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And one woman said, “O my lord, this woman and I dwell in the same house; and I gave birth while she was in the house.
1 Kings 3:17 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB The one woman said, “Oh, my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house. I delivered a child with her in the house.
  • KJV And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.
  • BSB One woman said, “Please, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth while she was in the house.
  • NASB The one woman said, “Pardon me, my lord: this woman and I live in the same house; and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house.
  • NLT “Please, my lord,” one of them began, “this woman and I live in the same house. I gave birth to a baby while she was with me in the house.

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

One woman explains that she and the other live together and both recently gave birth. Her account sets up a dispute with no outside witnesses.

Overview

The first woman lays out the facts: two mothers under one roof, each having delivered a child. The absence of any third party means the truth cannot be settled by testimony alone. The scenario deliberately presents a case solvable only by genuine wisdom, the very gift God had given Solomon.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 2

  • Rom 13:7Therefore give everyone what you owe: if you owe taxes, pay taxes; if customs, then customs; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
  • Gen 43:20and said, “Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — 1 Kings videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on 1 Kings 3:17YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on 1 KingsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 3:17 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

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.