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Joseph Benson’s Bible Commentary

1 Kings 3:16

Two women that were harlots Or, victuallers; for the Hebrew word signifies both. Yet that they were unmarried persons seems probable, both because there is no mention of any husbands, whose office it was, if there were any such, to contest for their wives; and because they lived a solitary life in one house. Unto the king Probably they had presented their cause to the inferior courts, and as they could not determine it, they now bring it to the king as the supreme magistrate, and famous for wisdom. And stood there before him Desiring and expecting his sentence in the case.

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See also 1 Kings 3:16 in other biblical comments:

  • Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

    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 cas...

  • Annotated Bible by A.C. Gaebelein

    2. JEHOVAH APPEARS TO SOLOMON HIS PRAYER AND THE ANSWER CHAPTER 3 _ 1. Affinity with Pharaoh and Pharaoh's daughter (1 Kings 3:1)_ 2. Solomon loved the LORD (1 Kings 3:2) 3. Jehovah appears to Sol...

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    1 KINGS 3:1 TO 1 KINGS 4:34. EARLY DAYS, REIGN, AND WISDOM OF SOLOMON. The sources of this section are various, and the arrangement of the narrative in the LXX should be noticed. There are (_a_) a sta...

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    Solomon's judgement between the two harlots, and the effect produced thereby (Not in Chronicles) 16. _Then came,_&c. We need not, any more than with τότε in the New Test., consider -then" as indicati...

  • Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

    THEN CAME THERE TWO WOMEN, &C.— See Judges 2:1 respecting the word זנות _zonoth_ rendered _harlots._ Solomon knew at once, that the only sign whereby to discover the true mother, would be her affectio...

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    B. THE DEMONSTRATION OF HIS Wisdom 3:16-28 TRANSLATION (16) Then two women, harlots, came unto the king, and stood before him. (17) And the one woman said, O my lord the king, I and this woman were s...

  • Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

    _THEN CAME THERE TWO WOMEN, THAT WERE HARLOTS, UNTO THE KING, AND STOOD BEFORE HIM._ Then came there two women. Eastern monarchs, who generally administer justice in person-at least in all cases of d...

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    SOLOMON'S CHOICE This chapter relates how Solomon, out of various gifts offered to him by the Almighty, chose wisdom, and adds an illustration of the use he made of the gift with which he was endowed...

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    GOD’S LESSONS FROM HISTORY 1 KINGS _PHILIP SMITH_ CHAPTER 3 GOD SPEAKS TO SOLOMON V1 Solomon made an agreement with Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Solomon married Pharaoh’s daughter. Solomon brough...

  • Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

    THEN CAME THERE. — The celebrated “judgment of Solomon,” given here as a specimen of his wisdom, is simply an instance of intuitive sagacity, cutting the Gordian knot of hopeless difficulty by the app...

  • ETCBC data on Hebrew bible

    אָ֣ז תָּבֹ֗אנָה שְׁתַּ֛יִם נָשִׁ֥ים זֹנֹ֖ות אֶל...

  • Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

    THE BOY-KING'S WISDOM 1 Kings 3:1 "An oracle is upon the lips of a king."- Proverbs 16:10 (Hebrews). "A king that sitteth on the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his eye."- Proverbs...

  • Frederick Brotherton Meyer's Commentary

    A DISCERNING JUDGMENT 1 Kings 3:16 The incident gave convincing proof of the gift of wisdom. This is the most esteemed endowment of an Eastern potentate, who is called upon to arbitrate in cases that...

  • Frederick Brotherton Meyer's Commentary

    BREAKING THREE COMMANDMENTS 1 Kings 21:1; 1 Kings 1:1; 1 Kings 2:1; 1 Kings 3:1;...

  • G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

    The first brief paragraph in this chapter reveals at once Solomon's strength and weakness. He was strong, for he loved the Lord and walked in the statutes of his father David. However, there was the o...

  • Geneva Study Bible Commentary

    Then came there two women, [that were] harlots, unto the king, and (k) stood before him. (k) By this example it appears that God kept his promise to Solomon in granting him wisdom....

