1 Kings 3:21

21 The next morning, I got up to nurse my son. But he was dead! I looked at him closely in the morning light. And I saw that it wasn't my baby."

1 Kings 3:21 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 3:21

And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck
As she used to do: behold, it was dead;
her own child, as she thought at first: but when I had considered it in the morning;
it was towards morning, or just at break of day, when she arose to suckle it, and found it dead: but when it was broad day, and the light of the morning was increased, she more narrowly viewed it, and by its features, or some marks she had observed; behold, it was not my son which I did bear:
she was fully satisfied it was not her own child, but another.

1 Kings 3:21 In-Context

19 "During the night this woman's baby died. It happened because she was lying on top of him.

20 So she got up in the middle of the night. She took my son from my side while I was asleep. She put him by her breast. Then she put her dead son by my breast.

21 The next morning, I got up to nurse my son. But he was dead! I looked at him closely in the morning light. And I saw that it wasn't my baby."

22 The other woman said, "No! The living baby is my son. The dead one belongs to you." But the first woman said, "No! The dead baby is yours. The living one belongs to me." So they argued in front of the king.

23 The king said, "One of you says, 'My son is alive. Your son is dead.' The other one says, 'No! Your son is dead. Mine is alive.' "