The Sword of Wisdom Text: 1 Kings 3:16-28
Introduction: Justice is Not a Compromise
We live in an age that idolizes the compromise, the negotiated settlement, the 50/50 split. Our political and ethical discourse is governed by the assumption that truth is usually found somewhere in the middle, and that the most virtuous position is the one that offends the fewest people. We are taught that justice is a matter of balancing competing claims, as though righteousness were a matter of simple arithmetic. But the wisdom of God is not like the wisdom of a modern HR department. The wisdom of God does not split the difference between truth and a lie. The wisdom of God brings a sword.
In our text today, we have the first public demonstration of the divine wisdom that Solomon had just received from God. He had prayed not for riches or power, but for a hearing heart to judge God's people. And God, pleased with this request, gave him wisdom unparalleled. But this wisdom was not an abstract philosophical capacity. It was a practical, sharp-edged tool for governing. It was given for the purpose of doing justice. And the first case that comes before him is designed by God to show all of Israel, and all of us, what this wisdom looks like in action. It is a messy, sordid, and seemingly impossible case. There are no witnesses, no evidence, just the raw, contradictory testimony of two harlots.
This is precisely the kind of situation where the world's wisdom grinds to a halt. A modern court would be paralyzed. It would be a hung jury, a mistrial, a case dismissed for lack of evidence. But the wisdom of God is not limited by such things because the wisdom of God knows how to get at the heart. This story is a living parable, showing us that true justice is not about splitting babies, but about revealing truth. It is about understanding that true love is self-sacrificial, while false love is murderously possessive. And it is a pointer to a greater Solomon, whose wisdom is the very Word of God, which discerns the thoughts and intentions of every human heart.
The Text
Then two women who were harlots came to the king and stood before him. And the one woman said, "Oh, 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 it happened on the third day after I gave birth, that this woman also gave birth to a child, and we were together. There was no stranger with us in the house, only the two of us in the house. And this woman's son died in the night because she lay on him. So she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from beside me while your maidservant slept, and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead son in my bosom. When I rose in the morning to nurse my son, behold, he was dead; but when I looked at him carefully in the morning, behold, he was not my son, whom I had borne." Then the other woman said, "No! For the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son." But the first woman said, "No! For the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son." Thus they spoke before the king.
Then the king said, "The one says, 'This is my son who is living, and your son is the dead one'; and the other says, 'No! For your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.' " And the king said, "Get me a sword." So they brought a sword before the king. Then the king said, "Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other." Then the woman whose son was the living one spoke to the king, for she was deeply stirred with compassion over her son and said, "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!" Then the king said, "Give the first woman the living child, and by no means put him to death. She is his mother." Then all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had handed down, and they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.
(1 Kings 3:16-28 LSB)
An Impossible Case (vv. 16-22)
The scene opens with two women at the bottom of the social ladder. They are prostitutes, living on the margins of society. And yet, they have access to the king.
"Then two women who were harlots came to the king and stood before him." (1 Kings 3:16)
This is the first lesson in divine justice. A righteous king, one who rules in the fear of God, does not only dispense justice for the wealthy and the well-connected. His court is open to the poor, the outcast, the sinner. This is a picture of the kingdom of God. Christ did not come for the righteous, but for sinners. The throne of grace is accessible to harlots and tax collectors. Solomon, in hearing this case, is demonstrating the character of the God he serves.
The first woman lays out the facts. It is a story of profound grief and wicked deception. Two women, living alone, both give birth within days of each other. There are no outside witnesses. This is crucial. From a human standpoint, this case is unverifiable. One woman's son dies in the night, and she is accused of swapping the dead baby for the living one. The accuser's claim rests on a mother's intuition, on a close inspection in the morning light: "when I looked at him carefully in the morning, behold, he was not my son, whom I had borne."
The second woman's defense is a simple, flat denial. "No! For the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son." The text then summarizes the deadlock: "Thus they spoke before the king." The matter is at a complete impasse. One says yes, the other says no. There is no middle ground. One of them is a grieving mother telling the truth. The other is a lying kidnapper and a desecrator of the dead. There can be no compromise here. This is not a dispute over property that can be divided. It is a dispute over a person, over a life, and the truth is absolute.
The Absurdity of False Fairness (vv. 23-25)
Solomon begins by demonstrating that he has listened. He does not dismiss them. He perfectly restates their intractable positions.
"Then the king said, 'The one says, "This is my son who is living, and your son is the dead one"; and the other says, "No! For your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one."' " (1 Kings 3:23)
A wise ruler first understands the problem. He gives a fair hearing even to liars. Having established the problem, he then calls for an instrument that will solve it. "And the king said, 'Get me a sword.'" The sword is the symbol of the king's authority, his power of life and death, his responsibility to execute justice. But the use he proposes for it is monstrous. "Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other."