  • George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

    _Harlots. Rather than simply, "innkeepers." (Chaldean) (Menochius) --- The latter signification of Zona might, however, seem more natural; as harlots seldom have children; or, at least, any affection...

  • Hawker's Poor man's commentary

    (16) В¶ Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him. (17) And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child w...

  • Introductory Lectures - Commentary by William Kelly

    The books of First and Second Samuel show us the failure of the priesthood, and, in consequence, when a state of evident shame and dishonour overspread the face of Israel, the heart of the people desi...

  • John Darby's Synopsis

    But there is another element in the history of the king of glory, in which he oversteps the limits of the king of Israel's legitimate position; he allies himself with the Gentiles, and marries Pharaoh...

  • John Gill's Exposition of the Whole 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...

  • John Trapp Complete Commentary

    _Then came there two women, [that were] harlots, unto the king, and stood before him._ Ver. 16. _Then came there two women that were harlots._] Or rather hostesses; for harlots would not have been so...

  • KJV Original Language Details

    1 Solomon marieth Pharaohs daughter. 2 Hie places being in vse, Solomon sacrificeth at Gibeon. 5 Solomon at Gibeon, in the choice which God gaue him, preferring wisedome, obtaineth wisedome, riches,...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    Solomon's wise Decision...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    Then came there two women that were harlots unto the king, and stood before him, seeking a decision in a difficult case. The story is told to show that God had actually endued Solomon with unusual wis...

  • Leslie M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible

    SOLOMON RECEIVES WISDOM FROM GOD (vs.1-15) However, early in Solomon's reign he slipped into the snare of making a treaty with the king of Egypt. Israel had before escaped from the bondage of Egypt,...

  • Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible

    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...

  • Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary On The Bible

    HARLOTS, or, _victuallers_; for the Hebrew word signifies both. SEE POOLE ON "JOSHUA 2:1". And possibly they might be both; this by their open profession, and the other by their secret practice: not t...

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    1 Kings 3:16 two H8147 women H802 harlots H2181 (H8802) came H935 (H8799) king H4428 stood H5975 ...

  • Summarized Bible Commentary

    CONTENTS: Alliance of Solomon and Pharoah. Marriage with Pharoah's daughter. Loses at Gibeon. Solomon's prayer. His wisdom. CHARACTERS: God, Solomon, two women. CONCLUSION: The wisdom of God is laid...

  • Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    1 Kings 3:1. _Solomon took Pharaoh's daughter._ It would appear from the 45th Psalm, which the rabbins with one consent affirm, was the nuptial ode for this marriage, that David had made arrangements...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _Then came there two women._ THE TRUE MOTHER I. That sin produces suffering. The two women who came for judgment to Solomon were harlots; and the offsprings of their impurity were the means by which...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    1 KINGS—NOTE ON 1 KINGS 3:1 Although Solomon has displayed a worldly kind of wisdom in his treatment of those who were a threat to him (1 Kings 2:6,...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    1 KINGS—NOTE ON 1 KINGS 3:16 TWO PROSTITUTES... STOOD BEFORE HIM. The Israelite king represented the highest court of appeal. ⇐...

  • The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

    CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.— 1 Kings 3:16. HARLOTS—The Rabbins derive זנוֹת from זוּן, to feed, nourish; and the Targumist translates the word here, and in Joshua 2:1, by פונדקן, pundekon, _hoste...

  • The Pulpit Commentaries

    EXPOSITION IN this section we see how remarkably the gracious promise of Gibeon (1 Kings 3:12) was fulfilled. The "understanding to discern judgment" has been richly bestowed. And this, no doubt, is t...

  • Through The Bible C2000 Serie by Chuck Smith

    Now Solomon begins the gathering of wives of which it seemed had no end. He made an affinity with the Pharaoh of Egypt, and he took the Pharaoh's daughter, and brought her to the city of David, until...

  • Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

    Deuteronomy 23:17; Exodus 18:13; Exodus 18:16; Joshua 2:1; Judges 11:1;

  • Wesley's Explanatory Notes

    Harlots — Or, victuallers: for the Hebrew words signifies both. Yet that they are unmarried persons, seems probable, both because there is no mention of any husbands, whose office it was, if there wer...

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