1 Kings 2:20

“I have just one small request of you,” she said. “Do not deny me.” “Make your request, my mother,” the king replied, “for I will not deny you.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Bathsheba approaches King Solomon after he has honored her with a seat at his right hand and is granting her audience. Solomon responds directly to her, promising not to refuse her petition.

The words — The Hebrew שְׁאֵלָה (sheʾēlâ) denotes a formal petition, while אַל (ʾal) functions as a negative imperative meaning “do not.” These terms frame the exchange as a royal request rather than a casual favor.

The thread — The pattern of petition and response runs through Matthew 7:7, where asking is explicitly tied to receiving. The narrative also establishes the court dynamics that later intersect with the familial divisions Jesus describes in Matthew 10:35.

Why it lands — The text records a formal audience where royal honor precedes a petition, requiring the reader to track how requests are structured within established authority. It asks the reader to examine how power, duty, and response operate in concrete historical settings.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

King James Version

Then she said, I desire one small petition of thee; I pray thee, say me not nay. And the king said unto her, Ask on, my mother: for I will not say thee nay.

Cross-references

Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
Matthew 10:35 For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
Matthew 11:24 But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”
Matthew 18:19 Again, I tell you truly that if two of you on the earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven.
Matthew 20:20 Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and knelt down to make a request of Him.
Luke 11:9 So I tell you: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
John 2:3 When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to Him, “They have no more wine.”
John 14:13 And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
John 15:16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will remain—so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.