1 Kings 3:16 (ASV)

Passage

Then there came two women that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.

Nearby Context

1 Kings 3:14 And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.

1 Kings 3:15 And Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream: and he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and offered up burnt-offerings, and offered peace-offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.

1 Kings 3:16 Then there came two women that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.

1 Kings 3:17 And the one woman said, Oh, my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.

1 Kings 3:18 And it came to pass the third day after 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.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "came", "women", "harlots", "king", "stood", and "before". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "came" and "women", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "And Solomon awoke and behold it was..." into verse 17's "And the one woman said Oh my...", so "came" and "women" 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 "came" and "women" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.