this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2025
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[โ€“] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 52 points 2 days ago (5 children)

I remember growing up as a kid, doing my time in Sunday School, and getting this story pitched as "Wise King Solomon ferret's out the truth of maternity by determining which claimant truly cares about the life of the child".

It's kinda crazy how the story has permuted into "Two women fight over a thing and both agree splitting it in half is the fair solution."

I think the permutation is because it works better on a comedic level. Probably started out as basic "But what if king Solomon did cut the baby in half" arguments and eventually became a general joke. The base level of "cut the baby in half" is already dark by itself all it takes is going through with it and you have a good bit of dark humor.

Also the whole scenario of king Solomon almost comes across as him not necessarily being particularly smart but moreso that the people he was dealing with were crazy or stupid.

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