid in my bosom; ²¹ and I rise in the morning to suckle my son, and lo, dead; and I consider concerning it in the morning, and lo, it was not my son whom I did bear.’ ²² And the other woman saith, ‘Nay, but my son is the living, and thy son the dead;’ and this one saith, ‘Nay, but thy son is the dead, and my son the living.’ And they speak before the king. ²³ And the king saith, ‘This one saith, This is my son, the living, and thy son is the dead; and that one saith, Nay, but thy son is the dead, and my son the living.’ ²⁴ And the king saith, ‘Take for me a sword;’ and they bring the sword before the king, ²⁵ and the king saith, ‘Cut the living child into two, and give the half to the one, and the half to the other.’ ²⁶ And the woman whose son is the living one saith unto the king (for her bowels yearned over her son), yea, she saith, ‘O, my lord, give to her the living child, and put it not at all to death;’ and this one saith, ‘Let it be neither mine or thine—cut it.’ ²⁷ And the king answereth and saith, ‘Give ye to her the living child, and put it not at all to death; she is its mother.’ ²⁸ And all Israel hear of the judgment that the king hath judged, and fear because of the king, for they have seen that the wisdom of God is in his heart, to do judgment.

Surrounding context — 1 Kings 3

13 And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.

14 And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.

15 And Solomon awoke; and, behold, [it was] a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.

16 Then came there two women, [that were] harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.

17 And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.

18 And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we [were] together; [there was] no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house.

19 And this woman’s child died in the night; because she overlaid it.

20 And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.

21 And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear.

22 And the other woman said, Nay; but the living [is] my son, and the dead [is] thy son. And this said, No; but the dead [is] thy son, and the living [is] my son. Thus they spake before the king.

23 Then said the king, The one saith, This [is] my son that liveth, and thy son [is] the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son [is] the dead, and my son [is] the living.

24 And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.

25 And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.

26 Then spake the woman whose the living child [was] unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, [but] divide [it].

27 Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she [is] the mother thereof.

28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God [was] in him, to do judgment.

Read the whole chapter → · About 1 Kings →

HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION

Compare classic commentaries on 1 Kings 3:16-28

Put Matthew Henry, Adam Clarke, Calvin, Wesley, Barnes, Jamieson–Fausset–Brown, Aquinas’ Catena and other public-domain sources beside the passage.

Compare commentaries →