Solomon’s Wisdom a Discerning Judgment. Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king. Then the king said, “Cut the living child in two, and give half to the one [woman] and half to the other.” 1Ki 3:24-25
National Development under the Monarchy
INTRODUCTION
Originally Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles were regarded as one series, and called the Books of Kings. In the Septuagint (the Greek version of the Old Testament, made during the period between the Testaments), each of these books was divided into two parts; and what we term First Kings was called the Third Book of Kings.
It is impossible to fix accurately either the date when this book was compiled, or the name of the writer. From the fact that the last chapter of II Kings records the release of Jehoiachin from captivity, which took place B.C. 562, but makes no mention of the decree of Cyrus, B.C. 538, with which the return of the Jews from captivity began, it is concluded that the book was compiled sometime between these dates.
The sources from which the compiler drew were three: the Book of the Acts of Solomon, 1Ki_11:41; the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, 1Ki_14:29, etc.; and the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel, 1Ki_14:19. The Chronicles here referred to are not the books called Chronicles in the Bible, but separate works which are now lost.
The history of the nation is recorded from the close of the reign of David to the middle of the reign of Ahaziah. In its highest glory under Solomon, the kingdom foreshadows the millennial kingdom of our Lord. The prosperity of the nation rises or falls according to the character of the ruler and his people, illustrating for us the important truth that obedience is the condition of blessing.
I .THE UNITED KINGDOM, I Kings 1-11
2. Solomon’s Establishment in Power Wealth and Wisdom, 1Ki_2:1-46; 1Ki_3:1-28; 1Ki_4:1-34
1. The Rebellion of Adonijah and the Coronation of Solomon,
10. How did Solomon decide between two women who claimed the same child?
SOLOMON’S WISDOM A DISCERNING JUDGMENT.
Then two women who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.
And the one woman said, “O my lord, this woman and I live in the same house; and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house.
And on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. And we were [alone] together; no one else was with us in the house, just we two.
Now this woman’s son died during the night, because she lay on him [and smothered him].
So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from [his place] beside me while your maidservant was asleep, and laid him on her bosom, and laid her dead son on my bosom.
When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, behold, he was dead. But when I examined him carefully in the morning, behold, it was not my son, the one whom I had borne.”
Then the other woman said, “No! For my son is the one who is living, and your son is the dead one.” But the first woman said, “No! For your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.” [This is how] they were speaking before the king.
Then the king said, “This woman says, ‘This is my son, the one who is alive, and your son is the dead one’; and the other woman says, ‘No! For your son is the dead one, and my son is the one who is alive.'”
Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king.
Then the king said, “Cut the living child in two, and give half to the one [woman] and half to the other.”
Then the woman whose child was the living one spoke to the king, for she was deeply moved over her son, “O my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; cut him!”
Then the king said, “Give the first woman [who is pleading for his life] the living child, and by no means kill him. She is his mother.”
When all [the people of] Israel heard about the judgment which the king had made, they [were in awe and reverently] feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was within him to administer justice.
SOLOMON’S WISDOM A DISCERNING JUDGMENT.
The incident gave convincing proof of the gift of wisdom. This is the most esteemed endowment of an Eastern potentate, who is called upon to arbitrate in cases that defy the labored processes of law and precedent. How could so difficult a case be decided? There were no witnesses on either side. But Solomon appealed to the instincts of a mother’s love. The proposal to divide the child at once revealed the mother, who would rather expose herself to a life of anguish than see her child suffer or its life extinguished.
Bishop Hall, commenting on this incident, says, “Truth demands entireness; falsehood is satisfied with less. Satan, who has no right to the heart, is content with a piece of it; God, who made the heart, will have either all or none.”
But surely there is a still deeper lesson. When we truly belong to Christ, sharing His nature and having fellowship in His Kingdom, we shall live in quick sympathy with everything that touches His honor. The child of God instinctively winces whenever his Father’s character is challenged, or a foul suggestion is made to his own soul. This is evidence of sonship.
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