1 Kings 3:21

21 The next morning, when I woke up and was going to nurse my baby, I saw that it was dead. I looked at it more closely and saw that it was not my child."

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 Then one night she accidentally rolled over on her baby and smothered it.

20 She got up during the night, took my son from my side while I was asleep, and carried him to her bed; then she put the dead child in my bed.

21 The next morning, when I woke up and was going to nurse my baby, I saw that it was dead. I looked at it more closely and saw that it was not my child."

22 But the other woman said, "No! The living child is mine, and the dead one is yours!" The first woman answered back, "No! The dead child is yours, and the living one is mine!" And so they argued before the king.

23 Then King Solomon said, "Each of you claims that the living child is hers and that the dead child belongs to the other one."