1 Kings 3:27 BSB — MannaFest

1 Kings 3:27

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.”

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

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

KJV

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

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Commentary

3 voices

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)

Then the king answered and said, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it,.... That is, to her who desired it might not be slain, but rather be given to her who had no right to it: she is the mother thereof; which might be strongly concluded from her compassion for it, her eagerness and earnestness to have its life spared, and from the indifference of the other, yea, from her cruelty and barbarity in moving to have it divided.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

John Cassian

CONFERENCE 17.25 (435)

What about Solomon, who in his first judgment manifested the gift of wisdom, which he had received of God, only by making use of falsehood? For in order to get at the truth which was hidden by the woman's lie, even he used the help of a lie most cunningly invented, saying: "Bring me a sword and divide the living child into two parts, and give the one half to the one and the other half to the other."

Jerome

Letter 74 (420)

The interpretation of Solomon's judgment on the quarrel of two harlot women (1 Kings 3) is clear as far as the simple history is concerned: that a boy of twelve years judged with an affection beyond his age for the depths of human nature. Hence, he was both admired and feared by all Israel, because he would not miss what was so skillfully concealed.

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Original language & word study

13 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
וַיַּ֨עַן	vai.Ya.'an	and he answered	H6030 →
הַמֶּ֜לֶךְ	ha.Me.lekh	the king	H4428 →
וַיֹּ֗אמֶר	vai.Yo.mer	and he said	H559 →
תְּנוּ־	te.nu-	give	H5414 →
לָהּ֙	lah	to her
אֶת־	'et-	<obj.>	H853 →
הַיָּל֣וּד	hai.ya.Lud	the child	H3205 →
הַחַ֔י	ha.Chai	<the> living	H2416 →
וְהָמֵ֖ת	ve.ha.Met	and certainly <to kill>	H4191 →
לֹ֣א	lo'	not	H3808 →
תְמִיתֻ֑הוּ	te.mi.Tu.hu	you must kill him	H4191 →
הִ֖יא	hi'	she	H1931 →
אִמּֽוֹ׃	'i.Mo	[is] mother his	H517 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

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On 1 Kings 3:27

Solomon and the Two Mothers — 1 Kings 3

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The Judgment of Solomon — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

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01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About 1 Kings

The record, by era

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About 1 Kings