1 Kings 3:26

26 The real mother, her heart full of love for her son, said to the king, "Please, Your Majesty, don't kill the child! Give it to her!" But the other woman said, "Don't give it to either of us; go on and cut it in two."

1 Kings 3:26 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 3:26

Then spake the woman, whose the living child [was], unto the
king
In haste, and with great vehemency, lest the executioner should at once dispatch it:

(for her bowels yearned upon her son);
not being able to bear to see his life taken away:

and she said, O my lord:
or, "on me F17, my lord"; let the sin, the lie that I have told, be on me, and the punishment of it; she rather chose to be reckoned a liar, and to endure any punishment such an offence deserved, than that her child should be cut asunder:

give her the living child, and in no wise slay it;
being willing to part with her interest in it, rather than it should be put to death:

but the other said, let it be neither mine nor thine, [but] divide
[it];
for as she knew it was not her own, she had no affection for it, nor desire to have it; chose rather to be clear of the expense of keeping and nursing it, and would, by its being put to death, be avenged of her adversary, who had brought this cause before the king.


FOOTNOTES:

F17 (yb) "in me", Montanus; so Abarbinel.

1 Kings 3:26 In-Context

24 He sent for a sword, and when it was brought,
25 he said, "Cut the living child in two and give each woman half of it."
26 The real mother, her heart full of love for her son, said to the king, "Please, Your Majesty, don't kill the child! Give it to her!" But the other woman said, "Don't give it to either of us; go on and cut it in two."
27 Then Solomon said, "Don't kill the child! Give it to the first woman - she is its real mother."
28 When the people of Israel heard of Solomon's decision, they were all filled with deep respect for him, because they knew then that God had given him the wisdom to settle disputes fairly.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.