Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.
And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.
And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house.

The circumstance is established in a most interesting manner. The supplicants are known to be prostitutes from the get-go - though such a profession, if I may call it such, was not regarded with the horror that it is today, neither could be seen as morally superior to the other by virtue of occupation. Furthermore, as none lived with them and they delivered one another's child, no witnesses could be called upon to clarify the situation, for all that a client or two could likely have been dredged up to speak concerning each woman's moral fiber. This apparently was not done, but the sword and the threat were deemed, perhaps, a better judge of character.

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