A Demonstration Of Wisdom

A short time after God promised to give Solomon wisdom to rule, and event occurred revealing his wisdom, in I Kings 3:16-22.  “Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.  And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.  And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house.  And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it.  And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.  And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear.

And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son.

And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king.”

There were no witnesses as to what had happened, nor a doctor or midwife to identify which baby was dead.  With no way of testing for blood type or DNA, and both babies of similar skin tone, there was no easy way of determining which woman was lying.  Suddenly, David had an idea, as I Kings 3:23-25 describes.  “Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living.  And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.  And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.”

Solomon had no intention of killing the child, but he wanted to observe the reactions of the two women.  Obviously, one of them was lying in an effort to hide her failure as a mother, while the other was probably genuinely concerned about the child.  The women’s reactions confirmed his expectations, as I Kings 3:26 describes.  “Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it.

But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.”

The one who was just trying to hide her failure didn’t really care about the child, but only her reputation.  The real mother would rather have the child grow up in someone else’s home than to have him killed.  Recognizing this, Solomon awarded the baby to the proper mother, as I Kings 13:27 tells us.  “ Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.” 

The people recognized Solomon’s understanding of human nature and his ability to find out the truth.  Those who were honest developed a healthy respect for him while those who were not feared him, knowing God would enable him to learn the truth, as I Kings 3:28 tells us.  “And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.”  It was apparent he wouldn’t simply drop issues over a lack of evidence or settle for an easy verdict.