1 Kings 3:20 (KJV)

Passage

And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.

Nearby Context

1 Kings 3:18 And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house.

1 Kings 3:19 And this woman’s child died in the night; because she overlaid it.

1 Kings 3:20 And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.

1 Kings 3:21 And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear.

1 Kings 3:22 And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "arose", "midnight", "took", "beside", "thine", "handmaid", "slept", and "laid". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "arose" and "midnight", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 19's "And this woman s child died in..." into verse 21's "And when I rose in the morning...", so "arose" and "midnight" belong inside that flow. In 1 Kings context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "arose" and "midnight" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.