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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - 1 Kings 3:16 - 3:28
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Solomon's wise Decision
v. 16. Then came there two women that were harlots unto the king, and stood before him, seeking a decision in a difficult case. The story is told to show that God had actually endued Solomon with unusual wisdom.
v. 17. 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.
v. 18. And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered that this woman was delivered also, the two babies thus being approximately of the same age; and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house save we two in the house, no other person to testify on either side.
v. 19. And this woman's child died in the night, because she overlaid it, unwittingly pressed it to death in her sleep.
v. 20. 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. The second woman undoubtedly feared that the reproach of having killed her own son would disgrace her.
v. 21. And when I arose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead. This was at the time of the morning when it was not yet light enough to distinguish clearly. But when I had considered it in the morning, in broad daylight, behold, it was not my son which I did bear. She was certain of her identification.
v. 22. And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son; she persisted in claiming the baby as her own. And this, the accuser, said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king, quarreling over the possession of the baby.
v. 23. Then said the king, weighing the facts as presented to him, 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. It seemed to be one woman's unsupported word against another's.
v. 24. And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. This was done with deliberation, in order to study the effect of every word upon the women.
v. 25. And the king said, knowing that the real mother would be revealed now, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.
v. 26. Then spake the woman whose the living child was to the king, for her bowels, her motherly heart, yearned upon her son, glowing with a mother's love for her child, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. She preferred to have the other woman have the child rather than see it be killed. But the other, perfectly willing to see the baby put to death, for which she felt no attachment, said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. She showed not only an absolute lack of motherly love, but also envy and dislike for her accuser.
v. 27. Then the king answered and said, Give her, the first woman, the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof. Her attitude in preferring to have her rival have the child alive to having it divided proved that she was the mother.
v. 28. And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged, the decision which he had rendered in this difficult case; and they feared the king, they were filled with respect and awe of his wisdom in judging; for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to do judgment. The wisdom of Solomon is but a weak type of the eternal Wisdom, which became man in the person of Jesus Christ, in whom dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily and who judges His people in righteousness.