This is a subject related to Biblical morality that most Christians and Western churches haven’t examined in-depth. Before proceeding with it, please be advised…the subject is very controversial!
This topic examines Christ’s Old Testament (OT) regulations concerning plural wives & concubines. You may be shocked to read lesser-known marriage laws of Christ from the OT! The topic may be hard to hear for those living in modern Western culture.
Our English term polygamy (from ca 1600 AD) includes polygyny (1780 AD), one man cohabiting with plural wives; polyandry (1780), one woman cohabiting with plural husbands. Are these lawful options in God’s eyes? The terms are derived from the Greek poly/many, gamos/marriage, gyne/wife. Some today don’t differentiate between polygamy and polygyny, as if they’re interchangeable terms.
Our modern society is decadent. Illicit sex, licentiousness, abortion, divorce are rampant. Divorce & remarriage is a form of serial monogamy, called consecutive polygyny and consecutive polyandry.
Greco-Roman society was monogamous on the surface. Yet it had widespread prostitution, pederasty, sexual perversion, divorce, as we today. A. Isaksson wrote, “In Rome divorces were so numerous, they constituted a serious social problem.” The divorce problem wasn’t quite as bad in 1st century Palestine.
Anciently, concubinage was a recognized arrangement; it loosely compares to a ‘mistress staying in the house’. Concubinage was also present in the Mediterranean world, especially within the military. S.M. Baugh Marriage and Family in Ancient Greek Society “Concubinage was widespread and commonly accepted among the Greeks and Romans.” But it wasn’t legally fully marriage in Roman society. Wikipedia: Concubinage “Concubinage was an institution of quási-marriage between Roman citizens who for various reasons did not want to enter into a full marriage.”
Roman Empire law didn’t include all the OT guidelines for marriage that Christ had revealed to His people ancient Israel. However, 1st century Jews (and Persians?) were allowed by Rome to continue practicing the OT laws & principles of their traditional marriages. The Jewish historian Josephus (37-100 AD) wrote, Wars of the Jews 1:24:2, “It being of old permitted to the Jews to marry many wives”.
But regardless of cultural influences, God defines true morality. He defines what is and isn’t sexual sin. Laws of human governments and customs of nations may or may not reflect God’s morality!
First, a blanket statement…scripture indicates that irresponsible casual sex isn’t God’s way.
Christ commanded in Ex.20:14 and Mt.5:27, “You shall not commit adultery”. It’s a form of sexual sin. Adultery is committed when a man has sex with a woman who is married or betrothed to another man. Betrothal was a legal commitment, prior to consummation. The adulterous man can be married or single; his marital status isn’t a factor. Her marital status is the key! The scriptures reveal that adultery always involves a wife or betrothed woman who broke wedlock; another man stole her, in a sense. Moody Bible Institute Professor of Theology William F. Luck The Morality of Biblical Polygyny, p.14 “Adultery was always defined by the woman’s marital status, never the man’s.” Thus it was impossible for an OT widow, divorcee, or otherwise single woman to commit adultery!
We’ll see that a man lawfully could live with plural wives. It is authorized in scripture (if practiced responsibly). That is, if he didn’t steal a wife from her husband. Ex.20:15 “You shall not steal.”
Ex.20:17 LXX “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, you shall not covet your neighbor’s house, nor his field, his servant, his maid, his cattle…nor whatever belongs to your neighbor.” Wrong coveting can occur regarding another’s wife, his male and female servants, etc. But nothing is said about singles coveting another’s husband! A man was allowed simultaneous wives in Christ’s theocracy. So a single woman could rightly desire a married man. (This indulgence is strange to our Western minds.)
Going back even prior to ancient Israel…Ge.20 King Abimélech of Gerár had a (free) wife and maid concubine wives (v.17). v.2-3 then he took Sarah from Abraham her husband, thinking she was only his “sister”. But God quickly revealed to him in a dream that she’s married. v.4-ff Abimelech said, “Lord…in the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this thing.’ God said, ‘I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this. Therefore I did not let you touch her. Restore the man’s wife.” Abimelech had acted with integrity. His sin wasn’t him having plural wives. His sin was…the woman he took, Sarah, was another man’s wife. Abraham and Abimelech both were gentiles/non-Jews. (Note: Later, 1450 BC Núzi tablets found in northern Iraq evidence a man’s wife legally could be considered his sister. Ge.13:8 also Abrám had called his nephew Lot his “brother”.)
