solomon

There are many paradoxes evident in our world today. A paradox is a statement that appears to produce two entirely contradictory outcomes or goes against what we intuitively expect. Paradoxes have been part of philosophical thinking for centuries. King Solomon was a paragon of wisdom and sage judgment and yet his personal life was a bit of a mess.

When I was a little girl, my grandmother gave me a pictoral bible. My favorite story was from 1 Kings 3:16–28 which recounts two mothers living in the same house with their newborns. One day the mothers came to Solomon distressed because one of the babies had been smothered and died. Each woman claimed that the remaining baby was hers. King Solomon called for a sword and then asked that the baby be cut in two, each woman to receive half a child.

One mother was content with Solomon's proposal, indicating that if she couldn't have the baby, then neither of them should. However, the other woman looked to Solomon, and 1 Kings 3: 26-28 tells the story.

The woman whose son was alive was deeply moved out of love for her son and said to the king, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!”

But the other said, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!”

Then the king gave his ruling: “Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother.”

When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.

Once the mothers revealed their true feelings, Solomon could discern the true mother from the fraud; however, what does that have to do with Paradox?

According to the Journal of Psychological Science, this is an actual phenomenon. Solomon’s Paradox is the state of mind where you can understand, reason and solve other people’s problems more wisely than you can your own. Solomon was the wisest man of all time, but he couldn’t manage his own personal life all that well. His hundreds of wives led him to follow customs and worship practices of other cultures. We may advise well, but don’t follow our own advice or counsel.

Maybe it’s time to start following our own advice and see the results. We might gain much wisdom.