1 Kings 3:23

23 Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that is alive, and thy son is dead. And the other saith, No; but thy son is dead, and my son is alive.

1 Kings 3:23 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 3:23

Then said the king
As judge, summing up what had been said on both sides, which were only bare assertions without proof; the one affirming what the other denied, and the other denying what the other affirmed: 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;
this he repeated to show to all present that no determination could be made by what had been said on each side, and that some other method must be taken.

1 Kings 3:23 In-Context

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 had given birth to.

22 And the other woman said, No, but my son is alive, and thy son is dead. And this one said, No, but thy son is dead, and my son is alive. Thus they spoke before the king.

23 Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that is alive, and thy son is dead. And the other saith, No; but thy son is dead, and my son is alive.

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.