Judgement of Solomon
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The judgement of Solomon is a metaphorical expression for a decision which destroys the subject matter of a dispute rather than allowing either disputing party to share in it. It is similar to the proverbial expression "cutting off the nose to spite the face".
The saying is based upon the Biblical passage in 1 Kings 3:16-28, where two new mothers approach Solomon, bringing with them a single baby boy. Each mother presents the same story - she and the other woman live together. One night, soon after the birth of their respective children, the other woman woke to find that she had smothered her own baby in her sleep. In anguish and jealousy, she took her dead son and exchanged it with the other's child. The following morning, the woman discovered the dead baby, and soon realised that it was not her own son, but the other woman's.
After some deliberation, King Solomon calls for a sword to be brought before him. He declares that there is only one fair solution: the live son must be split in two, each woman receiving half of the child. Upon hearing this terrible verdict, the boy's true mother cries out, "Please, My Lord, give her the live child - do not kill him!" However, the liar, in her bitter jealousy, exclaims, "It shall be neither mine nor yours - divide it!" Solomon instantly gives the baby to the real mother, realising that the true mother's instincts were to protect her child, while the liar revealed that her only motivation was jealousy. [1]
Ironically, of course, in the story Solomon by his wisdom avoids the destruction of the subject matter of the dispute (the baby); but this was not sufficient to save his name from being annexed to the metaphor in the English lexicon due to his pronouncement that the baby should be destroyed.
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[edit] Footnotes
- ^ This story is in fact exactly paralleled in the judicial decisions of Ooka Tadasuke of Japan and that of Akbar and Birbal of the Mughal Empire in India. The story can be viewed as symbolic of the split in the United Monarchy following the death of Solomon.
