What the Bible says about Polygamy

After watching a show about Warren Jeffs, I was wondering what the law (Leviticus and Deuteronomy) said about Polygamy.. and if there was reference to it in the New Testament.

What the Bible says about Polygamy

Genesis 4:19
And Lamech took unto him two wives.

Genesis 16:1-4
Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. And Sarai ... gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived.

Genesis 25:6
But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had....

Genesis 26:34
Esau ... took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.

Genesis 31:17
Then Jacob rose up, and set ... his wives upon camels.

Exodus 21:10
If he take him another wife....

Deuteronomy 21:15
If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated....

Judges 8:30
And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives.

1 Samuel 1:1-2
Elkanah ... had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah.

2 Samuel 12:7-8
Thus saith the LORD God of Israel ... I gave thee ... thy master's wives....

1 Kings 11:2-3
Solomon ... had seven hundred wives ... and three hundred concubines.

1 Chronicles 4:5
And Ashur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah.

2 Chronicles 11:21
Rehoboam ... took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines.

2 Chronicles 13:21
But Abijah waxed mighty, and married fourteen wives....

2 Chronicles 24:3
Jehoiada took for him two wives....

Mt.25:1
Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.

 

The children of the concubine had equal rights with those of the legitimate wife; for example, King Abimelech was the son of Gideon and his concubine

So a wife came with a dowry and a concubine did not??

 

I wonder if he remembered everybody's name. I guess they are right. It is the world's oldest profession.

 

Do you know of any references to polygamy in the NT and when it was forbidden to Christians?

 

Interesting thing is that there are quite a few things that are not forbidden by the NT.

 

I did find this...

According to 1 Timothy 3:1-2:

If a man desires the position of a bishop [or an elder], he desires a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, ... (NKJV)

 

No, I sure don't. Nor do I care.

 

Margot you are wearing me out with your constant apologies for Islam.

 

This thread isn't about "Islam"... genius.

 

Polygamy, like slavery, existed in the Old Testament but was never blessed by God. In fact, those who practiced it, including Abraham, David, and Solomon faced judgement for it. If God approved of Polygamy then God would have created Adam and then he would have created Eve, Dolores, Rachel, Agnus, Bridget, Fay, and Betty Ann. God set the correct model from the beginning. One man and one woman in holy matrimony, wholly devoted to themselves and free from the bonds of slavery. Deviations from this model were man's idea and should not be blamed on God.

You haven't made the case that polygamy is somehow approved of by God just by quoting several instances where it happened. If anything, it only proves that even the very best patriarchs could be influenced by the evil Canaanite culture. Boys and girls are born in a nearly equal ratio, boys having only a slightly higher birth rate. In the great design, for every man there should be a woman. But when one man decides he's going to hoard women, having hundreds of concubines, many men are deprived because of the selfishness of one individual. This is the vanity of riches, to expand one's private empire regardless of how it impacts the world around them. It is utterly ignoble and it has NEVER been blessed or approved of by God.

 

Actually it has NOTHING to do with the Canaanites.

The common practice among all in the region was to expose baby girls..

Where does the NT scripture forbid multiple wives and concubines?

 

The bible is boring

 

LOLOL.. how could any text full of murder, mayhem, incest, betrayals and fantastic miracles be boring?

 

Don't waste your time with Saintmicheal- according to him- only a Christian such as himself can understand the Bible- those of us who are not Christians just read the actual content and can't understand it.

But to me- Exodus is very clearly supposed to be the spoken word of God to Moses, concerning the law:

7And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do. 8If she please not her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed: to sell her unto a strange nation he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her. 9And if he have betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters. 10If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish. 11And if he do not these three unto her, then shall she go out free without money.

Seems to me pretty clear that God is laying out how additional wives must be treated. He could just as easily have said- 'don't take another wife' but instead is providing guidance on how to treat the additional wife.

 

Thank you.. I had never looked into scripture from this perspective..

Now I am curious as to when the NT forbids multiple wives.

I am not FOR polygamy, but I wonder how Warren Jeffs (the prophet) came to believe it was OK.

 

People do not always base what they do on what is "OK".

 

That's really NOT the question. Read the thread.

 

This along the same lines of those saying homosexuality is ok because Jesus never said it wasn't in the New Testament. Setting aside for the moment that Jesus MUST have made clear his opposition to homosexuality based on the teachings of the apostles, the flaw in the argument is that ommission equals permission. Because there were slaves in the New Testament, well, that must mean slavery is ok. There was certainly a body of theology preached in 19th century America along these lines.

Now Warren Jeffs is like so many cult leaders such as David Koresh, Joseph Smith, Mohammad, etc whose theology comes from their loins. Rather than ridding themselves of evil desires, including having multiple wives and even underage girls, they build a religion around it to give it the guise of sanctity. They ask for an alligience from their followers that puts them beyond question and accountability and they justify their actions based on who they (think they) are; prophet, a special messenger, annointed and chosen as an exclusive vessel of revelation by God.

God is not mocked and will visit to every man the rewards or penalities according to their works. Those who lived their lives by the lust of their loins will continue to burn with it, unslaked, in complete separation from God in eternity.

 

Mohammed's reasons were purely practical.. about the survival of women and female infants.. Having zip to do with morality.

Account for the following:

exodus

7And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do. 8If she please not her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed: to sell her unto a strange nation he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her.

9And if he have betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters. 10If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish.

11And if he do not these three unto her, then shall she go out free without money.

 

Saintmichael, I have agreed with you in the past, but you are starting to get really annoying.

St. Ignora Bless you.

 

They need to make it into a movie or something.

 

Of course just about every part of the Bible has been made into a movie. Haven't you seen the Charleton Heston movies?

 

Maybe. It's been a while.

 

Have you ever read Acts? It's like a live action movie. Maybe a biblical commentary might help. Often times the real boredom comes from not having a grasp of what's going on in the story.

 

The bible is just to smart for me