And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.
And the king said, Fetch me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.
And the king saith, `Take for me a sword;' and they bring the sword before the king,
And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.
1 Kings — From Solomon's glory to the divided kingdom — then Elijah's confrontation with Ahab and Jezebel dominating the second half. The promise of the Davidic covenant unfolding through temple glory, then beginning to unravel as idolatry and political fragmentation take hold.
Voices3
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.
Jerome· Letter 74, 420patristic
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."
John Cassian· CONFERENCE 17.25, 435patristic
And the king said, bring me a sword,.... The design of which might not at first appear to the court, and it might be thought strange, and greatly wondered at: what should be the meaning of it: and they brought a sword before the king; his commands were obeyed.
John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)reformed
