1 Kings 3:19 (YLT)

Passage

And the son of this woman dieth at night, because she hath lain upon it,

Nearby Context

1 Kings 3:17 and the one woman saith, `O, my lord, I and this woman are dwelling in one house, and I bring forth with her, in the house;

1 Kings 3:18 and it cometh to pass on the third day of my bringing forth, that this woman also bringeth forth, and we <FI>are<Fi> together, there is no stranger with us in the house, save we two, in the house.

1 Kings 3:19 And the son of this woman dieth at night, because she hath lain upon it,

1 Kings 3:20 and she riseth in the middle of the night, and taketh my son from beside me--and thy handmaid is asleep--and layeth it in her bosom, and her dead son she hath laid in my bosom;

1 Kings 3:21 and I rise in the morning to suckle my son, and lo, dead; and I consider concerning it in the morning, and lo, it was not my son whom I did bear.'

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "woman", "dieth", "night", "hath", "lain", and "upon". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "woman" and "dieth", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 18's "and it cometh to pass on the..." into verse 20's "and she riseth in the middle of...", so "woman" and "dieth" 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 "dieth" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.