1 Kings 3:20 (WEB)

Passage

She arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while your servant slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.

Nearby Context

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.

1 Kings 3:20 She arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while your servant slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.

1 Kings 3:21 When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, it was dead; but when I had looked at it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, whom I bore.”

1 Kings 3:22 The other woman said, “No; but the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son.” The first one said, “No; but the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son.” Thus they spoke before the king.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "arose", "midnight", "took", "beside", "servant", "slept", "laid", and "bosom". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "arose" and "midnight", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 19's "This woman s child died in the..." into verse 21's "When I rose in the morning to...", so "arose" and "midnight" 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 "arose" and "midnight" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.