This verse demonstrates how desperation and a mother’s keen awareness paved the way for Solomon’s wise judgment.
The distressed mother in this passage exclaims, “When I rose in the morning to nurse my son, behold, he was dead; but when I looked at him carefully in the morning, behold, he was not my son, whom I had borne” (v.21). These words occur during a critical moment in King Solomon’s reign (970-931 BC), as he hears the case of two women from Israel and must determine who is the rightful mother of a living child. Although no direct geographic locations are cited in this verse, the setting is within Solomon’s court in ancient Israel, where the capital city was Jerusalem—a central location both politically and spiritually for the Israelites, first established by King David.
The heartache in the mother’s statement underscores the confusion and emotional strain that lead her to suspect a tragic swap of the infants. By carefully examining her child in the morning, she realizes this is not the baby she nursed. This observation sets the stage for Solomon to display his renowned God-given wisdom, fulfilling the request he made to the LORD earlier in the chapter (1 Kings 3:9), and foreshadowing the eventual resolution of this conflict. In the broader biblical narrative, Solomon’s wise discernment shines here and elsewhere, a gift also reflected in the New Testament teaching that true wisdom comes from God (James 1:5).
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1 Kings 3:21 meaning
The distressed mother in this passage exclaims, “When I rose in the morning to nurse my son, behold, he was dead; but when I looked at him carefully in the morning, behold, he was not my son, whom I had borne” (v.21). These words occur during a critical moment in King Solomon’s reign (970-931 BC), as he hears the case of two women from Israel and must determine who is the rightful mother of a living child. Although no direct geographic locations are cited in this verse, the setting is within Solomon’s court in ancient Israel, where the capital city was Jerusalem—a central location both politically and spiritually for the Israelites, first established by King David.
The heartache in the mother’s statement underscores the confusion and emotional strain that lead her to suspect a tragic swap of the infants. By carefully examining her child in the morning, she realizes this is not the baby she nursed. This observation sets the stage for Solomon to display his renowned God-given wisdom, fulfilling the request he made to the LORD earlier in the chapter (1 Kings 3:9), and foreshadowing the eventual resolution of this conflict. In the broader biblical narrative, Solomon’s wise discernment shines here and elsewhere, a gift also reflected in the New Testament teaching that true wisdom comes from God (James 1:5).