History Main / JudgmentOfSolomon

* Memorably subverted in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS10E18SimpsonsBibleStories Simpsons Bible Stories]]":

* In ''Israel's Golden Years'' (1986), an educational UsefulNotes/AppleII and UsefulNotes/Commodore64 game in ''The Baker Street Kids'' series based on Literature/TheBible, the titular kids [[https://cdn.mobygames.com/screenshots/10952579-israels-golden-years-apple-ii-solomons-wisdom.png enact the judgment of King Solomon]] in the "Solomon's Wisdom" segment, with some doll (as the baby) held up with a pretend knife to it for some reason.

* Used in Creator/LeoFrankowski's ''Cross-Time Engineer'' series. Conrad Stargard, the titular engineer, becomes a feudal lord, and is asked to arbitrate a dispute. A man and his neighbor each owned a pig, and one day, they only found one pig. They both claim it is theirs. Conrad agrees with both of them, and tells them the court cost from each of them is half a pig. They divide the pig between them, and later give Conrad the other pig when it is found.

[[folder: Puppet Shows]]

* Parodied in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Histeria}}'' King Solomon gets presented with the two women claiming to be the mother, and he suggests (like in the original) cutting the baby in half. ''Both'' women react with disgust, declare they're not the mother, and leave, forcing Solomon to take ownership of the baby. To make it worse, neither of the two women claimed to be the mother in the first place; Solomon's guards just picked up two random women off the street.

* Subverted in ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf''. Akane and Shampoo try to drag Ranma in different directions, and Mousse says it reminds him of a story about an old ruler who, when presented with two mothers fighting over a baby, told the mothers to have a tug of war, with the winner getting the child. But the mother's love was strong in both of them... so the child was ripped apart and nobody lived happily ever after.

** Note as well that the original tale can actually be seen as a parable, as Solomon was at war with one of his brothers at the time; the baby was Israel, the sword was war, Solomon was the false mother and his brother was represented by the real mother. The message was "If you don't want me to split the kingdom, give it up." It worked.

* {{Discussed|Trope}} in ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit''. In a case concerning the custody of a child, Stabler mentions [[Literature/TheBible King Solomon]], and the DA counters that she can't literally split the child. Stabler points out [[TakeAThirdOption Solomon didn't have to, either.]]
** To elaborate: A child kidnapping victim was found to be the biological daughter of the woman who orchestrated the kidnapping, who initially believed that the child was actually her deceased daughter; she was actually that child's genetic sibling, implanted into another mother as part of a fraud scheme being run by the IVF clinic both women used. The child was raised by her surrogate mother, who gave birth to her. Once it's revealed that the child is genetically hers, the mother uses this as a kidnapping defense and indicates her intention to sue for custody if she's acquitted. When the child takes the stand, Casey purposely upsets her so much that the mother agrees to plead guilty and stop pursuing custody.[[note]]In this case, it wasn't to determine which mother would get the child, since they don't have the authority to decide that question; the relevant part was the idea that the mother would love the girl enough to do what was best for her, even if that meant giving her up.[[/note]]

* Subverted in ''Series/TheCosbyShow'' of all things. Rudy and Olivia are arguing over who gets to play with a toy. Vanessa suggests cutting it in half, so Rudy and Olivia then argue over who gets which half!

* ''Radio/JohnFinnemoresSouvenirProgramme'': Both women object to cutting up the baby, leaving Solomon to scramble for a different solution. He asks them each what the baby's name is, but of course doesn't know which name is correct. Then he tries asking what color the baby's eyes are, which both answer correctly. [[spoiler: He works it out in the end--one of the women forgets what she said the baby's name was, exposing herself as the liar.]]

* ''Webcomic/DumbingOfAge'': Both Joyce and Walky want the write a daily comic strip, but there's only one spot. Daisy suggests they split the days. Walky agrees, but Joyce demands all or nothing. Daisy gives it to her, as she clearly cares more. "I just ''Solomoned'' your asses." Walky points out that her suggestion was a ''perfectly valid compromise'', and shouldn't have been a test.

