1 Kings 3:17 (WEB)

Passage

The one woman said, “Oh, my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house. I delivered a child with her in the house.

Nearby Context

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

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

1 Kings 3:17 The one woman said, “Oh, my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house. I delivered a child with her in the house.

1 Kings 3:18 The third day after I delivered, this woman delivered also. We were together. There was no stranger with us in the house, just us two in the house.

1 Kings 3:19 This woman’s child died in the night, because she lay on it.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "woman", "said", "lord", "dwell", "house", "delivered", and "child". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "woman" and "said", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 16's "Then two women who were prostitutes came..." into verse 18's "The third day after I delivered this...", so "woman" and "said" 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 "woman" and "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.