“Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him. 

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. 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. And this woman’s child died in the night; because she overlaid it. 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. 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. 

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. 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. And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. 

Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. 

But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. 

Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof. And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.”

– 1 Kings 3:16-28, King James Version

We have all probably read this account before, and marveled at the wisdom God granted unto Solomon. As we read the story, we don’t know who the real mother is, which with Solomon’s wisdom is later revealed. When hearing that Solomon’s solution is to cut the child in half, the mother cries out to just give the child to the other woman, and to not kill it. This is something that is obviously coming from the mother, who only wants the absolute best for her child, even if that means the child doesn’t live with her anymore. King Solomon knows this, and makes sure that she leaves that courtroom with her baby.

But something struck me that I neer thought about when I heard this in Sunday School or read it on my own. Why was the other woman so dreadfully selfish?

The other woman’s child had died in the middle of the night, due to her negligence. So she did what any irrational person would do, and decided to swap children without the woman’s knowledge. Then, when the mother demands her child back, they go to King Solomon and she decides to argue for the child, too. When King Solomon declares that the child be cut in half, and she hears the mother relent and volunteer to let her have the child so that it wouldn’t be killed, she doesn’t clutch the baby in her arms, shout a hasty “Thanks for everything King Solomon!” and run – instead, she says: “Yeah! I agree! Let it not be mine or yours, but divide it.”

Why on earth would she have said that? Why was she so determined that the child die? She had no compassion on the young one and was perfectly fine with it’s death. This really puzzled me and I tried figuring it out. Most people, when given an opportunity to save a child’s life, will rush headfirst to do so, not stand back, wipe their hands of the matter, and go, yes, let the child die.

Perhaps she was trying to flatter King Solomon by just agreeing with whatever he wanted. Or perhaps she knew that even though the mother had relented the child to her, King Solomon would probably not agree with that sentiment, as that would be a very unjust thing to do. And even if King Solomon had let her take the child, all of Israel would find out (1 Kings 3:28) and she would probably not be looked upon well at all anymore. She already had a disadvantage being a harlot, but now that everyone knew that she’d stolen another woman’s baby, and got her to give it up with only the threat of death, she knew she would be exceedingly despised in their nation. 

But perhaps the main issue was because she had killed her child. It was an accident, but she could have prevented it. She was probably filled with guilt, despair…and rage. Why did the other child live but not hers? She wanted vengeance. They shared a living space after all. She didn’t want the child to live and grow up when she knew her child would never have that opportunity, due to her actions. Perhaps she just had so much anger, rage, and hate in her that it blinded her judgement and she wanted the child to die. 

We don’t know why she was all gung-ho on having the other child killed (and I imagine that after King Solomon’s ruling the two women found separate living accommodations), but we can speculate a few reasons. Unlike this woman, we should strive to not have our judgement and compassion blinded by our emotions.

Let me know if you have any speculations on the motivations of the other woman below or you can contact me here! I love hearing from you!

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