TITLE: A HISTORY OF THE CONTROVERSY OF POLYGYNY IN THE

CHRISTIAN CHURCH AND IN THE SCRIPTURES

QUOTES ON POLYGAMY, POLYGYNY, CONCUBINES, & JESUS;

Another Look for Christians.COPYRIGHT © JANUARY 14, 1995 All rights

reserved.Copyright © 01/14/'95; 01/12/'96, 01/14/2003 (Revised)This
file, in its entirety, may be posted on or copied off of computer
networks like Internet or WWW by anyone so inclined.By L. Tyler

oldservant8@aol.comJabez1Chr4@aol.comelkanahtyler@gmail.comThe
Bible, Centuries 16th through 20th AD and Polygyny>>>"Monogamy is
implicit in the story of Adam and Eve, since God created only one wife
for Adam. Yet polygamy is adopted from the time of Lamech (Gn. iv.
19), and is not forbidden in Scripture." >n132[Footnote: >..n132 The
New Bible Dictionary, J.D. Douglas Ph.D; p.787.]>>>TODAY:***TITLE:
Can Mr. Mombasa Keep All his Wives?AUTHOR: Tim StaffordSOURCE:
Christianity Today, 35:33-34 Feb 11, 1991¥¥¥This article deals with a
conflict in the Christian church in Kenya, where many blacks who are
converted have several wives. Originally the church would not baptize
them, but allowed them to participate in the church.Later, the church
and some members broke away from their leadership and began
baptizing black polygamous men.>>>TODAY:Eugene Nida's (American
Bible Society) book Customs and Cultures>.29 . . documents the
current practice of polygyny by Christians in non Western countries,
and how it is still practiced in China, SE Asia, India, Africa and parts of
South America. Eugene Nida points out that when polygamists become
Christians they are told of their limitations in church offices and are
asked not to take any additional wives because it stumbles western
Christians(Rom 14, l Cor. 8 and 10). They are not usually asked to
abandon their other wives to a premature widowhood because of l
Cor>. 7:1-15.[Footnote: >.29 CUSTOMS AND CULTURES, 1954, Harper
&Brothers, New York]>>>TODAY:I understand that Rev. Joseph Conrad
Wold>*, a Lutheran missionary in Liberia, maintains the following
points:1. Some missionaries have become like the Pharisees,knit
picking legalists;2. For unbelievers it is more of a question of who is or
is not a polygamist rather than who is and who isn't a Christian;
3.Rejecting polygamy has become the rejecting of polygamists; 4.If
Cornelious>45 could be born again without circumcision, then surely
polygamists should be able to be born again without cutting away their
wives, breaking their solemn promises and forcing their beloved and
faithful wives into adultery for survival; 5 Let the polygamist be lost
because he refused to love and obey Jesus,rather than because he
loved his wives too much to cause them to suffer, or was to virtuous to
be a hypocrite.>70 He makes such an impassioned case I hope you
take the time to read the original.Truly the commandments of men,
condemning as sin and forbidding polygamy, make of no effect the
commandments of God for so many.[Footnote: >*GOD'S IMPATIENCE IN
LIBERIA, Rev. Joseph Conrad Wold, pp. 179ff. >45 (Acts 10 & 11).
@>.@70 Trobisch,MY WIFE MADE ME>>>TODAY:¥¥¥"Some Christian
churches in Africa today allow polygamy. A pastor in Cameroon stated:
`People have no right to condemn polygamy which even Christ did not
condemn in the case of Abraham'."(pg.214, ***After Polygamy Was
Made A Sin: The Social History of Christian PolygamyJohn Cairncross,
1974Published by Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, London)>>>TODAY:
"Polygamy continues to the present day among Jews in Moslem, Hindu,
Buddhist, Asian, Oriental,and African countries." >25[>25 IVCF, Editor
J.D.Douglas; 1962,W. B. Eerdmans Publishing,p.787]>>>TODAY: "In
Spain, Italy,m and the East it persisted for some time longer, as it does
still among the Jews in Mohammedan counties".DICTIONARY OF THE
BIBLE, J. Hastings (Selbie, Lambert,Mathews), Hendrickson Publishers,
1989; p.584>>>1800's:***After Polygamy Was Made A Sin:The Social
History of Christian PolygamyJohn Cairncross, 1974Published by
Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, London¥¥¥In the nineteenth century,
Protestant missions were expanding rapidly, and missionaries around
the globe were confronting polygamy among their new converts. In
1844,a conference of missionaries of various
denominations"unanimously agreed that `if a convert, before
becoming aChristian, has married more than wives than one, he shall
be permitted to keep them all; but such a person shall not be eligible
to any office in the church'." (pg.198)>>>1700's:***After Polygamy
Was Made A Sin:The Social History of Christian PolygamyJohn
Cairncross, 1974Published by Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, London
¥¥¥"Between about 1680 and 1750, the campaign for polygamy(in
England) was in full swing, and plural marriage was almost as
vigorously canvassedas in Germany during the same period." (pg. 126)
>>>EUROPEAN ROYALTY: "In modern Europe polygamy disappeared
from Jewish domestic life while among Christians it remained a
tolerated privilege of royalty until very late times. . . . "CHARLES A.
RUBENSTEIN-----------------Bibliography:Abrahams, 1., Jewish Life in the
Middle Ages (1917);Westermarck, E., History of Human Marriage
(1901);Spencer, H., Principles of Sociology idem, Descriptive Sociology;
Lay, Wilfrid, A Plea for Monogamy (1923)>>>1650's:¥¥¥Milton, author
of Paradise Lost, wrote a manuscript in the 1650s, "Da Doctrina", a
lengthy theological document. It was lost until 1825, when it was
discovered and translated, creating a pre-Victorian uproar in
London.The famous author had dared to justify polygamy! His
arguments are lucid and concise: " Polygamy is prohibited to no one,
even under the gospel." Milton "administers the coup degrade to his
opponents when he observed that God himself (in Ezekiel 23:4)
represents Himself as having `espoused two wives' which would have
been unthinkable had `the practice been dishonourable or shameful'.
On the contrary, he maintains,polygamy is `lawful and honourable'."
(pg.129, ***After Polygamy Was Made A Sin:The Social History of
Christian PolygamyJohn Cairncross, 1974 Published by Routledge &
Kegan Paul Ltd,London)>>>REFORMATION: "In the New Testament
Jesus neither condemns polygamous unions nor advocates a change in
the system.From this noninterference attitude Luther, as late as the
16th cent.,arrived at the conclusion that he could not forbid the taking
of more than one wife."CHARLES A. RUBENSTEIN-----------------
Bibliography:Abrahams, 1., Jewish Life in the Middle Ages (1917);
Westermarck, E., History of Human Marriage (1901);Spencer, H.,
Principles of Sociology idem, Descriptive Sociology;>>>1500's:
***After Polygamy Was Made A Sin:The Social History of Christian
PolygamyJohn Cairncross, 1974Published by Routledge & Kegan Paul
Ltd, London¥¥¥The Italian Ochino, a Franciscan until the age of 55, was
a fiery orator, and a "man distinguished by the sanctity of his life, of a
vast culture, venerable, white-haired, and tall, of a majestic bearing". It
was only when Ochino left the Catholic church and "fled to Switzerland
where he becamea Calvinist that the move towards Anabaptism
began". (pg.65-66) He wrote a brilliant thesis on polygamy that was
"effervescent, witty, and convincing." He was eventually exiled for his
teachings, along with his four children, during winter 1563, by the City
Fathers of Zurich. Three of his children died as a result. (Chapter 4)
>>>REFORMATION: "In the New Testament Jesus neither condemns
polygamous unions nor advocates a change in the system.From this
noninterference attitude Luther, as late as the 16th cent.,arrived at the
conclusion that he could not forbid the taking of more than one wife."
