And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.
Then the king said, 'Cut the living child in half and give one half to each woman.'
The king is proposing what seems like a shocking solution to test which woman is truly the child's mother.
📚 Historical Context
In the biblical narrative, King Solomon had just ascended to the throne of Israel and was renowned for asking God for wisdom to rule justly. Two women appeared before him, both claiming to be the mother of a living baby after one had accidentally rolled over and killed her own child in the night, leading to a dispute over the surviving infant. Solomon's shocking proposal to divide the child was a strategic test designed to uncover the true mother's selfless love and reveal the rightful parent.
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