1 Kings 3:21

21 The next morning when I got up to feed my baby, I saw that he was dead! When I looked at him more closely, I realized he was not my son."

1 Kings 3:21 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 3:21

And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck
As she used to do: behold, it was dead;
her own child, as she thought at first: but when I had considered it in the morning;
it was towards morning, or just at break of day, when she arose to suckle it, and found it dead: but when it was broad day, and the light of the morning was increased, she more narrowly viewed it, and by its features, or some marks she had observed; behold, it was not my son which I did bear:
she was fully satisfied it was not her own child, but another.

1 Kings 3:21 In-Context

19 One night this woman rolled over on her baby, and he died.

20 So she took my son from my bed during the night while I was asleep, and she carried him to her bed. Then she put the dead baby in my bed.

21 The next morning when I got up to feed my baby, I saw that he was dead! When I looked at him more closely, I realized he was not my son."

22 "No!" the other woman cried. "The living baby is my son, and the dead baby is yours!" But the first woman said, "No! The dead baby is yours, and the living one is mine!" So the two women argued before the king.

23 Then King Solomon said, "One of you says, 'My son is alive and your son is dead.' Then the other one says, 'No! Your son is dead and my son is alive.'"