What is Solomon doing? He is not bluffing. He is constructing a test. He is taking the logic of a false, mechanical fairness to its horrific but logical conclusion. The world thinks justice is about "splitting the difference." Solomon is showing what that looks like when applied to something that is indivisible and precious. You cannot have half a living baby. To divide the child is to murder the child. In this, Solomon is holding up a mirror to all forms of relativistic justice. Any "solution" that requires you to compromise on a fundamental, living truth is not a solution at all; it is an act of destruction. He is about to force the two women to reveal their true nature by their reaction to this ghastly proposal.
Love Revealed (vv. 26-27)
The king's proposal immediately does its work. It functions as a moral catalyst, forcing the hidden contents of the heart out into the open.
"Then the woman whose son was the living one spoke to the king, for she was deeply stirred with compassion over her son and said, 'Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death.'" (1 Kings 3:26a)
The true mother's response is instantaneous and visceral. The text says she was "deeply stirred with compassion." The Hebrew is more earthy; it means her insides, her bowels, yearned for her son. This is the cry of true love. And what does true love desire? It desires the life and well being of the beloved, even at great personal cost. She would rather suffer the injustice of losing her son to a liar than see her son destroyed. Her love is self-sacrificial. She gives up her "right" to the child in order to save the child. This is the heart of a true mother.
The liar's response is just as revealing. "But the other said, 'He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him!'" This is the voice of pure, distilled spite. Her desire was never for the child, but for victory in the dispute. Her "love" was possessiveness. And when she cannot possess him, she desires his destruction. If I cannot have him, no one will. This is the spirit of envy, the spirit of Cain. It is a murderous, selfish spirit that would rather see the good thing annihilated than see a rival enjoy it.
The test has worked perfectly. The truth is now plain for all to see. Solomon's verdict is swift and decisive. "Then the king said, 'Give the first woman the living child, and by no means put him to death. She is his mother.'" Justice is done. The child is saved, the mother is vindicated, and the liar is exposed.
The Fear of the Lord's Anointed (v. 28)
The story concludes with the effect this judgment had on the entire nation.
"Then all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had handed down, and they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice." (1 Kings 3:28)
This was not the fear of a tyrant. It was reverential awe. The people understood that they had a king who could not be fooled. You could not come into his court with a lie and expect to prosper. He had the capacity to see into the heart and render true judgment. This established the credibility and authority of his reign. And they rightly identified the source of this power. It was not mere human cleverness or a shrewd psychological trick. They saw "that the wisdom of God was in him." God's gift was being used for God's purpose, which is "to do justice." A kingdom where justice is faithfully administered is a kingdom that reflects the character of God, and it is a kingdom where the people can live in security and peace.
The Greater Solomon is Here
This entire episode is a magnificent portrait of righteous judgment, but it is a portrait that points beyond itself. Solomon, for all his wisdom, was a flawed man who would eventually fall into folly. He is a type, a foreshadowing, of the one true and perfect King, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the greater Solomon.
We all stand before this King. We come to Him with our own impossible cases, our own tangled lies and secret sins. And He, like Solomon, has a sword. His sword is the Word of God, which is "living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).
When the gospel is preached, it presents us with a choice, just as Solomon's sword presented those two women with a choice. The gospel presents us with Christ, the living one. And like the false mother, the spirit of this world cries out, "Divide him!" The world wants a compromised Christ. It wants a Christ who is a good teacher but not God, a Christ who is an example of love but not a substitute for sin, a Christ who can be split between the sacred and the secular. The world would rather have a dead, divided Christ than a living, reigning Lord.
But the true child of God, the one whose heart has been stirred by the compassion of the Holy Spirit, responds like the true mother. When faced with the absolute claims of Jesus Christ, the true believer says, "Let Him be Lord of all, even if it costs me everything. I will give up my rights, my reputation, my very life, so long as Christ is honored and His life is proclaimed." True faith is self-sacrificial. It would rather lose everything in this world than see Christ divided or diminished.
And our King, the Lord Jesus, sees the heart. He knows who are His. He knows the difference between the selfish possessiveness of dead religion and the self-giving love of true faith. And His verdict is final. "Give them the living child." To those who are willing to lose their life for His sake, He gives eternal life. He declares, "This one is the true mother. This one is Mine." And when the people of God see this wisdom, this justice, and this mercy at work, they fear their King. Not with a cowering dread, but with a holy awe, for they see that the very wisdom of God is in Him to do justice and to save.