And 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 justice.
All Commentaries on 1 Kings 3:28 Go To 1 Kings 3
John Cassian
AD 435
What about Solomon, who received the gift of wisdom from God and who made his first judgment with the help of a lie? For, in order to elicit the truth that was hidden by a woman’s lie, he himself also made use of a very cleverly thought-out lie when he said, “Bring me a sword, and cut the living infant in two pieces, and give half to one and half to the other.” When this semblance of cruelty profoundly shook the real mother but was praised by the one who was not the mother, he at once, as a result of this most astute discovery of the truth, handed down the sentence that everyone believes was inspired by God: “Give the living infant to this woman,” he said, “and do not let it be slain. This is its mother.”
