What is the context?
Two women, identified as prostitutes, bring a dispute to Solomon. One says that they gave birth three days apart in the same house, with no one else present. She says the other child died during the night and that the babies were exchanged while she slept. The other woman denies it.
Solomon calls for a sword and orders the living child divided. The true mother immediately asks that the child be given to the other woman rather than killed. The other woman agrees to the division.
The account describes the mother’s deep compassion for her son. The Hebrew verb used for this stirring of feeling is kamar, pronounced kah-MAR. Brown–Driver–Briggs describes it as growing warm and tender and explicitly includes this verse.
Solomon gives the living child to the woman who pleaded for his life. Israel hears the judgment and stands in awe, recognizing God’s wisdom in the king’s administration of justice.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Henry understands the test as revealing which woman loves the child. The decisive question becomes whose concern for his life is greater than her desire to win the dispute.
Wesley and Gill likewise understand the mother’s plea as the clue Solomon recognizes. His order brings out the contrasting responses; his final ruling expressly forbids killing the child.
The episode demonstrates the wisdom just promised to Solomon. Its outcome preserves the child’s life and restores him to his mother. It is a particular account of judgment, not an instruction to threaten children when settling disputes.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
The mother’s compassion has a meaningful place beside the Bible’s pictures of God’s care. In Isaiah 49:14–16, God answers Zion’s fear of being forgotten by asking whether a nursing mother could forget her child. Even if a mother could forget, He will not forget His people.
Hosea 11:8–9 also describes God’s deeply stirred compassion toward Israel. The verb used for that stirring is the same one used here for the mother’s feeling. The parallel helps us see the strength of the care being described.
These passages do not identify this woman as a prediction or make every mother’s experience identical. They use the recognizable depth of compassionate love to help readers grasp God’s faithful concern for His people.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.