The Way
Two Women and One Baby
A mother's heart revealed before the sword
Story
Two women stood before the king. One of them held a living baby in her arms. The woman without a baby spoke first: “My lord, this woman and I live in the same house. We both gave birth to sons, three days apart, and in the night this woman lay on her own child, and he died. Then in the middle of the night, while I was asleep, she took my son and laid the dead child in my arms.”
The woman without a baby went on: “In the morning I got up to nurse my son, and he was dead. But when I looked closely in the daylight, he was not the son I had borne.” The woman holding the baby shouted, “No! The living child is my son, and the dead one is yours.” There was no witness at all. Only the two women's voices clashed in the palace.
King Solomon said, “Bring me a sword. Cut the living child in two and give each woman half.” Then the living child's real mother, her heart aching for her son, cried out, “My lord, give the living child to her, only do not kill him!” The woman who had been holding the baby said, “Divide him, so that he will be neither mine nor yours.” The king pointed to the woman who had begged for the child's life and gave his ruling: “Give the living child to that woman, and do not kill him. She is his mother.”
Walk this scene on the map →Words of God and the Prophets
Cut the living child in two, and give half to this woman and half to that one.
My lord, give the living child to her. Please, only do not kill him.
Give the living child to that woman, and do not kill him. She is his mother.
The sayings are fresh renderings of the original meaning in today's language. Text: 1 Kgs 3:16–28
Background
In ancient Israel the king was the highest judge, and anyone who had been wronged could come before him and plead their case. When all Israel heard this ruling, they stood in awe of the king, because they saw that the wisdom of God was in him.
Pause and Reflect
When my own judgment falls short, do I seek God's wisdom first?