CHARLES A. RUBENSTEIN-----------------Bibliography:Abrahams, 1., Jewish
Life in the Middle Ages (1917);Westermarck, E., History of Human
Marriage (1901);Spencer, H., Principles of Sociology idem, Descriptive
Sociology;>>>1500's *******Martin LutherMartin Luther wrote in De
Wette, II, p. 459, "I confess that I cannot forbid a person to marry
several wives, for it does not contradict the Scripture. If a man wishes
to marry more than one wife, he should be asked whether he is
satisfied in his conscience that he may do so in accordance with the
word of God. In such a case, the civil authority has nothing to do in
such a matter." >>>From "An Introduction to the Geneva Bible"A look
at the Puritan's Bible." In March of 1540, after Martin Luther and other
prominent Protestant theologians had expressly approved polygamy
according to the Scriptures, Philip became Europe's best- known
bigamist.">>>1500's: ***After Polygamy Was Made A Sin:The Social
History of Christian PolygamyJohn Cairncross, 1974Published by
Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, London¥¥¥"Phillip of Hesse felt impelled
by his reverence for the sacraments to mend his first marriage by
contracting a second one even while his wife was alive. And he did so
with the sanction of the Fathers of the Reformation. The first palidin of
German Protestantism (Phillip) was,with Luther's and Melanchthon's
permission, a bigamist.Protestant historians have never recovered from
the shock."(pg.31) Phillip debated this issue with the Reformer's for
many years before and after his (supposedly secret) 2nd marriage. "If,
he asked, it should suddenly be possible to overthrow the celibacy of
the clergy, why should the institution of bigamy be a priori excluded?
The only effective answer would have been that polygamy is
condemned by Christian doctrine. But this was a stand that Luther and
his colleagues never took - and for very good reasons. They could not.
They themselves did not believe that polygamy was against divine or
natural law." (pg. 48) Luther did state that "A Christian,before adopting
polygamy, must first have a calling from God."(pg. 49)>>>1500's:
***After Polygamy Was Made A Sin:The Social History of Christian
PolygamyJohn Cairncross, 1974Published by Routledge & Kegan Paul
Ltd, London¥¥¥Thus it was that in 1534, the "German city of Munster
proclaimed polygamy as the ideal form of marriage. The event is
unique in the history of Christian Europe, and the reaction to this
announcement explains why the experiment was never repeated. For it
was greeted with a unanimous revulsion and horror."(pg.1) the
accounts of this time are filled with vitriolic denunciations of the
Musterites and their morals, "in fact,Munsterunder Anabaptist rule was
a centre of extremely austere morality. It's only crime, by orthodox
standards, was to have introduced polygamy, and a highly Puritan type
at that!" (pg .24) While this episode was over quickly, "Puritan
polygamy was not extinguished under the ashes of the ruined city. The
influence of the Munsterite ideas was profound." (pg.27)>>>1500's:
***After Polygamy Was Made A Sin:The Social History of Christian
PolygamyJohn Cairncross, 1974Published by Routledge & Kegan Paul
Ltd, London¥¥¥The Italian Ochino, a Franciscan until the age of 55, was
a fiery orator, and a "man distinguished by the sanctity of his life, of a
vast culture, venerable, white-haired, and tall, of a majestic bearing". It
was only when Ochino left the Catholic church and "fled to Switzerland
where he becamea Calvinist that the move towards Anabaptism
began". (pg.65-66) He wrote a brilliant thesis on polygamy that was
"effervescent, witty, and convincing." He was eventually exiled for his
teachings, along with his four children, during winter 1563, by the City
Fathers of Zurich. Three of his children died as a result. (Chapter 4)
>>>1000 - 1400's: "At a later period Maimonides in his Mishneh Torah
maintains, contrary to his personal opinion, that polygamous unions
from a strictly legal point of view are permissible. Eventually, however,
they were proscribed under the authority of Rabbi Gershom (about
l000), although cases of polygamy were found in Spain as late as the
14th cent. . . . "CHARLES A. RUBENSTEIN-----------------Bibliography:
Abrahams, 1., Jewish Life in the Middle Ages (1917);Westermarck, E.,
History of Human Marriage (1901);Spencer, H., Principles of Sociology
idem, Descriptive Sociology;Lay, Wilfrid, A Plea for Monogamy (1923)
>>>600- 1000AD: "Polygamy was not definitely forbidden among the
Jews till the time of R. Gershom (c. A.D. 1000), and then at first only for
France and Germany. In Spain, Italy, and the East it persisted for some
time longer, as it does still among the Jews in Mohammedan
countries">41.[Footnote: (>.(40. Septuagint Lev. 21:13 "He shall take
for a wife a virgin of his own tribe.". .>41. DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE,
J.Hastings (Selbie, Lambert, Mathews), Hendrickson Publishers,1989;
p.583ff.]>>>800s AD: "Herard of Tours, A.D. 858,declares any greater
number of wives than two to be unlawful. . .Leo the Wise, Emperor of
Constantinople, was allowed to marry three wives without public
remonstrance, but was suspended from communion by the patriarch
Nicholas when he married a fourth.">75>.75 A Select Library of the
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of The Christian Church, Vol. V; p. 267.
>>>600 AD: ***After Polygamy Was Made A Sin:The Social History of
Christian PolygamyJohn Cairncross, 1974Published by Routledge &
Kegan Paul Ltd, London¥¥¥"Orthodoxy in Western Europe, or for that
matter in the Christian world as a whole, has been fiercely opposed to
polygamy in any shape or form since at least A.D.600, and has shown
itself particularly ruthless in suppressing the hated monster whenever
it raised its head in their own ranks. This constant opposition explains
both why the Christian polygamists rarely put their views into practice
and why their writings are often to be found in scarce, or out-of-the-
way editions." PREFACE>>>FOURTH CENTURY:St. Augustine (4th
Century AD) say about the practice of polygyny and concubinage?
Consider the following:""But here there is no ground for a criminal
accusation: for a plurality of wives was no crime when it was the
custom; and it is a crime now, because it is no longer the custom.
There are sins against nature, and sins against custom, and sins
against the laws. In which, then, of these senses did Jacob sin in having
a plurality of wives? As regards nature, he used the women not for
sensual gratification, but for the procreation of children. For custom,
this was the common practice at that time in those countries. And for
the laws, no prohibition existed. The only reason of its being a crime
now to do this, is because custom and the laws forbid it>1. . Whoever
despises>2. these restraints, even though he uses his wives only to
get children, still commits sin>3., and does an injury to human society
itself, for the sake of which it is that the procreation of children is
required. In the present altered state of customs and laws, men can
have no pleasure in a plurality of wives>4. , except from an excess of
lust>5.; and so the mistake arises of supposing that no one could ever
have had many wives but from sensuality and the vehemence of sinful
desires. Unable to form an idea of men whose force of mind is beyond
their conception, they compare themselves with themselves, as the
apostle says [2 Cor. x. 12], and so make mistakes. Conscious that, in
their intercourse though with one wife only, they are often influenced
by mere animal passion instead of an intelligent motive, they think it
an obvious inference that, if the limits of moderation are not observed
where there is only one wife, the infirmity must be aggravated where
there are more than one.">.80[Tyler Footnotes: >1. Whose custom and
whose laws? The customs of men and the laws of men, not the
customs and laws of God. But God tells us to obey the law and customs
of our society (Rom.13), so in America it is illegal to have more than
one legally recognized wife publicly and with official civil recognition.
