1 Kings 3:22 (DBY)

Passage

And the other woman said, No, for the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this one said, No, but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spoke before the king.

Nearby Context

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

1 Kings 3:21 And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead; and I considered it in the morning, and behold, it was not my son, whom I bore.

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

1 Kings 3:23 Then said the king, The one says, This that is living is my son, and thy son is the dead; and the other says, No, for thy son is the dead, and my son is the living.

1 Kings 3:24 And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "other", "woman", "said", "living", and "dead". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "other" and "woman", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 21's "And when I rose in the morning..." into verse 23's "Then said the king The one says...", so "other" and "woman" 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 "other" and "woman" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.