1 Kings 3:24

24 And the king said, "Bring me a sword." So a sword was brought before the king.

1 Kings 3:24 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 3:24

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.

1 Kings 3:24 In-Context

22 But the other woman said, "No, the living child is mine, and the dead child is yours." The first said, "No, the dead child is yours, and the living child is mine." Thus they spoke before the king.
23 Then the king said, "The one says, 'This is my son that is alive, and your son is dead'; and the other says, 'No; but your son is dead, and my son is the living one.'"
24 And the king said, "Bring me a sword." So a sword was brought 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."
26 Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, "Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means slay it." But the other said, "It shall be neither mine nor yours; divide it."
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.