1 Kings 3:22

22 The other woman said, "No! My son is alive! Your son is the dead one." But the first woman objected, "No! Your son is dead! My son is alive!" In this way they argued back and forth in front of 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 She got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I was asleep. She laid him on her chest and laid her dead son on mine.

21 When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, he was dead! But when I looked more closely in the daylight, it turned out that it wasn't my son—not the baby I had birthed."

22 The other woman said, "No! My son is alive! Your son is the dead one." But the first woman objected, "No! Your son is dead! My son is alive!" In this way they argued back and forth in front of the king.

23 The king said, "This one says, ‘My son is alive and your son is dead.' The other one says, ‘No! Your son is dead and my son is alive.'

24 Get me a sword!" They brought a sword to the king.