Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him.”
Two women who worked as prostitutes came to Solomon with no witnesses and no evidence. One living baby lay between them. The king called for a sword, and this verse catches the moment the real mother's love settled the case.
A case no evidence could settle
Nothing in the usual toolkit of a judge was available here. One writer walks through each avenue and closes it off:
H. L. RossierSolomon's judgment is based on the affections shown by the heart. Statements and denials were of equal value in this case, and judgment could not be based on them. What could settle the judgment was what the heart revealed. The question was not which of the two women was the more worthy — both were prostitutes. It was not whether the things they claimed were likely or had happened — there had been no witness. It was not whether the true mother could recognise her child by some outward sign — there were none.
The same writer draws a contrast. People let the character of the speaker sway their judgment, but God does not: "What is important for Him is the heart, not the outward character."
What "yearned" means
The word behind "her heart yearned" points to the body's deepest place of feeling. Commentators note it as a recurring Bible image:
VariousWe use the heart as the symbol of love, but people of the East more often used the inward parts as the symbol of the deepest feeling of love, pity and compassion. (See Genesis 43:30; 1 Kings 3:26; Jeremiah 31:20; Philippians 1:8; Colossians 3:12; 1 John 3:17.)
Older translations read, "her bowels yearned over her son."
Willing to lose him, rather than see him die
Her plea hands the child to her rival, and that is how she saves his life:
J. T. MawsonFor the moment that child was under the sentence of death; the sword ready to strike hung over it. How could it be saved from the carrying out of the sentence? True love found the way of salvation for it. But it was the way of sacrifice. That was the only way… She was prepared to sacrifice herself for the life and the good of her child.
Rossier states what love is by nature, then turns it toward Christ:
H. L. RossierWhere true ties of love exist, we seek to protect what is dear to us at any cost, even at the risk of losing it for ourselves. Love is not selfish: it sacrifices itself for the one it loves. The love of Christ has done that for us, and we can do that for Him in return: "For your sake we are being killed all the day long" (Romans 8:36).
The counterfeit says "divide"
The second woman agrees to the sword. Her agreement is not indifference but something worse:
Leslie M. GrantThe other woman was willing to have the child divided, knowing that neither of them would have the child. It was not love for the child that moved her, but jealousy toward the other woman.
Rossier turns this into a mirror for anyone who claims to belong to Christ:
H. L. Rossier"Divide it," says the one who is not the mother, giving way to her resentment. A person quickly sacrifices Christ when it is a matter of satisfying his own passions. Only divine wisdom can tell whether a profession is real by looking at the state of the heart. How often there is profession without reality! Where are the affections for Christ? Where is the devotion that sacrifices even its lawful advantages and rights for Him?
A sword that sounded cruel
Nobody in the room could have predicted the king's method, and that is part of what made it wisdom:
William KellyWas there one soul who saw into his heart when he called for a sword and ordered the living child divided in two, half to each woman? The false mother was as willing as the true was not, but who could have expected that, except the king? What sounded cruel turned out wise and kind.
The verdict behind the cross
The child went to the woman who would rather lose him than bury him. One writer names the principle the king enforced, then follows it to the cross:
J. T. MawsonThe king's judgment was this — SELF-SACRIFICING LOVE HAS THE UNTOUCHABLE RIGHT TO POSSESS AND ENJOY THE ONE IT LOVES. And all the power of his throne stood behind his judgment to carry it out. This was the law of God's universe, declared in Solomon's judgment, and there is none greater.
J. T. MawsonThe sentence of death had been passed on us, and the enemy of God claimed us as his — not that he cared for us at all. Satan would have rejoiced if we had been buried for ever in the depth of hell, for then God and Christ would have lost us for ever. But the Good Shepherd gave His life for the sheep.
Summary
- Test. Solomon had no witnesses and no birthmarks to weigh. So he let the heart give the evidence.
- Yearning. The word points to the deepest place of feeling in a person. Scripture uses the same image elsewhere for compassion.
- Surrender. Real love let go. She would rather hand her son to her rival than see him killed.
- Exposure. The rival said "divide him" out of jealousy, not love. The same self-interest still sacrifices Christ to satisfy a passion.
- Verdict. Love that sacrifices itself has the right to keep what it loves. A throne stands behind that ruling. So the Good Shepherd's death secures His sheep.