3:23 The king said, “One says, ‘My son is alive; your son is dead,’ while the other says, ‘No, your son is dead; my son is alive.’” 3:24 The king ordered, “Get me a sword!” So they placed a sword before the king. 3:25 The king then said, “Cut the living child in two, and give half to one and half to the other!” 3:26 The real mother 2 spoke up to the king, for her motherly instincts were aroused. 3 She said, “My master, give her the living child! Whatever you do, don’t kill him!” 4 But the other woman said, “Neither one of us will have him! Let them cut him in two!” 3:27 The king responded, “Give the first woman the living child; don’t kill him. She is the mother.” 3:28 When all Israel heard about the judicial decision which the king had rendered, they respected 5 the king, for they realized 6 that he possessed supernatural wisdom 7 to make judicial decisions.
1 tn Heb “they spoke before the king.” Another option is to translate, “they argued before the king.”
2 tn Heb “the woman whose son was alive.”
3 tn Heb “for her compassions grew warm for her son.”
4 tn The infinitive absolute before the negated jussive emphasizes the main verb.
5 tn Heb “feared,” perhaps in the sense, “stood in awe of.”
6 tn Heb “saw.”
7 tn Heb “the wisdom of God within him.”