1 Kings 3:27 (WEB)

Passage

Then the king answered, “Give her the living child, and definitely do not kill him. She is his mother.”

Nearby Context

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

1 Kings 3:26 Then the woman whose the living child was spoke to the king, for her heart yearned over her son, and she said, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and in no way kill him!” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours. Divide him.”

1 Kings 3:27 Then the king answered, “Give her the living child, and definitely do not kill him. She is his mother.”

1 Kings 3:28 All Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king; for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do justice.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "king", "answered", "give", "living", "child", "definitely", "kill", and "mother". 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 "Then the woman whose the living child..." into verse 28's "All Israel heard of 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.