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Reader question: Please explain this sentence: The judge’s decision is nothing short of Solomonic. My comments: In other words, the judge’s verdict is a very difficult but wise one, so wise that you may compare it with judgments made by King Solomon of Israel in the 10 century BC. King Solomon was known as a wise man whose wisdom was, in fact, beyond ordinary measure. According to legend, for example, two women came to him both claiming to be the mother of a baby and the King was able to use a simple ruse to tell the two apart. Here’s a full account of Solomon Makes a Difficult Decision, from a contemporary English version of the Christian Bible (BibleGateWay.com): One day two women came to King Solomon, 17 and one of them said: Your Majesty, this woman and I live in the same house. Not long ago my baby was born at home, and three days later her baby was born. Nobody else was there with us. One night while we were all asleep, she rolled over on her baby, and he died. Then while I was still asleep, she got up and took my son out of my bed. She put him in her bed, then she put her dead baby next to me. In the morning when I got up to feed my son, I saw that he was dead. But when I looked at him in the light, I knew he wasn’t my son. “No!” the other woman shouted. “He was your son. My baby is alive!” “The dead baby is yours,” the first woman yelled. “Mine is alive!” | 