Ge.12:10-20 the gentile/non-Jew Pharaoh of Egypt too mistakenly took Sarah for ritual purification, so she could become his wife. After the Lord caused him to realize his mistake, Pharaoh even blessed Abram (Sarah’s husband) with livestock and male & female servants/maids!
Ge.16:1-9 the Egyptian maid Hagár became wife to Abram (v.3). Their tie constituted marriage. She was his concubine or secondary wife. That isn’t immoral. But strife arose…Sarah treated Hagar harshly, v.6; Ishmaél (son of Abraham-Hagar) lacked proper respect for Isaac (son of Abraham-Sarah), Ge.21:9-10. Lack of respect resulted in…divorce (garásh Strongs h1644, Hebrew) the bondwoman wife! (ref divorce/drive out h1644 in: Pr.22:10, Nu.30:9, Le.21:7, 22:13, Ezk.44:22, Ga.4:30.)
Ge.25:1-2 Abraham also took a concubine wife named Keturáh (1Ch.1:32), who bore him six sons. Ge.25:6 “To the sons of his concubines, Abraham gave gifts while he was still living.” Concubinage isn’t sin. And according to the apostle Paul, Abraham is the father of the faithful (Ro.4:16; cf. He.11:8, 13). Also Abraham’s brother Nahór had a concubine named Reumáh (Ge.22:23-24).
The OT Hebrew loan word translated concubine is peléhgesh h6370, occurring 37 times. The Aramaic is h3904 (Da.5:2, 3, 23). The corresponding term in the OT Greek LXX, g3825.1, occurs 41 times.
Jb.1:8 God said His servant Job (a gentile) was a blameless, upright man. Yet in his trials, Job’s wife and surviving offspring didn’t console him. Jb.19:17-18 LXX Job lamented, “I besought my wife, and earnestly entreated the sons of my concubines. But they rejected me.” Righteous Job had concubines.
The earlier (gentile) Lámech, the first man in scripture with two wives, killed a man (Ge.4:19-24). Therefore, some presume that all polygyny is wrong. Tom Shipley Man and Woman in Biblical Law “The fact that Lamech was evil does not, and cannot, prove that his polygamy was evil, as well. The above syllogism [premise] is ‘reductio ad absurdum.” (Good men too, in scripture, were polygynous.)
Ge.30:1-24 Israel’s 12 tribes descended from the patriarch Jacob and his four wives. Leah & Rachel were his free wives, Bilháh & Zilpah his ‘secondary’ bond wives. v.4 “Rachel gave Jacob her maid Bilhah as a wife.” Jacob, whose name God changed (Ge.32:28) to “Israel”, wasn’t an adulterer! (cf. De.23:2) Cohabiting with four wives, he was ‘one flesh’ with each. The OT people Christ loved above all others, the 12 tribes of ancient Israel, weren’t illegitimately fathered by an adulterer! (Note: A wife’s maid being given to the wife’s husband is also evident in the ancient Code of Hammurabi #146.)
So far, we see that having plural wives was morally acceptable to gentiles/non-Jews and Jacob/Israel! Godly and ungodly men of the Bible had plural wives. Later, during Moses’ time, Christ gave codified laws/regulations to His theocratic nation Israel. (see the topic “Jesus Was The Old Testament God”.) His laws define marriage in God’s sight, adultery, and prescribe consequences for violations.
De.22:22-27 shows the joint penalty for adultery, consensual sex with a woman married or betrothed to another man. If the offender raped her, only he is guilty. Le.19:20 the penalty for having sex with a bondmaid acquired for another man was less than that for a free woman. (Less station & limited loyalty effected less penalty/fine for the bondmaid, not yet fully espoused.) If a man, single or married, had sex with a virgin residing with her father, he’s to marry her, De.22:28-29 & Ex.22:16-17…not ignore her.