>2. One would despise the legal restraints by disobeying them.To
despise the monogynous marriage laws of America by trying to have
publicly and with official civil recognition two wives simultaneously
(bigamy) is a crime punishable under the laws of America.>3. It is a sin
to disobey the laws of one's society that are not in conflict with the
Word of God.A child of God must obey the Laws of the Kingdom of God
when the laws of the kingdom of man are in conflict.>4. A godly man
can have no pleasure in peace before God when he disobeys God.
Since it is against the laws of America and so contrary to God's will in
America for a man to try to have more than wife publicly and with
official civil recognition at any one time, God's chastening and the
sword of God's public servants would put a quick end to such a man's
efforts to have pleasure in illegal polygamy.>5. Lust, in the Word, is the
desire for that which is forbidden by God. Polygyny is not forbidden by
God, but God instructs His children to obey the laws of man about
polygyny. It would be lust, the desire for the forbidden, to desire to
have more than one wife publicly and with official civil recognition in
the USA. >80 A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of
The Christian Church, Vol. iv; pp.289ff.]>>>FOURTH CENTURY:
Consider the following from St. Augustine:"That the good purpose of
marriage, however, is better promoted by one husband with one wife,
than by a husband with several wives, is shown plainly enough by the
very first union of a married pair, which was made by the Divine Being
Himself, with the intention of marriages taking their beginning
therefrom, and of its affording to them a more honorable precedent. In
the advance, however, of the human race, it came to pass that to
certain good men were united a plurality of good wives, --- many to
each; and from this it would seem that moderation sought rather unity
on one side for dignity, while nature permitted plurality on the other
side for fecundity. For on natural principles it is more feasible for one to
have dominion over many, than for many to have dominion over one."
[Footnote: >..34 2b A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene
Fathers of The Christian Church; Vol. V; p. 267]>>>FOURTH CENTURY:
Consider St. Augustine's point in the following:" . . . no one doubts .. .
who reads with careful attention what use they made of their wives, at
a time when also it was allowed one man to have several,whom he had
with more chastity than any now has his one wife .. .But then they
married even several without any blame . . ">65[Footnotes:>.64
Please see THE INSTITUTES OF BIBLICAL LAW, by R. Rushdonney, p.
364. >30 (Deut. 21:15,16). >31 (Ex.21:10). >32 (Genesis 30 and 2
Samuel 7). >..65 St.Augustin: On The Trinity; p. 406.]>>>FOURTH
CENTURY: St. Basil (4th Cent. AD) wrote "On polygamy the Fathers are
silent, as being brutish and altogether inhuman.The sins seems to me
worse than fornication.">74 "Herard of Tours, A.D. 858,declares any
greater number of wives than two to be unlawful. . .Leo the Wise,
Emperor of Constantinople, was allowed to marry three wives without
public remonstrance, but was suspended from communion by the
patriarch Nicholas when he married a fourth.">75 St.Augustine (4th
Cent. AD) indicates that the Roman Catholic Church was the power
behind the move to not allow polygyny or concubinage among the
church members of his time..>76 So even in the early church we find a
wide diversity of reactions to the polygyny and concubinage of the
Bible. This, in its own way, bears witness to the fact that there is no
clear scriptural teaching against polygyny and concubinage. They
obviously fall in the category of things discussed in Rom. 14, 1 Cor. 8
and 1 Cor 10.[Footnote: >.74 A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-
Nicene Fathers of The Christian Church, Vol. VIII; p. 258. >.75 A Select
Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of The Christian Church,
Vol. V; p. 267. >76 St. Augustin: On The Trinity; p. 402.]>>>AD 347:
“In the case of trigamy and polygamy they laid down the same rule, in
proportion, as in the case of digamy; namely one year for digamy
(some authorities say two years); for trigamy men are separated
for three and often for four years; but this is no longer
described as marriage at all, but as polygamy; nay rather as
limited fornication. . . . In cases of trigamy we have accepted a
seclusion of five years, not by the canons, but following the precept of
our predecessors. Such offenders ought not to be altogether prohibited
from the privileges of the Church; they should be considered
deserving of hearing after two or three years, and afterwards of
being permitted to stand in their place; but they must be kept from
the communion of the good gift, and only restored to the place
of communion after showing some fruit of repentance.” [ANF:
(Canonica Prima.)To Amphilochius, concerning the Canons. Letter
CLXXXVIII written c.347.] >>>The Council of Neocaesarea a.d. 315
(circa) refers to a 'purification period' for polygamists. By that time,
sinners had to 'sit out' of Church activities until they had demonstrated
reformation. If a sin showed up on this list of canons, it was considered
a 'bad sin'--and polygamy shows up here: "Ancient Epitome of Canon
III. The time (for doing penance and purification) of polygamists is
well known. A zeal for penance may shorten it." [ANF] >>>AD 300
The Pseudo-Clementine Literature boasts about how St. Thomas taught
the Parthians [i.e., an Iranian culture] to abandon polygamy: "But I
shall give a still stronger proof of the matters in hand. For, behold, . . .
all nations coming to Judaea, and moved both by the signs and
miracles Which they saw, . . ; and then going back to their own
countries, they rejected the lawless rites of the Gentiles, and their
incestuous marriages. In short, among the Parthians - as Thomas,
who is preaching the Gospel amongst them, has written to us -
not many now are addicted to polygamy; nor among the Medes
do many throw their dead to dogs; nor are the Persians pleased with
intercourse with their mothers, or incestuous marriages with their
daughters; nor do the Susian women practise the adulteries that were
allowed them; nor has Genesis been able to force those into crimes
whom the teaching of religion restrained. (ANF 8: "Book IX: Chapter
XXIX.-The Gospel More Powerful Than 'Genesis.'"] >>>Irenaeus (c.180)
condemns the Gnostics for, among other things, polygamy: "Others,
again, following upon Basilides and Carpocrates, have introduced
promiscuous intercourse and a plurality of wives..." [ANF, vol. 1,
p.353] >>>Justin Martyr (c.160) rebukes the Jews for allowing
polygamy: "Your imprudent and blind masters [i.e., Jewish
teachers] even until this time permit each man to have four or five
wives. And if anyone sees a beautiful woman and desires to have her,
they quote the doings of Jacob." [ANF, vol. 1, p. 266] >>>100 AD:
Tacitus, who died in 117 A.D., was a Roman historian who provided us
with one of the earliest detailed descriptions of the Germans and their
Germanic tribes, which later migrated into western Europe and
included the English and the French. >30 These Germans of his time
were unique. They strictly observed the marital tie and were generally
content with one wife for each husband, in marked contrast to most of
the "barbarians" of the time who often practiced polygyny. The few
exceptions to this Germanic monogyny was when they were sought for
a polygynous marriage because of their high birth>31[Footnotes:>30
Source: Tr. Maurice Hutton, in Tacitus: Dialogus,Agricola, Germania,
Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1914).
WOMEN'S LIVES IN MEDIEVAL EUROPE- A SOURCE BOOK; p. 36.;>31
WOMEN'S LIVES IN MEDIEVAL EUROPE - A SOURCE BOOK; p. 37.]
>>>http://www.apuritansmind.com/Pastoral/McMahonElderAndDivorce
.htmThe Elder & DivorceAre divorced men expelled from the ministry?
That depends...The Elder and Divorce: by C. Matthew McMahon
http://www.apuritansmind.com/Pastoral/McMahonElderAndDivorce.htm
"Rome was laden with polygamy and disorderliness. Concubines,
wives, and undisciplined children could be seen from the Caesars’
house down to its subjects. The ill-ordered household was in contempt
in the eyes of the Christian.">>>THE FIRST CENTURY ADPolygamy was
practiced somewhat in 1st century Palestinian Judaism (by the
government/aristocratic leaders): "In the Second Temple period,
Jewish society was, at least theoretically, polygamous, like other
oriental societies of the time but in contrast to the neighboring
Greek and Roman societies...."[HI:JWGRP:85] "There is evidence of
the practice of polygamy in Palestinian Judaism in NT times (cf.
