The Meaning of 1 Kings 3:16 Explained

1 Kings 3:16

KJV: Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.

YLT: then come in do two women, harlots, unto the king, and stand before him,

Darby: Then came two women, harlots, to the king, and stood before him.

ASV: Then there came two women that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Then came  there two  women,  [that were] harlots,  unto the king,  and stood  before  him. 

What does 1 Kings 3:16 Mean?

Context Summary

1 Kings 3:16-28 - A Discerning Judgment
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 defy the labored processes of law and precedent. How could so difficult a case be decided? There were no witnesses on either side. But Solomon appealed to the instincts of a mother's love. The proposal to divide the child at once revealed the mother, who would rather expose herself to a life of anguish than see her child suffer or its life extinguished.
Bishop Hall, commenting on this incident, says, "Truth demands entireness; falsehood is satisfied with less. Satan, who has no right to the heart, is content with a piece of it; God, who made the heart, will have either all or none."
But surely there is a still deeper lesson. When we truly belong to Christ, sharing His nature and having fellowship in His Kingdom, we shall live in quick sympathy with everything that touches His honor. The child of God instinctively winces whenever his Father's character is challenged, or a foul suggestion is made to his own soul. This is evidence of sonship.
1 Kings 3:1-28 - Breaking Three Commandments
From a worldly point of view Naboth might have done a good stroke of business by selling his estate to. Ahab. A royal price and assured favor might have been his-but he had a conscience! Above the persuasive tones of the monarch's offer sounded the voice of God: "The land shall not be sold for ever, for the land is mine." See Leviticus 25:23; Numbers 36:7; Ezekiel 46:18.
Ahab knew perfectly well that Jezebel could not give him the property of another except by foul means, but he took pains not to inquire. Though the direct orders for Naboth's death did not come from him, yet, by his silence, he was an accomplice and an accessory; and divine justice penetrates all such specious excuses. God holds us responsible for wrongs which we do not arrest, though we have the power. The crime was blacker because of the pretext of religion, as suggested by a fast. See also 2 Kings 9:26. The blood of murdered innocence cries to God, and his requital, though delayed, is inevitable. See Revelation 6:9-10. [source]

Chapter Summary: 1 Kings 3

1  Solomon marries Pharaoh's daughter
2  High places being in use, Solomon sacrifices at Gibeon
5  Solomon at Gibeon, in the choice which God gave him,
10  preferring wisdom, obtains wisdom, riches, and honor
16  Solomon's judgment makes him renowned

What do the individual words in 1 Kings 3:16 mean?

Then came two women [who were] harlots to the king and stood before him
אָ֣ז תָּבֹ֗אנָה שְׁתַּ֛יִם נָשִׁ֥ים זֹנ֖וֹת אֶל־ הַמֶּ֑לֶךְ וַֽתַּעֲמֹ֖דְנָה לְפָנָֽיו

תָּבֹ֗אנָה  came 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person feminine plural
Root: בֹּוא 
Sense: to go in, enter, come, go, come in.
שְׁתַּ֛יִם  two 
Parse: Number, fd
Root: שְׁנַיִם  
Sense: two.
נָשִׁ֥ים  women 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural
Root: אִשָּׁה  
Sense: woman, wife, female.
זֹנ֖וֹת  [who  were]  harlots 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural
Root: זׄנָה  
Sense: fornications.
הַמֶּ֑לֶךְ  the  king 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: מֶלֶךְ 
Sense: king.
וַֽתַּעֲמֹ֖דְנָה  and  stood 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person feminine plural
Root: עָמַד  
Sense: to stand, remain, endure, take one’s stand.
לְפָנָֽיו  before  him 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, common plural construct, third person masculine singular
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.