1 Kings 3:27 (DRB)

Passage

The king answered, and said: Give the living child to this woman, and let it not be killed; for she is the mother thereof.

Nearby Context

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.

1 Kings 3:27 The king answered, and said: Give the living child to this woman, and let it not be killed; for she is the mother thereof.

1 Kings 3:28 And all Israel heard the judgment which the king had judged, and they feared the king, seeing that the wisdom of God was in him to do judgment.

Study Lenses

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

The nearby context moves from verse 26's "But the woman whose child was alive..." into verse 28's "And all Israel heard the judgment which...", so "king" and "answered" 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 "answered" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.