* Done in an episode of ''Series/{{Dinosaurs}}'', in which the baby is cut in half and then put back together in a weird cross between this trope and [[ItMakesSenseInContext Vegas-style stage magic]].

* Shows up in ''Series/LazyTown'', of all places. The episode "Who's Who?" features Robbie Rotten making a perfect robotic clone of Stephanie from a toy lookalike, and [[SpotTheImpostor the citizens of the town can't tell which is the real one.]] A dance-off is suggested, with Robbie, Mayor Meanswell, and Bessie Busybody as judges. The clone goes first and ends her routine with a stylish jump move; Stephanie then takes her turn with a similar routine, but doesn't do a jump. The judges think that the true Stephanie must be the first one, because her dancing was better, but Trixie realizes that only the ''real'' Stephanie would have enough self-confidence and faith in her friends' ability to know the truth to deliberately leave out a move she could easily do. This convinces Ms. Busybody and the Mayor, but not Robbie--thankfully, though, the clone turns back into its original toy form at that moment, so the question is settled. Stephanie still thanks Trixie for speaking up and figuring out her plan.

You're either the ruler of the land, or someone else whose job is to arbitrate between people. Either way, you have a problem. There is an object whose true ownership is under dispute. [[AliceAndBob Alice says it is hers, and Bob says it is his.]] This is usually a living thing, such as a baby. How do you figure out the true owner? Threaten to destroy the object (traditionally by cutting it in half and giving one half to each claimant, in the knowledge that half of it is no good to either of them).

In the end, Alice would rather see it given up to Bob than have it destroyed, and Bob is all too happy to receive it (or, alternatively, Alice is the first to object). Alice is the real owner, revealed by her compassion.

* The Judgment of Solomon is a story from Literature/TheBible. The story recounts that two mothers living in the same house, each the mother of an infant son, came to King Solomon. One of the babies had died, and each claimed the remaining boy as her own. Calling for a sword, Solomon declared his judgment: the baby would be cut in two, each woman to receive half. One mother thought the ruling fair, but the other begged Solomon, "Give the baby to her, just don't kill him!" The king declared the second woman the true mother (in either the literal or metaphorical sense), as a (good) mother would even give up her baby if that was necessary to save its life. This judgment became known throughout all of Israel and was considered an example of profound wisdom.

* An odd variation in the final episode of ''Anime/SteelAngelKurumi Encore''. A contest is held between the Steel Angels as to who will have Nakahito as their master and it's down to Kurumi and a mysterious masked Angel. At the end of the race, the two snag Nakahito and begin a tug of war as they race towards a finish line. Nakahito cries out in pain and Kurumi, frightened for her master's safety, lets go. Because of this, Kurumi is declared the winner. Then, we find out that the mysterious Angel wasn't an Angel at all [[spoiler:but one of the two spies working for the government who had a somewhat unhealthy fixation on him, so she would have lost any way!]]

* A variation appears in an episode of ''Series/TheMentalist''. A wealthy investment banker has been murdered over $10 million in diamonds, and suspicion comes down to either the victim's wife or his mistress as to which one was involved. His daughter has been kidnapped, however, and Patrick sets up a scenario where each woman is faced with a choice where they have to either save the daughter or acquire the diamonds. [[spoiler: The mistress goes for the daughter, the wife for the diamonds.]]

* A variation appears in an episode of ''Series/TheMentalist''. A wealthy investment banker has been murdered, and suspicion comes down to either the victim's wife or his mistress as to which one was involved. His daughter has been kidnapped, however, and Patrick sets up a scenario where each woman is faced with a choice where they have to either save the daughter or acquire about $10 million worth of diamonds. [[spoiler: The mistress goes for the daughter, the wife for the diamonds.]]

* In ''ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand'', Batman finds himself in this situation between two mothers and a baby. [[spoiler:The classic solution doesn't work at all, making Bats go figure out a new solution.]]
* Parodied in one issue of ''ComicBook/SheHulk'' where the titular heroine becomes a cosmic judge. A mother and father alien present the classic problem to her, each wanting to raise their child under a different religion, but when she begins to explain the process the father quickly slashes the child in two. Fortunately it turns out these aliens can subdivide and regenerate so her decision creates a new child for each parent