Solomon and the Two Mothers

Two women who were prostitutes came to King Solomon with a hard dispute. They lived in the same house. One woman said she gave birth there, and three days later the other woman gave birth too. No one else was in the house with them.

She said that in the night the other woman’s baby died because she lay on him. Then, while the first woman slept, the other woman took the living baby from beside her and put her own dead baby in his place.

In the morning, the first woman got up to nurse the child and saw that the baby beside her was dead. But when she looked closely, she said it was not the son she had borne. The other woman denied it. Each claimed the living child was hers and the dead child belonged to the other.

Solomon repeated the problem clearly: each woman said the living child was hers. Then he asked for a sword. He ordered that the living child should be divided in two, with half given to one woman and half to the other.

Then the real mother begged for the baby’s life, because her heart yearned for her son. She asked the king to give the child to the other woman instead. But the other woman said the child should belong to neither of them. So Solomon said, “Give the living child to the first woman. Do not kill him.” He knew she was his mother. When Israel heard this judgment, they stood in awe of the king, because they saw God’s wisdom in him to do justice.