J. Jeremias, Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus: An Investigation into
Economic and Social Conditions during the New Testament Period,
1969, 90, 93, 369f.). Herod the Great (37-4 B.C.) had ten wives
(Josephus, Ant. 17, 19f.; War 1,562) and a considerable harem (War
1,511). Polygamy and concubinage among the aristocracy is
attested by Josephus, Ant. 12, 186ff.; 13, 380; War 1, 97. The
continued practice of levirate marriage (Yeb. 15b) evidently led to
polygamy, which was countenanced by the school of Shammai but not
by that of Hillel. [NIDNTT:s.v. "Marriage, adultery, bride, bridegroom"]
>>>APOSTOLIC TIMES: "In Roman law, marriage was precisely defined
as monogamous; concubinage was tolerated, but the concubine's
status was inferior to that of a legal wife. Her children had certain
rights, including support by the father and legitimacy in the event of
the marriage of the parents".[Footnote: >27 1986, Funk & Wagnalls
NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA.]>>>APOSTOLIC TIMES: In the Second
Commonwealth polygamy is far from general (cf. Tobit and Susanna).
Yet it survived far into the Christian era. In the New Testament Jesus
neither condemns polygamous unions nor advocates a change in the
system."CHARLES A. RUBENSTEIN-----------------Bibliography:Abrahams,
1., Jewish Life in the Middle Ages (1917);Westermarck, E., History of
Human Marriage (1901);Spencer, H., Principles of Sociology idem,
Descriptive Sociology;Lay, Wilfrid, A Plea for Monogamy (1923)
>>>APOSTOLIC TIMES: "Herod had nine wives at once. . .Its possibility
is implied by the technical continuance of the Levirate law, [Deut. 25:5-
10] and is proved by the early interpretation of 1 Ti 3, whether correct
or not. Justin reproaches the Jews of his day [A.D.] with having 'four or
even five wives,'and marrying 'as they wish, or as many as they wish.'
The evidence of the Talmud shows that in this case at least the
reproach had some foundation. ">41.[Footnote: (>.(40. Septuagint Lev.
21:13 "He shall take for a wife a virgin of his own tribe.". .>41.
DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE, J.Hastings (Selbie, Lambert, Mathews),
Hendrickson Publishers,1989;p.583ff.]>>>APOSTOLIC TIMESAmong
the Jews, it was not accepted by the prestigious school of Hillel
(above), nor by the strict Dead Sea Sect (Qumran), and was not
widely practiced, esp. among the rabbi's: "But even if polygamy
was permitted by tannaitic halakhah, other halakhic systems
counseled otherwise. During the Second Temple period, monogamy
was preferred even on the conceptual plane by, above all, the Dead
Sea Sect whose halakhah explicitly prohibited polygamy. In the
reworked version of the statutes of the king in the Temple Scroll, it is
stated: "he shall not take another wife in addition to her, for she
alone shall be with him all the days of her life" (LVII 17-8). In the
Damascus Covenant, criticism is leveled against the 'builders of the
wall' (Pharisees?) in the following terms: 'they shall be caught in
fornication twice; once by taking a second wife while the first
is still alive...' [HI:JWGRP:85] "it was known in Jewish society as
represented in rabbinic literature, polygamy was not widespread in
practice, especially not among the sages themselves."
[HI:JWGRP:86] >>>A.D. 50s Jesus polygynists not allowed to be
officials in local assemblies. ++++***1 Timothy 3: 1* ¶ Faithful [is] the
word: If anyone reaches out to overseership, he desires a good work.
2* Then it behooves the overseer to be without reproach, husband of
only^ one wife, temperate, sensible, well-ordered, hospitable, apt at
teaching, . . . 8 ¶ Likewise the deacons [are to be] reverent, not
double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of ill gain, . . .12
Let the deacons be the husbands of only^ one wife, ruling [their]
children and households well.[^ Strong's: <3391> mia; adj; only one;
J.B.Phillips: "he must be married to one wife only . . . . TEV, WMS, NCV:
"he must have only one wife" . . . NASB, NIV: "the husband of one wife,
. ."BER: "one wife's husband . . ."NEB: "faithful to his one wife . . ." The
American Bible (Catholic): "a bishop must be . . . married only once . . "
MOF: "he must be married only once . . ."Complete Jewish Bible: "he
must be faithful to his wife"TCNT:The Presiding-Officer should be . . . a
faithful husband; . .WEY: A minister then must be . . . true to his one
wife, . . CEV:" . . officials must be . . . faithful in marriage . . ."MESSAGE:
"A leader must be . . . committed to his wife . . ."]¶ This makes it clear
that official leaders and official officersof a local assembly of Jesus
believers should not be polygynous.This leaves polygynous Jesus
believers free to be unofficialvisiting Bible teachers, missionaries,
evangelists and counselorsserving local assemblies in unofficial
ministry.****Titus 1: 6 ¶ if anyone is blameless, husband of one wife,
having believing children, not accused of loose behavior, or
disobedient. 7 For an overseer must be blameless, as a steward of God,
not self-willed, not full of passion, not given to wine, not quarrelsome,
not greedy for ill gain; 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, discreet, just,
holy, temperate 9 holding fast the faithful word according to the
doctrine, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and to
convict the gainsayers.¶ Are these requirements only for
elders,overseers and deacons, or are they for all of us in Christ? Aren't
we all supposed to be without reproach, temperate, sensible, well-
ordered, not drinkers, not quarrelsome, not greedy of ill gain, but
gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous, reverent, not double-tongued,
not given to much wine, having the mystery of the faith in a pure
conscience, being blameless, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all
things. having a good report from those on the outside?¶ But doesn't 1
Corinth. 12 and Ephes. 4 make it plain that we all have different gifts
so that some [but not all] are hospitable, some [but not all] are able to
teach, some [but not all] rule their own house well, some [but not all]
have their children in subjection with all honor, (For if one does not
know to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of
God?)? Since novices are not expected to be able or qualified to be an
elder, overseer or deacon, doesn't that also mean that they are
therefore not expected to be monogynous? Since all believers are not
required to have the gift of hospitality, of teaching, of ruling well and
effectively their children, and since all believers are novices at one
point in their spiritual lives, then isn't it obvious that not all believers
have the gift (1 Cor. 7) of monogyny? If these standards (especially
monogyny) are to be required of all believers, then what about those
believers Paul encourages to never marry at all so that they can wait
on God without distraction in times of persecution? Isn't it clear that
these requirements are required only of those who seek to qualify for
such positions?¶ Husband of one wife: Yes! Definitely! An
elder/overseer/bishop/superintendent of a church must be the husband
of only one wife. Are we all elders/overseers/bishops/ superintendents?
Clearly not. The unmarried are not. The married who have unruly
children are not. Husbands with disrespectful, uncooperative and
defiant wives andchildren are not. The married and unmarried who are
unable to teach are not. All novices are not. Those with a bad
reputation, earned or unearned, among the unsaved through slander
or misunderstandings are not. Those who don’t want a church
leadership position are not. That includes most of us, and most of us
are not covered by the injunction to be the husband of only one wife.
