1 Kings 3:16-28
New English Translation
Solomon Demonstrates His Wisdom
16 Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 17 One of the women said, “My master, this woman and I live in the same house. I had a baby while she was with me in the house. 18 Then three days after I had my baby, this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one else in the house except the two of us.[a] 19 This woman’s child suffocated[b] during the night when she rolled[c] on top of him. 20 She got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side, while your servant was sleeping. She put him in her arms, and put her dead son in my arms. 21 I got up in the morning to nurse my son, and there[d] he was, dead! But when I examined him carefully in the morning, I realized it was not my baby.”[e] 22 The other woman said, “No! My son is alive; your son is dead!” But the first woman replied, “No, your son is dead; my son is alive.” Each presented her case before the king.[f]
23 The king said, “One says, ‘My son is alive; your son is dead,’ while the other says, ‘No, your son is dead; my son is alive.’” 24 The king ordered, “Get me a sword.” So they placed a sword before the king. 25 The king then said, “Cut the living child in two, and give half to one and half to the other!” 26 The real mother[g] spoke up to the king, for her motherly instincts were awakened.[h] She said, “My master, give her the living child! Whatever you do, don’t kill him!”[i] But the other woman said, “Neither one of us will have him. Let them cut him in two!” 27 The king responded, “Give the first woman the living child; don’t kill him. She is the mother.” 28 When all Israel heard about the judicial decision which the king had rendered, they respected[j] the king, for they realized[k] that he possessed divine wisdom[l] to make judicial decisions.
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- 1 Kings 3:18 sn There was no one else in the house except the two of us. In other words, there were no other witnesses to the births who could identify which child belonged to which mother.
- 1 Kings 3:19 tn Heb “died.”
- 1 Kings 3:19 tn Heb “lay, slept.”
- 1 Kings 3:21 tn Heb “look.”
- 1 Kings 3:21 tn Heb “look, it was not my son to whom I had given birth.”
- 1 Kings 3:22 tn Heb “they spoke before the king.” Another option is to translate, “they argued before the king.”
- 1 Kings 3:26 tn Heb “the woman whose son was alive.”
- 1 Kings 3:26 tn Heb “for her compassions grew warm for her son.”
- 1 Kings 3:26 tn The infinitive absolute before the negated jussive emphasizes the main verb.
- 1 Kings 3:28 tn Heb “feared,” perhaps in the sense, “stood in awe of.”
- 1 Kings 3:28 tn Heb “saw.”
- 1 Kings 3:28 tn Heb “the wisdom of God was in his midst for performing justice.” The phrase “wisdom of God” may be taken as an attributive genitive, “divine wisdom,” or as a genitive of source, “wisdom from God.” Even in English they are basically the same, since wisdom from God is divine in character.
1 Kings 3:16-28
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 The third day after I delivered, 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 servant 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 one is my son, and the dead one is your son.”
The first one said, “No; but the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son.” They argued like this before the king.
23 Then the king said, “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.” So 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 him!”
But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours. Divide him.”
27 Then the king answered, “Give her the living child, and definitely do not kill him. She is his 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.
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