Solomon's Sword: Adjudication of Child Custody Questions

It is significant that this story from the reign of King Solomon in the tenth century B.C. uses as its setting a battle over child custody to illustrate the legendary "wisdom of Solomon."' It is equally meaningful that after the passage of some three thousand years of civilization and supposed social progress, a twentieth century Amer- ican judge could remark that "a judge agonizes more about reaching the right result in a contested custody issue than about any other type decision he renders." And this agony intrudes into an ever-increasing number of cases.