American Standard Version
1 Kings 3:16
16Then there came two women that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.
1 Kings 3:16 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.
- New International Version (NIV)Now two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Now two women who were harlots came to the king, and stood before him.
Context of 1 Kings 3:16
14And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days. 15And Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream: and he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and offered up burnt-offerings, and offered peace-offerings, and made a feast to all his servants. Then there came two women that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him. 17And the one woman said, Oh, my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house. 18And it came to pass the third day after I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also; and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house.
Read all of 1 Kings 31 Kings 3:16 word by word
אָ֣ז תָּבֹ֗אנָה שְׁתַּ֛יִם נָשִׁ֥ים זֹנ֖וֹת אֶל־הַמֶּ֑לֶךְ וַֽתַּעֲמֹ֖דְנָה לְפָנָֽיו׃Read the interlinear
Cross-references for 1 Kings 3:16
- Leviticus 19:29Profane not thy daughter, to make her a harlot; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness.
- Deuteronomy 23:17There shall be no prostitute of the daughters of Israel, neither shall there be a sodomite of the sons of Israel.
- Joshua 2:1And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men as spies secretly, saying, Go, view the land, and Jericho. And they went and came into the house of a harlot whose name was Rahab, and lay there.
- Judges 11:1Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, and he was the son of a harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah.
Commentaries on 1 Kings 3:16
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16Then came there two women - harlots - The word זנות zonoth, which we here, and in some other places, improperly translate harlots, is by the Chaldee (the best judge in this case) rendered פונדקין pundekayan, tavern-keepers. (See on Joshua 2:1; (note)). If these had been harlots, it is not likely they would have dared to appear before Solomon; and if they had been common women, it is not likely they would have had children; nor is it likely that such…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 16-28Verses 16-28 An instance of Solomon's wisdom is given. Notice the difficulty of the case. To find out the true mother, he could not try which the child loved best, and therefore tried which loved the child best: the mother's sincerity will be tried, when the child is in danger. Let parents show their love to their children, especially by taking care of their souls, and snatching them as brands out of the burning. By this and other instances of the wisdom…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16prostitutes: The law condemned prostitution (Leviticus 19:29; Deuteronomy 23:18), but it still existed in ancient Israel. These women were among the most looked down upon in Israelite society. However, Solomon showed kindness and fairness to them by treating them as mothers, not just as prostitutes.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. Then came there two women--Eastern monarchs, who generally administer justice in person, at least in all cases of difficulty, often appeal to the principles of human nature when they are at a loss otherwise to find a clue to the truth or see clearly their way through a mass of conflicting testimony. The modern history of the East abounds with anecdotes of judicial cases, in which the decision given was the result of an experiment similar to this of…Read the comment
Topics related to 1 Kings 3:16
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 1 Kings 3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
American Standard Version — 1901 — Public Domain
Commentaries