the Week of Proper 6 / Ordinary 11
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King James Version
1 Kings 3:16
Bible Study Resources
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- CondensedParallel Translations
Then two women who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.
Then there came two women who were prostitutes, to the king, and stood before him.
Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.
One day two women who were prostitutes came to Solomon. As they stood before him,
Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.
Then two women who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.
Then two women who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.
Then came two harlots vnto the King, and stoode before him.
Then two women who were harlots came to the king and stood before him.
One day two women came to King Solomon,
After this, there came to the king two women who were prostitutes. After presenting themselves to him,
Then came two women, harlots, to the king, and stood before him.
One day two prostitutes came to Solomon and stood before the king.
Then came there two women who were harlots to plead before King Solomon.
One day two prostitutes came and presented themselves before King Solomon.
Then two prostitutes came to the king, and they stood before him.
Then two women, harlots, came in to the king and stood before him.
At the same tyme came there two harlottes vnto ye kynge, and stode before him.
Then there came two women that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.
Then two loose women of the town came and took their places before the king;
Then came there two women that were harlottes, vnto the king, & stoode before him.
Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.
Then came there two women that were harlots, vnto the king, and stood before him.
Then there appeared two harlots before the king, and they stood before him.
Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.
At that time two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.
Thanne twei wymmen hooris camen to the kyng, and stoden bifor hym;
then come in do two women, harlots, unto the king, and stand before him,
Then there came two women that were prostitutes, to the king, and stood before him.
Then came there two women, [that were] harlots, to the king, and stood before him.
Then there came two women who were prostitutes, to the king, and stood before him.
Now two women who were harlots came to the king, and stood before him.
Some time later two prostitutes came to the king to have an argument settled.
Then two women who sold the use of their bodies came to the king and stood in front of him.
Later, two women who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.
Then, came there in two unchaste women, unto the king, - and stood before him.
Then there came two women that were harlots, to the king, and stood before him.
Then two harlots came to the king, and stood before him.
The very next thing, two prostitutes showed up before the king. The one woman said, "My master, this woman and I live in the same house. While we were living together, I had a baby. Three days after I gave birth, this woman also had a baby. We were alone—there wasn't anyone else in the house except for the two of us. The infant son of this woman died one night when she rolled over on him in her sleep. She got up in the middle of the night and took my son—I was sound asleep, mind you!—and put him at her breast and put her dead son at my breast. When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, here was this dead baby! But when I looked at him in the morning light, I saw immediately that he wasn't my baby."
Then two women who were harlots came to the king and stood before him.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
two women: Leviticus 19:29, Deuteronomy 23:17, Joshua 2:1
harlots: The word zanoth, rendered harlots, is here translated by the Targumist, the best judge in this case, pundekon, "tavern-keepers." See note on Joshua 2:1, and see note on Judges 11:1. Had these women been harlots, it is not likely that they would have dared to appear before Solomon; nor is it likely that such persons would have been permitted in the reign of David. Their husbands might at this time have been following their necessary occupations in distant parts.
stood: Exodus 18:13, Exodus 18:16, Numbers 27:2
Reciprocal: Exodus 18:26 - the hard causes Deuteronomy 17:8 - arise 2 Samuel 15:2 - came 2 Chronicles 32:4 - find Job 9:33 - that might Job 29:16 - the cause
Cross-References
Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Then came there two women [that] were harlots unto the king,.... The same day, as Abarbinel thinks, the night before which the Lord had appeared to Solomon; this came to pass through the providence of God, that there should be immediately an instance and proof of the wisdom and understanding the Lord had given to Solomon; these women, according to the Targum, were victuallers or inn keepers; and so Ben Gersom thinks they were sellers of food, as Rahab; though he observes it is possible they might, prostitute themselves: this may be said in their favour, that common prostitutes do not usually bear children, or, when they do, take no care of them, have no affection for them, and much less are fond of them, as these seem to be; but, on the other hand, no mention being made of their husbands, and living together in one house, and alone, and being impudent, brawling, and litigious, give great suspicion of the truth of the character they bear in our version and others:
and stood before him; to lay their case before him, and each plead their own cause; it may be, it had been tried in another court before, and could not be determined, and so was brought to the king; and, if so, the wisdom of Solomon was the more conspicuous, in deciding it in the manner he did.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse 1 Kings 3:16. Then 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). 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 persons would have been permitted under the reign of David. Though there is no mention of their husbands, it is probable they might have been at this time in other parts, following their necessary occupations; and the settling the present business could not have been delayed till their return; the appeal to justice must be made immediately.
