1 Kings 3:16 (DRB)

Passage

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

Nearby Context

1 Kings 3:14 And if thou wilt walk in my ways, and keep my precepts and my commandments, as thy father walked, I will lengthen thy days.

1 Kings 3:15 And Solomon awaked, and perceived that it was a dream: and when he was come to Jerusalem, he stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered holocausts, and sacrificed victims of peace offerings, and made a great feast for all his servants.

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

1 Kings 3:17 And one of them said: I beseech thee, my lord, I and this woman dwelt in one house, and I was delivered of a child with her in the chamber.

1 Kings 3:18 And the third day after I was delivered, she also was delivered; and we were together, and no other person with us in the house; only we two.

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 awaked and perceived that it..." into verse 17's "And one of them said I beseech...", 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.