De.21:15-17 “If a man has two wives…” Polygyny wasn’t unlawful. This passage shows that (among free wives) the double-portion inheritance right of the eldest son was protected. Pulpit Commentary De.21:15 “He mustn’t allow his love for the other [wife] to prejudice the right of the son.” De.17:15-17 though plural wives & horses wasn’t sin, the king wasn’t to multiply to himself horses or pagan wives. (Horses were used mostly for war.) No large pagan harems! Solomon later violated this, 1Ki.11:1-4.
But Christ/God forbad incestual polygyny. Le.18:7-8 a man mustn’t have sex with his mother, nor with any other of his father’s wives (Ge.35:22, 49:4; 1Co.5:1). Nor with his own daughter (Le.18:17, 20:14).
Jesus the Man didn’t repeat all these His commands. Yet they still define His morality. He said, “It is written!” Mt.4:4, 7, 10. Polygyny is authorized, but polyandry is adultery. Married prostitutes too are adulteresses. (The topic “Sexual Sins, Harlotry, Rape” examines sexual immorality more in-depth.)
Ex.21:7-11 describes God’s law of concubines. “If a man takes another wife, he must not reduce the food, clothing or conjugal dues of his first wife.” Ellicott Commentary Ex.21:10 “Polygamy is viewed as lawful in this passage.” That is, polygyny; it isn’t immoral in Christ’s theocracy. Cambridge Bible Ex.21:10 “The case contemplated is that of a well-to-do Israelite who could have several concubines.”
Is.4:1 this prophecy too shows that polygyny isn’t adultery. “Seven women will take hold of one man in that day, saying, ‘We will eat our own food and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach.” Many men had died in warfare, Is.3:25 (cf. Je.15:8). Is.4:1 women were even willing to relinquish two of the supports the Lord designated in Ex.21:10, so long as her husband gives her conjugal dues! JFB Commentary Is.4:1 “Foregoing the privileges, which the law (Ex.21:10) gives to wives, when a man has more than one. ‘Reproach’ – being unmarried and childless.” An unmarried and childless woman later might lack sustenance in her old age.
De.21:10-15 describes God’s law of war brides, so-called. “When you go to war against your enemies and God delivers them into your hands, and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and would take her as a wife for yourself….If a man has two wives….” A war bride wasn’t to be raped. The Israelite was to bring her to his house; she must renounce her heathen customs, and be allowed to mourn her mother & father for a month. The month delay would reveal if she was already pregnant before her capture. Only after the month would she become the Israelite’s concubine wife, and sexual relations then ensue. Married into God’s theocracy, she could learn the ways of the true God. If the man wasn’t pleased with her, she was to be given her complete freedom; he wasn’t to sell his concubine for money.
Nu.31:18-ff virgins were among the spoils taken from the slaughter of God’s vengeance against Midián. The Lord said in v.18, “All the girls who have never had sexual relations, keep for yourselves”. v.27, 32-47 the total of virgins taken was divided into two halves, for the Israelite warriors and non-warriors. A small % of the girls (0.2%) were for the priests, v.40. (But the high priest could only marry a virgin Israelitess, not foreigners, Le.21:10-14.) Gill Exposition Le.21:13 “Polygamy [polygyny] was practiced by the Israelites, even by the common priests.” Christ’s OT Levitical priests weren’t celibate!
De.25:5-10 was Christ’s levirate law, so-called. A brother-in-law or near relative, even if he’s already married, was to marry a deceased Israelite’s widow who had no son. The Latin word levir meant ‘husband’s brother’. Without children, a man’s family name was “blotted out of Israel”. Widowhood could result in poverty for an aging woman with no son to help provide for her! Maurice Nelson The Monogamy Lie! “Levirate marriage could be seen as a type of Life Insurance for a widow.”
Ruth’s Jewish husband had died. Ru.4:1-10 Bóaz and the closer relative possibly were both married. William Luck op. cit., p.21 “Polygyny was not immoral, per se; widow-neglect based on commitment to monogamy was.” A widow was even authorized to spit in the face of a brother-in-law, single or married, who refused to marry her (De.25:9)! Boaz married Ruth, and fathered a son for her (Ru.4:13).
Several godly men of faith had plural wives/concubines. Joshua & Caleb were the two faithful spies, and survived into the Promised Land. They were guided by the Holy Spirit (Nu.14:24, 30, 27:18; Jsh.14:13). 1Ch.2:46-49 Caleb had two concubines. (Caleb’s daughter was Áchsah, cf. Jsh.15:16.)
