1 Kings 3:22

22 The other woman said, "No! My son is alive--your son is dead." The first woman kept on saying, "No! Your son is dead--my son is alive." So they argued 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 So she got up during the night and took my son, who was beside me, while I was asleep. She held him in her arms. Then she laid her dead son in my arms.

21 When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, he was dead! I took a good look at him and realized that he wasn't my son at all!"

22 The other woman said, "No! My son is alive--your son is dead." The first woman kept on saying, "No! Your son is dead--my son is alive." So they argued in front of the king.

23 The king said, "This one keeps saying, 'My son is alive--your son is dead,' and that one keeps saying, 'No! Your son is dead--my son is alive.'"

24 So the king told his servants to bring him a sword. When they brought it,