>>>A.D. 50s Polygynists called in polygyny to remain in
polygyny+++++++++****1 CORINTH. 7:7 Now I wish all men to be
even as myself: but every one has his own gift of God: one man thus,
and another thus. 8 But I say to the unmarried and to the widows, It is
good for them that they remain [unmarried] even as I. 9 But if they are
not having continuing control over themselves [to keep from sinning
sexually once in a while], THEY SHOULD MARRY; for it is better to
marry than to burn. . . 17 ¶ But as God has distributed to each one, as
the Lord has called each one, so let him walk. And so I ordain in all
churches. 18 [Was] any called having been circumcised? Do not be
uncircumcised. Was anyone called in uncircumcision? Do not be
circumcised. . . . 20 Let each one remain in the calling in which he was
called. 21 Were you called as a slave? It does not matter to you, but if
you are able to become free, use [it] rather. . . . 24 Each in whatever
way he was called, brothers, in this remain with God.”The application
would be something like this:' ¶ But as God has distributed to each
one, as the Lord has called each one, so let him walk. And so I ordain in
all churches. 18 [Was] any called in polygyny/concubinage? Do not
become monogynous. . . . . . 20 Let each one remain in the calling in
which he was called.' ¶ Yes, that means if they were called in polygyny,
they remain in polygyny unless their polygyny violates the law>48 of
the land they are called in. If the law of the land prohibits their
polygyny, they cannot dump their wives since they are bound by God
to them in marriage since God’s Laws take precedence over the laws of
man>49 , so they must change their formal polygyny to informal
concubinage to live without offense>50 .[Footnote: >48 Romans13.
>49 (Moses & Pharaoh, Daniel and the lions, Shedrach and the fiery
furnace, Acts 4). >50 Romans 14.]¶ Yes, that means that if they were
called in concubinage, they remain in concubinage unless (1) their
informal concubinage should become formal polygyny so as not to
offend or stumble the Church >51 , or (2) their open and public
concubinage must become personal, private, discrete and
secretive>52 so as not to stumble or offend the saints.[Footnote: >51
Romans 14 & 15. >52 Romans 14 & 15, 1 Cor. 8 & 10]>>>A.D. 50s
Marital fidelity and polygynous fidelity emphasized.++++++++++++
***1Cor.7:2's “. . . ..each [man] is commanded to be having his own
wife, and each [woman] is commanded to be having her own husband”
. ¶ How can this be an argument for monogamy as most Christian
leaders maintain>62? Whenever Abraham had Sarah, he had his own
wife; and whenever Abraham had Hagar, he had his own wife, not
someone else's wife,right? When David had Ahinoam, didn't he have
his own wife? When David had Abigail, didn't he have his own wife?
When David had Maacah, didn't he have his own wife? When David had
Haggith, didn't he have his own wife, instead of having another's wife?
When David had Abital, didn't he have his own wife? When he had
Eglah, didn't he have his own wife, not someone else's wife? Each time
Jacob, Joash or Gideon had one of their own wives in polygyny, wasn't
he having his own wife/concubine? Wasn't each wife/concubine of
these polygamists having her own polygamous husband? Isn 't this
also true of a man and his concubine with whom he has maritally
covenanted>22 honorably before God? Doesn't each polygynist have
his own wife, and have each one of them intimately and each one is his
own wife? Doesn't each of the polygynist's wives have her own
husband and have him intimately in their marriage. How does the
passage above rebuke, demean or condemn polygyny? Doesn't the
passage address marital faithfulness and exclude adultery, which
involves a husband having another’s wife and a wife having one who is
not her own husband? Doesn't it restrict sexual “having” to marriage
with one’s own mate in monogyny or polygyny?¶ “. . . ..let each man
have his own wife, and let each wife have her own husband” is not an
argument for monogamy as most Christian leaders maintain>62 .
Whenever Abraham, David, Jacob, Joash or Gideon had one of their
own wives, he was having his own wife/concubine; and each
wife/concubine of these polygamists had her own polygamous
husband. This is also true of a man and his concubine with whom he
has maritally covenanted>22 honorably before God. David had his own
Abigail and Abigail had her own David. David had his own Abigail and
Bathsheeba, and Bathsheeba and Abigail both had their own David.
The polygynist has his own wife, and has each one of them intimately
and each one is his own wife. Each of the polygynist's wives has her
own husband and has him intimately in their marriage. This passage
does not rebuke, demean or condemn polygyny. The passage
addresses marital faithfulness and excludes adultery, which involves a
husband having another’s wife and a wife having one who is not her
own husband. It restricts sexual “having” to marriage with one’s own
mate.[Footnotes:>.62 Please see THE INSTITUTES OF BIBLICAL LAW, by
R. Rushdonney, p. 363. >22 Ezek. 16:8; Malachi 2:10-17; Neh. 9:38
with 1 Sam. 20:3-17; As in Matt. 1:18-24 and Luke 1 & 2, she was his
"wife" by their covenant even before their actual formal wedding.]
>>>AD 50s Jesus Jews keeping the Law and Jesus nonJews not keeping
the Law+++++***ACTS 21:17 And when we arrived at Jerusalem the
brethren gladly received us. 18 And on the morrow Paul went in with us
to James, and all the elders came there. 19 And having saluted them,
he related one by one the things which God had wrought among the
nations by his ministry. 20 And they having heard it glorified God, and
said to him, "YOU SEE, BROTHER, HOW MANY MYRIADS THERE ARE OF
THE JEWS WHO HAVE BELIEVED, AND ALL ARE ZEALOUS OF THE LAW.
21 AND THEY HAVE BEEN INFORMED CONCERNING YOU, THAT YOU
TEACH ALL THE JEWS AMONG THE NATIONS APOSTASY FROM MOSES,
SAYING THAT THEY SHOULD NOT CIRCUMCISE THEIR CHILDREN, NOR
WALK IN THE CUSTOMS.22 What is it then? a multitude must
necessarily come together, for they will hear that thou art come. 23
This do therefore that we say to thee: We have four men who have a
vow on them; 24 TAKE THESE AND BE PURIFIED WITH THEM, AND PAY
THEIR EXPENSES, THAT THEY MAY HAVE THEIR HEADS SHAVED; AND
ALL WILL KNOW THAT WHAT THEY HAVE BEEN INFORMED ABOUT YOU
IS NOTHING, BUT THAT YOU YOURSELF ALSO WALK ORDERLY, KEEPING
THE LAW. 25 But concerning those of the nations who have believed,
we have written, deciding that they should observe no such thing, only
to keep themselves both from things offered to idols, and from blood,
and from things strangled, and from fornication. 26 THEN PAUL, TAKING
THE MEN, ON THE NEXT DAY, HAVING BEEN PURIFIED, ENTERED WITH
THEM INTO THE TEMPLE, SIGNIFYING THE TIME THE DAYS OF
PURIFICATION WOULD BE FULFILLED, UNTIL THE OFFERING WAS
OFFERED FOR EVERY ONE OF THEM.¶ This means that the marriage
and morality teachings of 1 Thess. 4 ; Romans 7; 1 Corinthians 5, 6 and
7 were written before the time of Acts 21:16 while Paul and the
believing Jews, including the apostles, were still obeying and teaching
the marriage and morality laws of the Law of Moses, discussed at
length above including the laws regulating the practice of polygyny (Ex
21:7-11; Deut 21:15,16; Dt 25:5-11) . Christian elders agree that
during Jesus' physical and visible walk on earth, the Jews practiced
polygamy>24.”[Footnote: >24. Trobisch; MY WIFE MADE ME. . P. 23. ;
HASTING'S DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE, p.584. ; A Select Library of the
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of The Christian Church, Vol. V, p. 267.;
A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of The Christian
Church, Vol. iv, p.290.; A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene
Fathers of The Christian Church, Vol. VIII, p. 258. ; St. Augustin: On The
Trinity, p. 402.; HASTING'S DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE, p.259, 583ff.]
