◄ 1 Kings 3:25 ►
Context
Solomon Judges Wisely

16Then came there two women, that were harlots, to the king, and stood before him. 17And 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. 18And 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. 19And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it. 20And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while your handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. 21And 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. 22And the other woman said, No; but the living is my son, and the dead is your son. And this said, No; but the dead is your son, and the living is my son. Thus they spoke before the king. 23Then said the king, The one said, This is my son that lives, and your son is the dead: and the other said, No; but your son is the dead, and my son is the living. 24And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. 25And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. 26Then spoke the woman whose the living child was to the king, for her bowels yearned on 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 my nor yours, but divide it. 27Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof. 28And 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.
Cross References
1 Kings 3:24
And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.

1 Kings 3:26
Then spoke the woman whose the living child was to the king, for her bowels yearned on 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 my nor yours, but divide it.

Treasury of Scripture

And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.

Divide This was apparently a very strange decision; but Solomon saw that the only way to discover the real mother was by the affections and tenderness should would necessarily shew to her offspring. The plan was tried, and succeeded; and it was a proof of his sound judgment, penetration, and acquaintance with the human heart, or rather, of his extraordinary and supernatural wisdom. See verse

1 Kings 3:28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king...

. The two following instances are in some faint manner to be compared to Solomon's decision, inasmuch as they also work upon the human sympathies. Suetionius, in his Life of the emperor Claudian, tells us, that this emperor discovered a woman to be the real mother of a young man, whom she refused to acknowledge, by commanding her to marry him, the proofs being doubtful on both sides; for, rather than commit incest, she confessed the truth. Diodorus Siculus also informs us, that Ariopharnes, king of Thrace, being appointed to decided between three young men, each of whom professed to be the son of the deceased king of the Cimmerians, and claimed the succession, discovered the real son by ordering each to shoot an arrow into the dead body of the king: two of them did this without hesitation; but the real son of the deceased monarch refused.

Proverbs 25:8 Go not forth hastily to strive, lest you know not what to do in the end thereof, when your neighbor has put you to shame.

Strong's Concordance
And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.
Topical Bible
Child Cut Divide Half
Resources
1 Kings Chapter 3 Verse 25

Alphabetical: an and child Cut Divide gave give half He in king living one order other said the then to two

OT History: 1 Kings 3:25 The king said Divide the living child (1Ki iKi i Ki 1 Kg 1kg)
1 Kings 3:24
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