Texts in Conversation
Solomon's judgment tests the same duty to protect the weak that Hammurabi claims for kingship. His treatment of two women with little power demonstrates his fitness to rule through justice rather than wealth or military strength.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Code of Hammurabi 1:4
Babylonian Legal Text
Ancient Near East
They called Babylon by his illustrious name, made it great on earth, and founded in it an everlasting kingdom whose foundations are laid as solidly as those of heaven and earth. Then Anu and Bel called me by name: Hammurabi, the exalted prince, who revered the gods, to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil-doers. So that the strong should not harm the weak, so that I should rule over the black-headed people like Shamash and enlighten the land, and further the well-being of mankind. I am Hammurabi, the prince called by Bel, who heaped up riches and plenty, who enriched Nippur and Dur-ilu beyond compare, the sublime patron of E-kur, who restored Eridu and purified the worship of E-apsu.
1 Kings 3:28
Hebrew Bible
24 The king ordered, “Get me a sword.” So they placed a sword before the king. 25 The king then said, “Cut the living child in two, and give half to one and half to the other!” 26 The real mother spoke up to the king, for her motherly instincts were awakened. She said, “My master, give her the living child! Whatever you do, don’t kill him!” But the other woman said, “Neither one of us will have him. Let them cut him in two!” 27 The king responded, “Give the first woman the living child; don’t kill him. She is the mother.” 28 When all Israel heard about the judicial decision which the king had rendered, they respected the king, for they realized that he possessed divine wisdom to make judicial decisions.
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Notes and References
“... 3:16-28. royal wisdom in judging. Solomon’s wisdom is demonstrated in his ability to discern true justice, a quality which marks him as a “just king.” This attribute is claimed by nearly every ancient Near Eastern king as he ascends the throne and establishes his rule as one concerned for the welfare of the state and even the weakest of its citizens (see the prologue to Hammurabi’s Code in which he is charged by the gods “to cause justice to prevail in the land”). Other examples of the expectation of royal wisdom are found in the Egyptian Protests of the Eloquent Peasant (twentieth to eighteenth centuries B.C.) and in the appeal of the eleventh-century B.C. Egyptian priest Wenamon, who asked the prince of Byblos for a resolution of his case. ...”
Walton, John H.
The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament
(p. 359) InterVarsity Press, 2000
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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