1 Kings 3:24 (DRB)

Passage

The king therefore said: Bring me a sword. And when they had brought a sword before the king,

Nearby Context

1 Kings 3:22 And the other woman answered: It is not so as thou sayest, but thy child is dead, and mine is alive. On the contrary, she said; Thou liest: for my child liveth, and thy child is dead. And in this manner they strove before the king.

1 Kings 3:23 Then said the king: The one saith, My child is alive, and thy child is dead. And the other answereth: Nay; but thy child is dead, and mine liveth.

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

1 Kings 3:25 Divide, said he, the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.

1 Kings 3:26 But the woman, whose child was alive, said to the king; (for her bowels were moved upon her child) I beseech thee, my lord, give her the child alive, and do not kill it. But the other said: Let it be neither mine nor thine; but divide it.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "king", "therefore", "said", "bring", "sword", "brought", and "before". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "king" and "therefore", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 23's "Then said the king The one saith..." into verse 25's "Divide said he the living child in...", so "king" and "therefore" 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 "king" and "therefore" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.