>>>A.D. 30s Jesus commands obedience to Torah
Law+++++++++++Jesus made it very clear that the Israelites who
followedHim were to observe the Sinai Covenant, Torah.***Mat 5: 17 ¶
Think not that I am come to make void the law or the prophets; I am
not come to make void, but to fulfil. 18* For verily I say unto you, Until
the heaven and the earth pass away, one iota or one tittle shall in no
wise pass from the law till all come to pass. 19 Whosoever then shall
do away with one of these least commandments, and shall teach men
so, shall be called least in the kingdom of the heavens; but whosoever
shall practise and teach them, *he* shall be called great in the
kingdom of the heavens.***Matt 23: 1 ¶ Then Jesus spoke to the
crowds and to his disciples, 2 saying, The scribes and the Pharisees
have set themselves down in Moses’ seat: 3 all things therefore,
whatever they may tell you, do and keep. But do not after their works,
for they say and do not, . . >>>A.D. 30s - 50s Polygyny and adultery
are not the same.¶ ADULTERY FOR THE WOMAN:***1. "Whoever
marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery">144. The reason
being that she is still bound to him as wife.>145.[Footnote: >144 Mat.
5:32; 19:9; Luke 16:18; except in the cases of 1 Cor. 7:12-15,39; 1 Tim.
5:14. >145. 1 Cor. 7:10, 11, 39; Romans 7:1-3. ] ***2. The husband
"causes her to commit adultery" when he divorces her for any reason
other than sexual immorality>146. The reason being that she is still
bound to him as wife.>147 In 1 Corinth. 7:5 we see that her husband
"causes her to commit adultery" because her husband is failing to
meet her marital needs and the enemy of her soul tempts in her
burning need. (On the other hand: The wife is not said to cause her
husband to commit adultery when she divorces him for any other
reason than sexual immorality, probably because he is free to be a
polygynist.)[Footnote: >146. Matt. 5:32; 19:9. >147 1 Cor. 7:10, 11,
39; Romans 7:1-3.]***3. "And if a woman divorces her husband and
marries another, she commits adultery.">148. The adultery consists of
both divorce AND remarriage. The reason being that she is still bound
to him as wife.>149.[Footnotes:>148. Mark 10:12. >149. 1 Cor. 7:10,
11, 39; Romans 7:1-3.]***4. "if, while her husband lives, she marries
another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies,
she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has
married another man.">150[Footnote: >150. Romans 7:3.] ¶
ADULTERY AND THE MAN***1. "Whoever marries a woman who is
divorced commits adultery", obviously because she still is bound to the
husband from whom she is divorced.[>.^151. Mat. 5:32; 19:9; except
in the cases of 1 Cor. 7:12-15,39; 1 Tim. 5:14.]***2. "Whoever divorces
his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits
adultery." The adultery consists of divorcing his wife for something else
besides sexual immorality AND then remarrying. If he stayed married
to his wife and married another, he became a polygynist. On the other
hand, it is implied here that if he divorces his wife for sexual immorality
and marries another, he does not commit adultery. His divorcing her
does not cause her to commit adultery because she is already
immorally sexually involved with someone else. His refusal to meet her
sexual needs (1 Cor 7:2-5) does not cause her to be immoral because
she is already being immoral. He is commanded not to be intimate with
her (1Cor.5:11) but his lack of her intimacy will cause him to be
tempted (1 Cor.7:5). If the temptations overcome him and he is failing
to control himself, burning with marital desire, he comes under
command to marry (1Cor.7:9) and so remarries in the Lord. [Footnote:
>152. Matt 19: 9: Mark 10:11; Luke 16:18.152.]***3. "You shall not
covet your neighbor's wife.">153. "You shall not lie carnally with your
neighbor's wife”>154. "For this is the will of God. . . ..that no one
should take advantage of and defraud/cheat his brother in this
matter.”>155. A genuine Christian wife is bound to her husband as
long as he lives and she becomes an adulteress when she marries
another while he still lives.[Footnotes:>153. Exod. 20:17. >154.
Leviticus18:20. >155. 1 Thess. 4:3-6.]¶ Adultery for the female is
sexual intimacy with anyone else besides her own husband/mate.
Adultery for the male is when (1) he is married to a new wife and had
left/rejected/divorced his former wife in order to marry this new
wife>99 . ; or (2) is sexually intimate with some one else’s wife. It is
this double standard that allowed Abraham, Jacob, David and Joash to
be godly polygamists, but declared a woman to be an adulteress if she
was intimate with anyone but her own mate. It is a double standard for
the man and the woman, just like polygyny was/is a double standard
for the man and the woman. The same sin is defined differently for the
woman and differently for the man. See more on this below.
[Footnotes:>99 It is the combination of divorcing one's mate in order
to marry another and then marrying that other. If he both dutifully
keeps his own wife and then marries another woman, it is polygyny
and not adultery. If the wife dutifully keeps her own husband and
marries another it is adultery (Romans 7:3) The double standard is
clearly laid out in Matt. 5:32 and 19:6-9; Mark 10:1-11; Luke 16:18; 1
Thess. 4:4-6 and Romans 7:1-3; 1 Corinth. 7:39]¶ It is this double
standard that results from the man being the designated the head of
the family (Gen 2; 1Cor. 11), that results in what appears to be another
inequity. In Mt. 5:32 Jesus apparently allows the genuinely believing
husband to divorce his wife because she is snared in sexual immorality.
Not only is he allowed to divorce her, he is allowed to remarry. If she is
genuinely saved, she is still bound maritally to him as wife before the
Lord, even though she is snared in sex sin and Jesus hasn't finished his
Mat. 18;15-18 & 1 Cor. 5:5-11 work with her yet. He remarries with a
free-in-the-Lord-to-marry genuinely believing woman and is now bound
before the Lord to two wives. If the one involved in sex sin survives 1
Cor . 5 and repents according to 2 Cor. 2 & 7, he must accept her back
as his wife along with his new wife, being bound to both as long as he
and they all live. >>>OT POST EXILEJEHOVAH AND HIS TWO
WIVES+++++++++++EZEK 23: 1 ¶ And the word of Jehovah came
unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, there were two women, daughters of
one mother. 3 And they committed whoredom in Egypt; they
committed whoredom in their youth: there were their breasts pressed,
and there were handled the teats of their virginity. 4 And their names
were Oholah the elder, and Oholibah her sister; and they were mine,
and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names: Samaria is
Oholah, and Jerusalem Oholibah. 5 And Oholah played the harlot when
she was mine; and she lusted after her lovers, after the Assyrians her
neighbours, . . . . . >>>OT POST EXILE:"However, if polygamy was not
forbidden it was not directly sanctioned. It was a heritage from the past
and it was left undisturbed. . . . In the Second Commonwealth
polygamy is far from general (cf. To bit and Susanna)."CHARLES A.
RUBENSTEIN-----------------Bibliography:Abrahams, 1., Jewish Life in the
Middle Ages (1917);Westermarck, E., History of Human Marriage
(1901);Spencer, H., Principles of Sociology idem, Descriptive Sociology;
Lay, Wilfrid, A Plea for Monogamy (1923)>>>5th CENTURY B.C.:
POLYGYNOUS QUEEN ESTHER++++++++++++++Es 4:13 And
Mordecai bade to answer Esther: Imagine not in thy heart that thou
shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews. 14 For if thou
altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there arise relief
and deliverance to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy
father’s house shall perish. And who knows whether thou art not come
to the kingdom for such a time as this? 15 And Esther bade to answer
Mordecai: 16* Go, gather together all the Jews that are found in
Shushan, and fast for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or
day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise, and so will I go in unto
the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish. 17
And Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had
commanded him.Es 9: 29 And Esther the queen, the daughter of
Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority to confirm this
second letter of Purim. 30 And he sent the letters to all the Jews, to the
hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus,
[with] words of peace and truth, 31 in order to confirm these days of
Purim in their [set] times, according as Mordecai the Jew and Esther
the queen had ordered them, and as they had decreed for themselves
and for their seed the matters of the fastings and of their cry. 32 And
the order of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim. And it was
written in the book.>>>OT Kings:The marriage figure applied to the
union of God and Israel. . . ..implied monogamy as the ideal state.
