1 Kings 3:23

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.'

1 Kings 3:23 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 3:23

Then said the king
As judge, summing up what had been said on both sides, which were only bare assertions without proof; the one affirming what the other denied, and the other denying what the other affirmed: the one saith, this [is] my son that liveth, and thy son [is] the dead;
and the other saith nay; but thy son [is] the dead, and my son [is] the
living;
this he repeated to show to all present that no determination could be made by what had been said on each side, and that some other method must be taken.

1 Kings 3:23 In-Context

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,

25 and the king saith, `Cut the living child into two, and give the half to the one, and the half to the other.'