See I Kings iii.

The eyes of Judea were on the young King Solomon. To an Eastern people, governed by an irresponsible sovereign, their happiness lies mercilessly in his hands. This judgment, therefore, between the rival claims of the false mother and the true, brought thus early before their king, would be, in their estimation, a criterion of his skill, wisdom and character, arid a pregnant indication of their own future happiness or woe.

“Then said the King, The one saith, This is my son, that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith Nay: but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living. And the King said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king; and the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. Then spake the woman whose the living child was, unto the king (for her bowels yearned upon her son), and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: but the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. Then the King answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof. 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 judgment.”

The sentiment of the picture is well shown in the appealing agony of the one woman and the indifference of the other, in the dramatic attitude of the executioner and of the youthful judge, towards whom the surrounding spectators turn with tense and eager gaze. It is a grand representation of an oriental court in the ancient time, the regal splendor of the youthful king being greatly heightened by relieving him against a background of choice decorative design.