1 Kings 3:22

22 And the other woman saith, `Nay, but my son [is] the living, and thy son the dead;' and this [one] saith, `Nay, but thy son [is] the dead, and my son the living.' And they speak before the king.

1 Kings 3:22 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 3:22

And the other woman said
The defendant: nay, but the living [is] my son, and the dead [is] thy son;
she denied what the other said, but offered nothing in proof of it: and this said;
she who was the plaintiff replied in the same language: no: but the dead [is] thy son, and the living [is] my son;
without being able to add anything in confirmation of what she had deposed: thus they spake before the king;
several times, over and over again, what is before expressed, having nothing to produce on either side in proof of their assertions; so that it was very difficult to determine to whom the living child belonged.

1 Kings 3:22 In-Context

20 and she riseth in the middle of the night, and taketh my son from beside me -- and thy handmaid is asleep -- and layeth it in her bosom, and her dead son she hath laid in my bosom;

21 and I rise in the morning to suckle my son, and lo, dead; and I consider concerning it in the morning, and lo, it was not my son whom I did bear.'

22 And the other woman saith, `Nay, but my son [is] the living, and thy son the dead;' and this [one] saith, `Nay, but thy son [is] the dead, and my son the living.' And they speak before the king.

23 And the king saith, `This [one] saith, This [is] my son, the living, and thy son [is] the dead; and that [one] saith, Nay, but thy son [is] the dead, and my son the living.'

24 And the king saith, `Take for me a sword;' and they bring the sword before the king,