1 Kings 3:16 (LSB)

Passage

Then two women who were harlots came to the king and stood before him.

Nearby Context

1 Kings 3:14 Now if you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments, as your father David walked, then I will prolong your days.”

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

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

1 Kings 3:17 And the one woman said, “Oh, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house; and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house.

1 Kings 3:18 And it happened on the third day after I gave birth, that this woman also gave birth to a child, and we were together. There was no stranger with us in the house, only the two of us in the house.

Study Lenses

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

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