King Solomon’s Judgement

Artwork: Carville Primary School Pupils

This song shows King Solomon’s wisdom being tested to the limit.

Two very angry and upset women were brought before the King. Both women claimed to be the mother of the baby they had brought before him.

Would Solomon be able to solve their problem? Who was the real mother of the child?

The first thing Solomon did was to listen carefully to their story.

Then he trusted God to give him a wise answer, which hopefully would solve the problem. Only then did he speak and act upon that wisdom.

Read James 1. 19-20. Write it out in your own words and think about it. In what way does it speak to you?

In groups of three, act out the story about King Solomon and the two women

(Or you could try telling this story using puppets)

23 King Solomon’s Judgement: 1 Kings 3.16-28

(to the tune ‘Ten Green Bottles’)

Two angry women came before the king;

both were unhappy, both were arguing.

Both had had babies, but one of them had died.

So who was the mother of the living child?

One said, “This baby is definitely mine,

but she lay upon hers sometime in the night!

She stole my baby, took him to her bed;

and left hers beside me, I woke to find him dead!”

The other woman cursed her, said that she had lied.

“My son’s the live one, yours the one that died!”

“That’s not true!” said the first one angrily.

“Yours is the dead one, now give my son to me!”

Solomon had heard enough and called out for a sword,

for he had a plan to decide who was the fraud.

Gave a command to cut the child in two!

“Give half to each woman, wouldn’t that be good?”

“STOP, DON’T KILL HIM! Let her have the child!”

said one, but the other was happy to comply.

And so King Solomon, made it very clear,

which one was the mother, and which one was the liar!