Solomon And The Two Mothers Series

Introduction: Solomon, son of David, had just been crowned King of Israel. The LORD Himself had appeared to him in a dream, where the LORD asked Solomon what he would like to have. Solomon asked for wisdom and “an understanding heart to judge” the people (1 Kings 3:6-9). Now Solomon was about to face a real test of this wisdom. Two mothers came before him and the case was, shall we say, difficult!

1 Two women, two children, one casualty

Text, 1 Kings 3:16-23, KJV: 16 Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him. 17 And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house. 18 And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house. 19 And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it 20 And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. 21 And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear. 22 And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king.

This is the first time, as recorded in Scripture, where Solomon had to make a decision. And this decision wasn’t going to be easy: there were two mothers, each with a very young, if not newborn, baby boy! So far, so good; but there was a real problem for each of these two mothers.

One of the baby boys had died. Mother A had, I suppose, put her son to bed and Mother B had done the same thing. Again, no problem, it seems, but Mother B had “overlaid” her baby boy. There isn’t a lot of information in the standard commentaries (Clarke, Barnes, Poole, Trapp, and others) but one other translation of “overlaid” was “smothered “ or “lay on him (https://biblehub.com/text/1_kings/3-19.htm )”. This could mean that the mother had somehow taken the life of her own son.

Then, about midnight, Mother B discovers her baby isn’t breathing and switches babies with Mother A. Don’t ask me how she did this, as anybody who has handled an infant knows they don’t travel very well, do they?

Now comes morning, and Mother A realizes it’s time to feed the baby and prepares to nurse him. Oh, was she in for a surprise: she found the baby was dead! Mother A related her side of the story, and then Mother B did the same thing.

It’s anybody’s guess how long this “debate” went on before Solomon. I for one would like to know what he might have been thinking at this time—after all, Solomon wasn’t very old when this “case” was brought before him, and he may not have known which mother to believe. After all, these were apparently single mothers, who may or may not have been “harlots”. Several commentators observe that there is a similar, if not identical word in Hebrew which could be translated “hostess” or “inn-keeper” as well as “harlot”. Only God and these two women know for sure. Besides, how would a harlot or, “sex worker” as the term is used these days, ever have access to the king?

2 Two mothers, one king, one announcement

Text, 1 Kings 3:23-25, KJV: 23 Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living. 24 And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. 25 And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.

The two mothers had argued over whose son was living and whose was dead for an unspecified amount of time. Now, as mentioned, they were standing before the king himself, and what a sight that must have been: seeing these two going at each other, with who knows how many of the king’s staff watching all this, and everybody wondering what the king would do.

And what would Solomon do? He had prayed for wisdom and he absolutely needed it now. How could he know which mother was lying and which was telling the truth? He might have already guessed that no matter what judgment he handed down, somebody was going to be upset.