Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then two women who were prostitutes came to the king, and stood before him.
- BSB At that time two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.
- NKJV Now two women who were harlots came to the king, and stood before him.
- NASB Then two women who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.
- NLT Some time later two prostitutes came to the king to have an argument settled.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Two prostitutes come before Solomon with a dispute. The case becomes the first public test of his newly granted wisdom.
Overview
The narrative immediately illustrates Solomon's wisdom through a hard case brought by two women of low social standing. That the king hears even prostitutes shows justice available to all, not merely the powerful. The episode demonstrates in concrete life the discernment God had just promised, validating His gift before all Israel.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Exod 18:16When they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God, and his laws.
- Judg 11:1Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah.
- Josh 2:1And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there.
- Num 27:2And they stood before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes and all the congregation, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying,
- Lev 19:29Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness.
- Deut 23:17There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.
- Exod 18:13And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Solomon's glory, wisdom, and temple where God's presence dwells are a shadow of the greater Son of David — 'one greater than Solomon is here' — and of the true Temple, Christ himself.
How 1 Kings 3:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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