Based on selection from Zvi Akiva Fleisher
The famous story of a most strange case brought before King Shlomo to adjudicate, taking place shortly after he was promised great wisdom by HaShem (Melachim 1:3:12). The Navi then recounts this most difficult case and how through his exceptional wisdom, King Shlomo brought the truth to light.
There is a most difficult question that a logical person should have with this story. Although "all's well that ends well" and "hindsight has 20/20 vision" (the false mother showed her true colors), but why did King Shlomo think that the false mother would fall trap into his ruse? Only an exceedingly dimwitted person would agree to have the child cut in two. Wherein lies King Shlomo's wisdom?
Three Possible Answers
Linguistic
Additional Information: There is a switch in the order of the two points being claimed by each one. In verse 22 we find, "The other woman said, 'It is not as you claim, but rather my son is the live one, and your son is the dead one,' and this one said, 'It is not as you claim, but rather your son is the dead one, and my son is the live one!'" In the next verse King Shlomo verbatim repeats the words of both litigants, only adding on the word "zeh" in the beginning of the words of the first woman.
Perhaps ZEH is not part of the quote of the woman's words, but rather a prelude added by King Shlomo. The child might have had a bit of similarity to his true mother's features and she was not afraid to accentuate this, thus pointing to him while saying that he was her offspring. Not so with the other claimant. She distanced herself from drawing attention to the child's appearance and did not point to him while she claimed that he was her child.
King Shlomo’s Wisdom: Before King Shlomo even suggested his test he already deduced from the words of the two women who the true mother was. When mentioning two matters, it is human nature to express oneself with the primary weightier matter first and the secondary matter only afterwards. The true mother had but one thing on her mind. I WANT MY CHILD! The woman who knew that her child was dead could not bring it back to life. Her driving force was her unwillingness to see her friend coddle, nurse, and bring up a child, while hers was dead. Her goal in appearing in front of King Shlomo was to stop the other woman from having a child while she would be left without one. All was thus revealed to King Shlomo and he therefore repeated these key words which revealed the truth. Only because it was a subtle proof did he go on to suggest the "cutting edge" test. Indeed the false mother stated, "gam li gam loch lo y'h'yeh" (verse 26), thus showing her true colors.
In short, two women dwelled together in one room and gave birth within three days of each other, each to a boy. The child of one of them unfortunately died. One woman claimed that when the other awoke at night and realized that her son was no longer among the living, she surreptitiously took her dead child and switched it with her own live child. The other claimed that it was not so, but rather, that the other woman's child had died, and that she was lying in an attempt to have the live child for herself. King Shlomo said that the way to resolve this in a "clear cut" manner was to bring him a sword. He proposed to cut the child in half and give each claimant half a child. One woman unequivocally said that the child should not be cut asunder and she would rather give up her child to the other woman. The second woman responded that she would go along with King Shlomo's suggestion. King Shlomo then said that the woman who adamantly refused to have the child physically divided was the true mother. All of Yisroel heard about the ruling of King Shlomo, and his reputation then spread far and wide (Melachim 1:3:16-28).
Yibum
Additional Information: The M.R. Koheles 10:18, Yalkut Shimoni Melachim remez #175, and the Medrash Shochar Tov on Tehilim 72 mention an opinion that these two women were involved in a question of YIBUM, thus rendering them as candidates for "yibum" or "chalitzah." The law is invoked if neither has a viable child (or grandchild). In addition, the brother-in-law to perform either "yibum" or "chalitzah" must be at least 13 years old. Both women claimed the baby as their own, and they were a mother-in-law and her daughter-in-law and both their husbands were no longer alive.
King Shlomo’s Wisdom: He realized that the only one with a compelling motive to lie was the daughter-in-law. If it was her son who died within 30 days from his birth, she would be bound to her husband's brother, this newborn boy, for "yibum" or "chalitzah," which requires a wait of almost 13 years under these circumstances (no husband and no other brother)! Thus, most likely the child really belonged to the mother-in-law. In order to confirm this conclusion he ordered that the child be cut in two. If the baby would be killed this would accomplish a tremendous release of obligation for the daughter-in-law since the living baby was her one and only brother-in-law. The mother-in-law would only become a yevamah if both her husband and no other child were alive. Now we see why it was logical for King Shlomo to think that daughter-in-law would fall for his plan and agree to have the child killed, and he thus exposed her as the liar that she was.
New Interpretation of Cutting the Baby in Half
Additional Information: King Shlomo said that he could not conclude as to who was the truthful woman and offered to dissect the baby in such a manner that each part would remain alive, recovering from the procedure. Although no one had ever heard of such a thing taking place before, King Shlomo with his reputation as the most knowledgeable of all men stated that he could do it, a first in the Guinness World Book of Records.
King Shlomo’s Wisdom: King Shlomo said that he was capable of severing the child in two, leaving over in each one of the children one of the above-mentioned organs, and both children would be viable. Thus he expected the false mother to accept this offer. The bereaved mother readily agreed, as she had no great compassion for the child who was not really the fruit of her womb. She gullibly believed King Shlomo and felt she had nothing to lose. The true mother, however, reacted as any true mother would. She said that she did not rely on King Shlomo's wisdom to perform such a delicate procedure successfully, and stated that she would rather give up the child to the other woman than to so greatly risk his life.
The Wisdom of Shlomo (Sefer Melachim – Chapter 3)
Whereas David's kingship was founded on the sword of prayer and faith – he had to fight throughout his life – Shlomo's kingship was founded on the very WISDOM and UNDERSTANDING which he had the good sense to request when G-d offered him anything he wanted. At the tender age of 12 (Rashi and RaDaK on v 7) when many intelligent youngsters tend to be highly arrogant, the wise young King Shlomo had the humility to understand he would need divine help in judging the busy, quarrelsome Israelites – for kingship (MALCHUS) is founded on Judgment (MISHPAT=TIFERES, the center column, balance) and the repair of Judgment depends upon BINAH, "understanding". Shlomo thus asked G-d to "give Your servant a LISTENING heart" (v 9) in order to HEAR and UNDERSTAND, while G-d responded even more generously by giving him a heart that was WISE as well as UNDERSTANDING (v 12). CHOCHMAH, "wisdom", is the ability to GRASP, know and remember what one learns, while BINAH, "understanding", is the ability to ANALYZE what one knows in order to make new inferences, "understanding one thing from another" (RaDaK on v 12). When Shlomo awoke from his dream he knew that his request had been granted, because "he heard a bird chirping and understood its language, and he heard a dog barking and he understood what it was saying" (Rashi on v 15).
