"And the king said, 'Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.'" — Solomon's *proposed judgment*: *gavla et-ha-yeled ha-chay le-shnayim u-ten chatzi le-zot u-chatzi le-zot* (divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other). The proposal is *radical*—to kill the child is to solve the dispute by eliminating the object of contention. Yet it is also *a test*: the true mother's response to this judgment will reveal her identity. The judgment is *unjust on its surface* yet *just in its deeper logic*.

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