1 Kings 3:19
ESV
And this woman 's son died in the night, because she lay on him.
NIV
"During the night this woman’s son died because she lay on him.
NASB
Then this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him.
CSB
During the night this woman’s son died because she lay on him.
NLT
But her baby died during the night when she rolled over on it.
KJV
And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it.
NKJV
And this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him.
What does 1 Kings 3:19 mean?
Two women have come before King Solomon to get a ruling on their dispute. They are prostitutes who gave birth within days of each other (1 Kings 3:16–17). Sadly, one child has met a tragic end. The woman whose child died took the living boy from the arms of the sleeping mother and replaced him with her own dead child. When the second woman awoke, she realized the deception (1 Kings 3:20–21). They were alone at the time: no one else was in the house (1 Kings 3:18). The Mosaic law requires at least two witnesses for serious cases (Deuteronomy 19:15).It's easy to judge the women for their profession and to judge the mother of the dead child. But their situation is more desperate than a modern reader might imagine.
The fact that these women are prostitutes suggests that they have no male relative to care for them. Their culture is extremely patriarchal. It's difficult for women to own property or find jobs good enough to support themselves. A woman's greatest safety net was to have a son. A son would likely live longer than she, unlike a husband, and he'd be able to work to support them both. In that era, about two of every five children died in infancy. Beyond the natural horror of accidentally killing your own baby, the implications of losing a son—a promise of a better life—are overwhelming.
