Greetings John Buchan. Although not perfect, Solomon is regarded a wise king and this was the cornerstone of his rule. The text uses a classical impression of "motherhood" or what it means to be a nurturer. So we gather from the text that the "real" mother would place the child's safety and welfare above her personal interests or desires. The "other mother" was not concerned about the child. She was acting out of pain, loss, and an impure motive.

Alfred, thanks for your thoughtful reply. My problem with this story had been making sense of the impure motive of the "other mother." She'd been saying that she wanted the baby. But when it was offered to her, she changed her mind, preferring to see the baby killed. That indicates to me that her story of wanting to raise the baby as her son had been a lie, her real intention had been for the second baby to die. I think that as a pregnant prostitute, faced with a choice of quitting prostitution to live as a single mother in poverty, or of continuing as a prostitute, she decided to smother her baby where there were no witnesses. I think she then wanted to smother the second baby to dissuade the other (likely younger and less experienced) prostitute from leaving the house of prostitution, in which there were only two “workers.” In that case, could we attribute the “other mother” saying “Let them cut him in two” to spontaneous relief that she felt at Solomon’s totally unexpected “offer” to relieve her from the disagreeable task of having to smother another baby? I think Solomon’s wisdom was shown in his “offer” to kill the baby. An "offer" that Solomon was not going to allow to become reality.

Hello son! I love you and I am proud of you. Praying for your health.