Manásseh was the firstborn son of Joseph, and grandson of Jacob. Of the 12 tribes, God allotted his tribe the largest area in the Land! (cf. Jsh.17.) 1Ch.7:14 Manasseh had an Aramean/Syrian concubine.
Wikipedia: Concubinage “Among the Israelites, men commonly acknowledged their concubines, and such women enjoyed the same rights in the house as legitimate wives. 2Sm.3:7 NASB footnote “A concubine was much more than a mistress. In a sense, she was a ‘secondary wife’ (Ex.21:8-10, De.21:11-13). She was considered a member of the household, by an official ceremony of appointment, and she had the rights of a married woman. Concubines were usually acquired by purchase or were captives taken in war. She could be ‘divorced’ summarily, but never as a slave.” 2Sm.3:7 King Saul had a concubine named Rízpah (and other wives – 1Sm.14:50, 2Sm.12:7-8). A concubine lead-servant was to courteously submit to the first (free) wife, so she wouldn’t be jealous.
Most men were monogamous, having one wife in marriage (at a time). Yet concubinage was a respected marital option in the OT and ancient world. It resembles heterosexual civil union, as done in some nations today. Our English word concubine comes from the Latin word concubina, meaning ‘to lie together’. But our word concubine means more than that. The meanings and customary practice of concubinage in various nations may differ from what God authorized millennia ago in scripture.
Jg.8:30-32 “Gideon had 70 sons, for he had many wives. His concubine in Shechém also bore him a son, Abimélech. Gideon died at a good old age.” (The concubine is called his “maidservant” in Jg.9:18.) Gill Exposition Jg.8:31 “His concubine, a secondary or half wife; generally taken from handmaids.” Concubinage & plural wives isn’t adultery…Gideon wasn’t living in sin! The warrior-judge Gideon was chosen and empowered by God to save Israel out of Midianite oppression (Jg.6:14, 34). Gideon, who had “many wives”, is listed in He.11:32-33 among the faithful. The Christian association Gideon’s International, which freely distributes Bibles, is named after this polygynist.
1Sm.1:1-3 Samuel’s father Elkanáh cohabited with two wives, Peninnáh and Hannáh. Every year he took his family to sacrifice at the Lord’s tabernacle, at Shilóh. Elkanah was a devout man; he wasn’t living in sin! Samuel was the eldest son of Elkanah’s second wife Hannah. Samuel was then fostered by Eli the high priest (1Sm.1:28, 2:11), and became a renowned prophet-judge. Samuel was born in lawful wedlock, he wasn’t illegitimate! De.23:2 none illegitimate shall enter the assembly of the Lord.
King Joásh of Judah had two wives. 2Ch.24:1-3 “Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the days of Jehoiadá the priest. And Jehoiada took two wives for him, and he had sons and daughters.” The chief priest selected two wives for Joash! Joash’s cohabitation with two wives didn’t contradict his doing “right in the eyes of the Lord”. v.15-16 and Jehoiada the priest did well to Israel and to God; he was buried with honor. Jehoiada hadn’t sinned by giving two wives to the king.
The scriptures reveal that monogamy and polygyny are both lawful marital options, according to Christ’s morality, in His theocracy. Where He set the rules & regulations. And Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever! (He.13:8) He’s not fickle and His moral principles don’t flip-flop!
Lauren Heiligenthal writes in her book Evaluating Western Christianity’s Interpretation of Biblical Polygamy, p.17 “While scholars and missiologists [studiers of missions] may suggest that monogamy is God’s ideal, Scripture is neither forthcoming with this claim nor does it prohibit polygamy.”
Later, polygamy was legal throughout the Persian Empire (559–331 BC) of the Intertestamental Period.
But when Jesus the man incarnated, He didn’t set the rules in Roman Empire provinces of the 1st century AD. His followers too were and are subject to the (marital) laws of our various nations. So normally God’s moral option of polygyny isn’t advised in nations where it’s disallowed legally.
Other polygynists are seen in the Bible. But little is in view in the pagan Greco-Roman culture of the New Testament epistles, where most gentiles legally were to be monogamous.
This topic is continued and concluded in “Polygyny – Lawful in God’s Eyes? (2)”.
Bible Topic Exposition 