Polygamy is, in fact,always an unnatural development from the point of
view both to religion and of anthropology; 'monogamy is by far the
most common form of human marriage; it was so also amongst the
ancient peoples of whom we have any direct knowledge'
(Westermarck, Hum. Marr.p.459). Being, however, apparently legalized,
and having the advantage of precedent, it was long before polygamy
was formally forbidden in Hebrew society >n130 , though practically it
fell into disuse; the feeling of the Rabbis was strongly against
it.">n131[Footnotes:>.n129 Always? What about the divorce statistics
in our modern and monogamous America? Also, Solomon and the
Shulamite seemed to have a great deal of domestic happiness in their
polygamy according to the Song of Solomon 6. >.n130"Polygamy was
not definitely forbidden among the Jews till the time of R. Gershom (c.
A.d. 1000), and then at first only for France and Germany. In Spain,
Italy, and the East it persisted for some time longer, as it does still
among the Jews in Mohammedan counties". DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE,
J. Hastings (Selbie,Lambert, Mathews), Hendrickson Publishers,
1989;p.584.>..n131 Loc Cit Dictionary of the Bible, Hastings: pp. 583-
587.]>>>OT Kings: "The gradual evolution in the OT of monogamy as
the ideal is therefore of the highest interest. The earliest codes attempt
in various ways to regulate the custom of polygyny. The Deut. code in
particular actually forbids kings to multiply wives (Dt 17.17); this is the
fruit, apparently of the experience of Solomon's
reign.">n133[Footnote: >.n133 DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE, J.
Hastings(Selbie, Lambert, Mathews), Hendrickson Publishers,
1989;p.259..]>>>OT KINGS: God's Law forbade a king from
"multiplying"wives>.75 to himself without making such a command to
we non kings. It appears from later scripture about Godly and God
blessed kings of Israel that God makes a distinction between
MULTIPLYING wives & horses to yourself and adding wives & horses to
yourself. None of us object to King David having more than one horse
but many object to King David having more than one wife, yet it is the
same command"he shall not multiply hoses . . . wives to himself." By 2
Samuel 5-12 God had "given" him seven wives plus a number of
concubines.We see His implied blessing on David's polygyny . This
implied blessing of his polygyny would have to mean that David, with
concubines and seven wives, had not yet violated the prohibition
against a king multiplying wives and horses to himself.[Footnotes:>75
De 17:15 "You shall only set him king over you whom Jehovah your God
will choose: from among your brethren shall you set a king over you; . .
. 16 Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, . . . 17 Neither shall
he multiply wives to himself,that his heart turn not away; neither shall
he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold." NO PROHIBITION FROM
HAVING SOME HORSES , SOME WIVES and some gold]>>>OT Kings:
"Polygamy meets us as a fact: e.g. Abraham, Jacob,the Judges,David,
Solomon; 1 Ch 7:4 is evidence of its prevalence in Issachar;Elkanah (1
Sam.1:1ff) is significant as belonging to the middle class;Jehoida (2 Ch
24:3) as a priest. . .Legislation . . . safe guarded the rights of various
wives, slave or free; and according to the Rabbinical interpretation of
Lv 21:13>40. . . .the high priest was not allowed to be a bigamist. . .
The marriage figure applied to the union of God and Israel . . . implied
monogamy as the ideal state. . . "[Footnote: (>.(40. Septuagint Lev.
21:13 "He shall take for a wife a virgin of his own tribe.". .>41.
DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE, J.Hastings (Selbie, Lambert, Mathews),
Hendrickson Publishers,1989; p.583ff.]>>>835+/- B.C.: JEHOIDA AND
JOASH AND THEIR RIGHT POLYGYNY++++++++++++++++2 CHRON
24:1 ¶ Joash was seven years old when he began to reign; and he
reigned forty years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Zibiah of
Beer-sheba. 2 And Joash did what was right in the sight of Jehovah all
the days of Jehoiada the priest. 3 And Jehoiada took for him two wives;
and he begot sons and daughters.>>>848 B.C. +/-
JEHORAM++++++++++++2 CHRON 21:12 ¶ And there came a
writing to him from Elijah the prophet saying, Thus saith Jehovah, the
God of David thy father: Because thou hast not walked in the ways of
Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah, . . .14
behold, Jehovah will smite with a great stroke thy people, and thy
children, and thy wives, and all thy substance, >>>870 B.C. +/-
AHAB++++++++++++++1 KINGS 20: 1 ¶ And Ben-Hadad king of
Syria assembled all his host; and there were thirty-two kings with him,
and horses and chariots; and he went up and besieged Samaria, and
fought against it. 2 And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into
the city, and said to him, Thus says Ben-Hadad: 3 Thy silver and thy
gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, the goodliest, are mine. .
. 7 And the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said,
Mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeks mischief; for he sent to
me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my
gold; and I denied him not. 8 And all the elders and all the people said
to him, Hearken not, nor consent>>>913 B.C. +/-
ABIJAH+++++++++2 CHRON 13: 20 And Jeroboam did not recover
strength again in the days of Abijah; and Jehovah smote him, and he
died. 21 But Abijah strengthened himself, and took fourteen wives, and
begot twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. 22 And the rest of the
acts of Abijah, and his ways and his sayings, are written in the treatise
of the prophet Iddo.>>>931 B.C.: REHOBOAM+++++++++++++++
2 CHRON 11:17 And they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and
made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong three years; for during
three years they walked in the way of David and Solomon. 18 And
Rehoboam took Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David as
wife, and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse. 19 And she
bore him children: Jeush, and Shemariah, and Zaham. 20 And after her
he took Maachah the daughter of Absalom; and she bore him Abijah,
and Attai, and Ziza, and Shelomith. 21 And Rehoboam loved Maachah
the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines; for he
had taken eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and he begot twenty-
eight sons and sixty daughters.>>>971 B.C. +/-: POLYGYNOUS
SOLOMON'S SIN OF MARRYING UNBELIEVERS1 KINGS 11:4 And it came
to pass when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart
after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with Jehovah his God,
as the heart of David his father. 5 And Solomon went after Ashtoreth
the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the
Ammonites. 6 And Solomon did evil in the sight of Jehovah, and
followed not fully Jehovah, as David his father. 7 Then did Solomon
build a high place for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, on
the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the
children of Ammon. 8 And so he did for all his foreign wives, who
burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.Song of Solomon 6: 4 ¶ O
my love, you are as beautiful as Tirzah, as lovely as Jerusalem, as
inspiring as an army with banners. 5 Turn away your eyes from Me, for
they have overcome Me; your hair is like a flock of goats that appears
from Gilead. 6 Your teeth are like a flock of ewes which go up from the
washing; they all are bearing twins, and a barren one is not among
them. 7 Your temples behind your veil are like a piece of pomegranate.
