the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
Click here to join the effort!
Read the Bible
New Living Translation
1 Kings 3:16
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- BridgewayEncyclopedias:
- 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 came there two women, that were harlots, unto 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.
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
The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, "Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?"
The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.
At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.
When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees.
Then the Lord God called to the man, "Where are you?"
He replied, "I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked."
"Who told you that you were naked?" the Lord God asked. "Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?"
The man replied, "It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it."
Then he said to the woman, "I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you."
And to the man he said, "Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.
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 ×× ×ת zonoth, which we here, and in some other places, improperly translate harlots, is by the Chaldee (the best judge in this case) rendered פ×× ×ק×× 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.
