{"id":61587,"date":"2019-08-20T17:46:44","date_gmt":"2019-08-20T14:46:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=61587"},"modified":"2023-03-14T14:49:15","modified_gmt":"2023-03-14T12:49:15","slug":"the-transparency-of-solomon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-transparency-of-solomon\/","title":{"rendered":"The Transparency Of Solomon"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[838,499,372],"acf":{"old_id":"61587","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34250,"related_cahpter":"290","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Not private knowledge but public wisdom for all to see and trust\u00a0","content":"

Immediately after Solomon is granted wisdom from God, a court case materializes that famously demonstrates that wisdom: Two roommates show up, arguing over whose baby is dead and whose baby is alive. Solomon\u2019s solution? Split the living baby, so each woman gets half! The sword is ready, one woman is amenable \u2013 but the other declares she\u2019d rather the baby live, even if the other woman gets him, and Solomon declares her the true mother.<\/span><\/p>\n

On one hand, the juxtaposition between Solomon\u2019s request for wisdom and the case that demonstrates it is so striking that Malbim suggests God orchestrated the case to make clear \u201cthat God had fulfilled his request.\u201d Malbim\u2019s wording implies the goal was to convince Solomon himself \u2013 and as it happens, by the end of the story, when \u201call Israel heard,\u201d they too were convinced: \u201cthey saw that he possessed divine wisdom to execute justice (v. 28).<\/span><\/p>\n

On the other hand, Malbim wonders at the beginning of the section \u2013 as perhaps many of us have \u2013 \u201cWhat was the great wisdom in this judgment? It was already obvious that the [true] mother would have mercy!\u201d It seems similarly obvious that the king wouldn\u2019t really have split \u2013 i.e. killed \u2013 the child, and so Malbim also asks: \u201cWhat would he have done if the second woman had\u2026 understood his deceit, and also asked to keep the child alive?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In answer, Malbim suggests (as do others) that Solomon\u2019s \u201cruling\u201d wasn\u2019t actually a way to determine the truth; he knew that all along, because the women themselves gave it away. One woman insists \u201cthe live one is my son, and the dead one is yours!\u201d \u2013 prioritizing her own, living child \u2013 while the other proclaims in the opposite order, \u201cNo, the dead boy is yours; mine is the live one!\u201d (v. 22). Solomon deduces from their different emphases that one cares for her living child, while the other is only interested in making sure her opponent is <\/span>not<\/b> left with a living child. And he is confident that, fixated as she is on that goal, she won\u2019t see through his rather obvious strategy but will latch onto it eagerly \u2013 as she does.<\/span><\/p>\n

If Solomon was so sure, however, why bother with the drama? Why not simply declare which was the true mother as soon as he realized?<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps the answer lies in that final verse of the story: \u201cAll Israel\u2026 saw that he possessed divine wisdom to execute justice.\u201d While some read that to mean they were confident Solomon would seek the truth, Metzudat David goes a step further: \u201cTo execute justice \u2013 to understand the truth\u2026 <\/span>and<\/b> to clarify it through a trial.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It is not enough for a king or judge to simply be certain in his own mind and rule accordingly. What Solomon offered in this first exhibition of his newly enhanced wisdom was transparency: he didn\u2019t simply determine the truth behind the closed doors of his divinely-enhanced mind, but created an opportunity for the world to see, learn, and trust.<\/span><\/p>\n

Image: Image: Nicolas Poussin: The Judgment of Solomon, c. 1649 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":61588,"id":61588,"title":"1kings3-Nicolas_Poussin_-_The_Judgment_of_Solomon","filename":"1kings3-Nicolas_Poussin_-_The_Judgment_of_Solomon.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings3-Nicolas_Poussin_-_The_Judgment_of_Solomon.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-transparency-of-solomon\/1kings3-nicolas_poussin_-_the_judgment_of_solomon\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"1kings3-nicolas_poussin_-_the_judgment_of_solomon","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":61587,"date":"2019-08-20 14:46:30","modified":"2019-08-20 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