1 Kings 3:16-28

B. THE DEMONSTRATION OF HIS Wisdom 3:16-28

TRANSLATION

(16) Then two women, harlots, came unto the king, and stood before him. (17) And the one woman said, O my lord the king, I and this woman were sleeping in one house; and I brought forth a child with her in the house. (18) And it came to pass on the third day after I brought forth a child, this woman brought forth a child also, and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house besides the two of us in the house. (19) And the son of this woman died in the night when she laid on top of him. (20) And she arose in the middle of the night, and took my son from beside me while your handmaiden slept, and she laid him in her breast, and her dead son she laid in my breast. (21) When I arose in the morning to nurse my son, behold he was dead. But I considered him closely in the morning, and behold he was not my son to whom I had given birth. (22) And the other woman said, No! But the living one is my son, and your son is the dead one. But the first woman kept saying, No! But your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one. So did they speak before the king. (23) Then the king said, This woman is saying, This is my son that is alive, and your son is the dead one, and this other woman keeps saying, No! But your son is the dead one, and my son the living one. (24) And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought the sword before the king. (25) And the king said, Divide the living child into two, and give half to the one woman, and half to the other. (26) Then the mother of the living son said unto the king, since her emotions were stirred because of her son, and she said, O my lord, give to her the living child, for you must not surely slay him. But the other woman kept saying, Let it neither be mine or yours. Divide it! (27) Then the king answered and said, Give the living child to her, and do not slay him. She is his mother. (28) And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had made, and they feared the king; for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to give judgment.

COMMENTS

In this section the author has included an actual case from the judicial files of Judah which illustrates how Solomon's wisdom was quickly demonstrated to the nation. The case was a child custody suit involving two women who were harlots (1 Kings 3:16). These women are not to be thought of as professional prostitutes, but as women who had borne children out of wedlock. Because of their shame they lived together and alone (1 Kings 3:17). The plaintiff was first allowed to present her side of the story which was as follows: Within three days of one another the two of us were delivered of a child. Emphasis is laid on the fact that no third party was present at the time of the births (1 Kings 3:18), hence there was no possibility of independent testimony in the dispute. The defendant, while sleeping one night, rolled over on her child and smothered it (1 Kings 3:19). During the night she discovered that her baby was dead, and so she swapped her lifeless baby for my living baby (1 Kings 3:20). I awakened early to nurse my infant only to discover the babe at my bosom was dead. In broad daylight, however, I discovered that the dead child was not mine at all (1 Kings 3:21).

The defendant in this case naturally disputed the contention of the plaintiff, tenaciously maintaining that the living child was really her own. Back and forth the women argued with one another making their claims and counter claims (1 Kings 3:22). Finally king Solomon was ready to make a decision. First he summarized the problem as it has been presented to him (1 Kings 3:23). Then he ordered that a sword be brought to him (1 Kings 3:24) and that the child be divided and half given to each woman (1 Kings 3:25). The real mother, the plaintiff as it turned out, was emotionally stirred by the decision which in effect would leave her son dead. The Hebrew reads literally, her bowels were in a ferment. The ancients regarded the lower digestive tract as the center and seat of emotions. In desperation she cried out to the king to spare the child and give it to her rival. She preferred to lose her suit and suffer the agony of handing over the child to her rival rather than allow it to be killed. The defendant, on the other hand, was perfectly willing to allow the execution of the child to take place. She really had no love for the infant, and her main object all along had been to deprive her companion of the fruit of her womb (1 Kings 3:26). Jealousy dries up the milk of human kindness! It was now perfectly apparent who was the real mother, and so the king ordered that the plaintiff be given custody of the disputed child (1 Kings 3:27). The people of Israel were impressed and even awed[140] by this demonstration of the king's sagacity and they rightly concluded that the wisdom of God was in this young king (1 Kings 3:28).

[140] The Hebrew word signifies both respect and awe as well as fear. Perhaps the people as a whole respected Solomon, while evil-doers feared him because of his wisdom.