8 There are sixty queens, and eighty concubines, and virgins without
number. 9 But My dove, My undefiled is one alone. She is the only one
of her mother. She is the choice of her who bore her. The daughters
saw her and blessed her; the queens and the concubines saw her, and
they praised her. >>>1003 B.C. +/-: KING DAVID BLESSED BY GOD
WITH EVEN MORE WIVES IN HIS POLYGYNY++++++++2 Sam.12: 7
And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man! Thus saith Jehovah the
God of Israel: I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out
of the hand of Saul; 8 and I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy
master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and
of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given
unto thee such and such things. 1 Chron. 3: 1 ¶ And these are the sons
of David, who were born to him in Hebron: the firstborn, Amnon, of
Ahinoam the Jizreelitess; the second, Daniel, of Abigail the Carmelitess;
2 the third, Absalom the son of Maachah, daughter of Talmai king of
Geshur; the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; 3 the fifth, Shephatiah
of Abital; the sixth, Ithream, of Eglah his wife: 4 six were born to him in
Hebron. And there he reigned seven years and six months. And in
Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years. 5 And these were born to him
in Jerusalem: Shimea, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, four, of
Bath-shua the daughter of Ammiel; 6 and Ibhar, and Elishama, and
Eliphelet, 7 and Nogah, and Nepheg, and Japhia, 8 and Elishama, and
Eliada, and Eliphelet, nine: 9 all were sons of David, besides the sons of
the concubines; and Tamar was their sister.2 Sam 7: 4 ¶ And it came to
pass that night that the word of Jehovah came to Nathan, saying, 5 Go
and say to my servant, to David, Thus saith Jehovah: . . . I took thee
from the pasture-grounds, from following the sheep, to be prince over
my people, over Israel; 9 and I have been with thee whithersoever thou
wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thee, and have
made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are
on the earth. . . 16 And thy house and thy kingdom shall be made firm
for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever. 17
According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did
Nathan speak to David.>>>1011 B.C. +/-: KING SAUL AND HIS
CONCUBINE++++++++++++****2 Samuel 3: 7 ¶ And Saul had a
concubine whose name [was] Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah.>>>OT
JUDGES:"The relative positions of wives and concubines were
determined mainly by the husband's favour. The children of the wife
claimed the greater part, or the whole, of the inheritance; otherwise
there does not seem to have been any inferiority in the position of the
concubine as compared with that of the wife, nor was any idea of
illegitimacy, in our sense of the word, connected with her children. . . .
The female slaves were in every respect the property of their master,
and became his concubines; except in certain cases, when they seem
to have belonged exclusively to their mistress, and could not be
appropriated by the man except by her suggestion or
consent(Gn16:2,3). The slave-concubines were obtained as booty in
time of war (Jg 5:30), or bought from poverty-stricken parents (Ex
21:7);or,possibly, in the ordinary slave traffic with foreign nations."
>12[Footnote: >12. DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE, J. Hastings
(Selbie,Lambert, Mathews), Hendrickson Publishers, 1989; p.259.]
>>>OT Law and the Prophets: CONCUBINAGE, "Refers to the
cohabitation of a man and a woman without sanction of legal marriage.
Specifically, concubinage is a form of polygyny in which the primary
matrimonial relationship is supplemented by one or more secondary
sexual relationships. Concubinage was a legally sanctioned and socially
acceptable practice in ancient cultures,including that of the Hebrews;
concubines, however, were denied the protection to which a legal wife
was entitled".[Footnote: >27 1986, Funk & Wagnalls NEW
ENCYCLOPEDIA.]>>>THE LEVITE AND HIS CONCUBINE-------A
concubine had a HUSBAND who was the SON-IN-LAW of her father, the
FATHER-IN-LAW of the husband:Jud 19:1 ¶ And it came to pass in those
days, when there was no king in Israel, that a certain Levite, sojourning
on the further side of mount Ephraim, took him a CONCUBINE out of
Bethlehem-Judah. . . 3 And her HUSBAND rose up and went after her,
to speak kindly to her, . . . 4 And his FATHER-IN-LAW, the damsel’s
father, retained him, and he abode with him three days; . . . 5 And it
came to pass on the fourth day, that they arose early in the morning,
and he rose up to depart; and the damsel’s father said to his SON-IN-
LAW, . . . . . >>>OT Law and the Prophets: Eerdmans' Douglas' New
Bible Dictionary: "Concubine. A secondary wife acquired by purchase or
as a war captive, and allowed in polygamous society such as existed in
the Middle east in biblical times....Where marriages produced no heir,
wives presented a slave concubine too their husbands in order to raise
an heir (Gen. 16).Handmaidens, given as a marriage gift, were often
concubines(Gen.29:24,29). Concubines were protected under Mosaic
law (Exod.21:7-11; Dt. 21:10-14), though they were distinguished from
wives(Jdg.8:31) and were more easily divorced (Gen.21:10-14)"
[Footnote: >26 IVCF, Editor J.D.Douglas; 1962,W. B. Eerdmans
Publishing.]>>>OT Law and the Prophets: ". . Elkanah, the husband of
Hannah and Peninnah, is an interesting example of a man of no
particular position who nevertheless had more than one wife;this may
be an indication that bigamy, at least, if not polygamy, was not
confined to the very wealthy and exalted. At all events, polygyny was
an established and recognized institution from the earliest of
times.">39[Footnote: >39. DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE, J.
Hastings(Selbie, Lambert, Mathews), Hendrickson Publishers,
1989;p.259.]>>>1100 B.C. +/-: HANNAH BLESSED BY GOD IN HER
POLYGYNY++++++++++++++1 SAM. 1: 1 ¶ And there was a certain
man of Ramathaim-zophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was
Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son
of Zuph, an Ephrathite. 2 And he had two wives: the name of the one
was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah; and Peninnah had
children, but Hannah had no children. . . 10 and she was in bitterness
of soul, and prayed to Jehovah, and wept much. 11 And she vowed a
vow, and said, O Jehovah of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the
affliction of thy handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thy
handmaid, but wilt give unto thy handmaid a man child, then I will give
him to Jehovah all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come
upon his head. 12 And it came to pass as she continued praying before
Jehovah, that Eli noticed her mouth. . . . 17 And Eli answered and said,
Go in peace; and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition which thou
hast asked of him. 18 And she said, Let thy bondwoman find grace in
thy sight. And the woman went her way, and did eat, and her
countenance was no more as before.19 ¶ And they rose up early in the
morning and worshipped before Jehovah, and returned and came to
their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and Jehovah
remembered her. 20 And it came to pass when the time was come
about after Hannah had conceived, that she bore a son, and called his
name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of Jehovah.
>>>GIDEON, HIS WIVES AND CONCUBINE++++++++++++JUDGES
8: 29 ¶ And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his house. 30
Now Gideon had seventy sons who had come out of his loins, for he
had many wives. 31 And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also
bore him a son, and he gave him the name of Abimelech.>>>OT Law
and the Prophets: "Polygamy was such a well established part of the
social system that Mosaic law is not even critical of it. . . . .the high
priest could have only one wife and that a king in Israel should not
have too many wives (Lev. 21:13; Deut. 17:17;Ex. 21:10). . . . "
CHARLES A. RUBENSTEIN-----------------Bibliography:Abrahams, 1., Jewish
Life in the Middle Ages (1917);Westermarck, E., History of Human
Marriage (1901);>>>OT TALMUD: "According to the Talmud the right to
a plurality of wives is conceded, but the number of legitimate wives, as
in the Koran, is limited to four. The taking of additional wives is held as
sufficient ground for divorce for a woman who had previously been the
sole wife. Where a polygamous union exists, provision must be made
for adequate maintenance of each wife as well as a separate domicile.
Throughout the Talmudic age not one rabbi is known to have had more
than one wife. Monogamy was held to be the only ideal legal union;
plurality of wives was a concession to time and condition."CHARLES A.
RUBENSTEIN-----------------Bibliography:Abrahams, 1., Jewish Life in the
Middle Ages (1917);Westermarck, E., History of Human Marriage
(1901);Spencer, H., Principles o