_To show how a very wise man found out the truth of a cause brought
before him for decision._
Solomon was king of Israel after his father, David, died. Solomon
was a very wise king. He wrote a great many proverbs which we read
in the Bible. He probably said these proverbs to his people in
order to make them lead correct lives and to prosper in all their
work. He was also a prosperous king and gathered much money for
himself and his people. Upon one occasion the Queen of Sheba came
to see him. He showed her his vast treasures of gold and silver,
his houses and cattle, and he answered all the questions she asked
him. The queen was greatly astonished at all this wealth, and said:
“Behold! the half was not told me. Thy wisdom and prosperity exceed
the fame which I heard.”
We know that Solomon and his men built the great temple for the
people of Israel, known as Solomon’s Temple. He had the stone cut
in the mountain and shaped, so that when it was brought it fitted
exactly into place. There was neither hammer nor ax nor any tool of
iron heard in the house while it was building. So wonderful were
the gold and precious jewels and rare woods and fine cloths of the
temple that when it was finished there was no temple in the world
finer than Solomon’s temple.
To show how wise a king was Solomon, let us see how he decided one
case that was brought before him for judgment.
Two women came before the king. One of them said:
“Oh, my lord, this woman and I dwell in one house. We both had a
little baby of nearly the same age. There was no one else in the
house with us. This woman’s child died in the night, and while I
slept she took my child from its bed and gave me her dead child. I
pray you make her return to me my own child, for her child is dead
and it is mine that is yet alive.”
Then the other woman said:
“Nay, it is my child that is alive, and it was her child that died;
and now she seeks to rob me of my living child. I pray you, my
lord, to judge between us.”
The king thought a little while and then said:
“Bring me a sword,” and they brought him a sword. Then he said:
“Divide the living child in two and give half to the one and half
to the other.”
One of the women readily agreed to this, but the mother cried out:
“No! my lord! give her the living child, but in no wise slay it. I
would she keep it altogether than to have it dead before my eyes.”
Then Solomon said: “Give this woman the child, for it is hers. Only
a mother’s heart can feel such sacrifice.” And he ordered the child
given to its true mother.