1 Kings 3:19

Two women who were prostitutes came to Solomon to have him settle a dispute between them. The woman bringing the charge spoke first. She claimed that after she gave birth to a child, the other woman smothered her own child by lying on him at night, and then swapped the babies while the first mother slept. When she woke in the morning, she said, she found the child dead — but on looking at him closely, she saw he was not her child.

A claim and a denial carried equal weight here, so the king could not base his judgment on their words. What could settle it was what the heart showed. The question was not which of the two women was more respectable — both were prostitutes. It was not whether the acts complained of were likely or had happened — no one had seen them. It was not whether the true mother could recognize her child by some outward mark — there were none.

Even though the case concerns prostitutes, nothing about this judgment changes. People always let the reputation of the speaker sway their judgment. It is not so with God. What matters to Him is the heart, not the outward character.

The real mother of the child protested. She said she would rather the other woman took her child than have the child killed. The other woman was happy to have the child divided, knowing that then neither of them would have him. Love for the child was not what moved her; jealousy toward the other woman did. Solomon knew that a woman dishonest enough to steal a child would show her motives under the test he gave her.

Did a single person see into his heart when he asked for a sword and said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other? The false mother was as willing to do it as the true mother was unwilling, but no one except the king could have foreseen that. What sounded cruel turned out wise and kind.

One of them loved him with a mother's true love. The other had no love for him at all. She wanted him only because she could not bear to see true love holding what it loved. "Bring a sword and divide the living child," said the king, and for that moment the child was under a sentence of death. The sword hung over him, ready to strike. How could he be saved from it? True love found the way to save him, but it was the way of sacrifice. That was the only way… She was ready to give herself up for the life and good of her child.

The king's judgment was this — self-sacrificing love has a right that cannot be taken away — the right to have and enjoy what it loves. And all the power of his throne stood behind his judgment to carry it out.

The idea of splitting the baby with a sword was new and bold, and probably nothing like it had ever been tried before. But it brought out the true mother's feelings in such a rush that it became clear whose the child was… Still, the incident reminds us that Solomon's glorious reign fell short of perfection. We cannot imagine a case this squalid being brought for decision to Solomon's greater Son, God's "Holy One."