POLIGAMY AND CONCUBINES?

                Polygamy and Concubines?

            Should we Practice it Today?

Did God ever condone polygamy? Is it a sin to practice it? Some have read the accounts of men of God like David, Jacob, and others, having more than one wife or having concubines and have concluded that God approves or sanctions polygamy. Let's search the Scriptures and see what the Bible says on this subject

                                                     by

                                              Keith Hunt

One of the keys to arriving at the truth of any doctrine is to

first believe the PLAIN easy-to-understand verses of the Bible on

that subject.

THEN with that clear light go to the "harder-to-be-understood"

verses (2 Peter 3:1518).

FOR KINGS AND LEADERS

Let's notice what is recorded in Deut.17:14-20. God foreknowing

that His chosen people Israel would one day want a HUMAN KING 

to rule them like other nations (verse14) instructs them as to the

TYPE of king   they should have - what he should DO and NOT 

do (verse 15-20). Notice verse 17 and the PLAIN instruction it

contains: "Neither shall he multiply WIVES (more than one) to

himself...."

The KING was to be the example of Godliness to the rest of the

nation. He was to READ and OBEY the words of God. He was 

not to turn aside either to the right or left (verses 18-20). Why?

"....that his heart turn not away - be not lifted up above his

brethren" (verses 17,20). He was not to make the mistake that

because he was KING he could be excused from the laws that 

God expected ALL the people to obey, if they could but walk in the

ideal ways that God would want people to climb up to and live as

the ideal way of life under God. One of those laws clearly was

NOT to have wiveS - plural.

God knowing the HARDNESS of His people's heart - knowing that

although He plainly had instructed them not to have PLURALITY of

wives, some would not listen, He gave further instructions to

them in Lev. 18:18. The MODERN LANGUAGE BIBLE translated 

this as, "While your wife is still living do not take her sister for a

rival to expose her nakedness." The LIVING BIBLE, '"

thou shall not marry two sisters, for they will be rivals. However,

 if your wife dies, then it is all right to marry her sister." The RSV

translated it as, "And you shall not take a woman as a rival wife

to her sister, uncovering her nakedness while her sister is yet

alive."

The church of the Old Testament was the nation of Israel (Acts

7:37-38). Its leaders were to be the example of holiness to the

people; so in the New Testament Church. This does not mean they

will be without sin (read chapter seven of Romans) Then we have

this from Peter, "... I appeal to the ELDER among you: shepherd

God's flock that has been entrusted to you, not lording it over

those who are under your charge but being EXAMPLES to your 

flock" (I Pet.5:1-3, Modem Language).

The leaders of the church are to show by their life how to serve

God. They are to be an example of Christianity to the members.

As for the teaching about POLYGAMY, God is VERY CLEAR 

as to how the ELDERS of the Church are to set the example. 

Paul was inspired to write to Timothy instructions on how the 

churches should be run (I Tim.3:14-15). Notice what is said about 

the PASTORS and DEACONS:

"It is a true saying that if a man wants to be a pastor he has a

good ambition. For a pastor must be a good man whose life cannot

be spoken against. He must have only ONE wife" (1 Tim. 3:1-2,

Living Bible). "...A deacon should be the husband of ONE wife

only..." (verse 12, Modem Language).

On another occasion Paul left Titus in Crete to ordain ELDERS in

the cities. Among their qualifications was to be "...the husband

of ONE wife" (Titus 1:6).

Both in the Old and New Testaments God makes it very PLAIN that

POLYGAMY was not the IDEAL way to live.

The question will no doubt be asked: "Why did Paul have to say to

Timothy and Titus that the leaders of the church must have only

ONE wife - were they not practicing POLYGAMY then?"

The answer is: Paul's ministry was mainly to the GENTILES, 

and the gentile people before conversion were used to a life style

that was very sexually promiscuous - including fornication,

adultery, whoredoms, perversions - and many gentile nations

practiced POLYGAMY, as also some Jews because they could see it

was done under the Old Covenant. Paul had to lay down in very

clear terms what was expected of the Elders of the church, as

they would be EXAMPLES for the rest of the membership to follow.

POLYGAMY was definitely FORBIDDEN, under the New Covenant, 

yet it may have taken some time for such a practice to have dissolved

from the Church members as a whole. The LEADERS had to set the

example of the way God intended it to be from the beginning.

IN THE BEGINNING

God created MAN and WOMAN (Gen.1:27). God is the author of

MARRIAGE! He saw that it was not good that man should be alone

and desired to make him an help (Gen.2:18). Notice,    it was an

HELP - singular - not HELPS, that God made for man. It was ONE of

Adam's ribs, not TWO or more, that God took to make him a woman -

not WOMEN (verses 21-22).

God said that a man shall leave his parents and cleave unto his

WIFE - singular, not plural (same verses).

Reading through the first few chapters of Genesis it should be

obvious to us that

God's purpose in marriage was to be from the beginning - ONE man

and ONE wife joined together as ONE flesh for life, with no

divorce, except under certain circumstances, if those

circumstances arose (but that is another subject for another

time), that was God's intent is clearly upheld by Jesus in the

New Testament.

The Pharisees, understanding that under Moses divorce was

"suffered," came to Jesus to try and "trip him up" (Mat.19:3).

Jesus takes them back to the BEGINNING, male and female, two

singles becoming one flesh.

Notice that the question is in regards to DIVORCE between ONE 

man and ONE woman; POLYGAMY is not even mentioned. Surely 

if there had been a question in the minds of the religious sects of Jesus'

day as to whether polygamy was the ideal of God's ideal way of

life, the question would have been put forth to Christ either by

the religious leaders or by His disciples sometime within those

three and a half years of His ministry. But the question of

POLYGAMY never rises, is never a question put forth to Jesus by

anyone. At least it is not recorded for us that it was ever a question 

put to Him. Jesus' answer to the Pharisees regarding divorce is 

answered  in the SINGULAR - wife (verse 9).

On another occasion the Sadducees tried to catch Him out with one

of their pitches as they got Him to hit it (Matt.22:23-28).

Notice again in this passage "A WIFE" (singular) is used. Now if

POLYGAMY was ever God's ideal then a man need not worry about

having NO ISSUE (children) from that wife because he could have

MANY wives to reproduce from; or he could divorce her and try

another one or two or more wives at the same time.

The ORIGINAL INTENT of God - ONE wife for life; was the reason

why this law in Deut.25:5-10 was instituted. If POLYGAMY was

sanctioned by God and a man had a dozen wives but still no

children, and he died, would his brother have to marry ALL his

wives? If not, which one did he have to marry? Who would decide?

There are no laws in Moses' writings to answer that dilemma. No,

it was not needed under the system of ONE wife at one time, which

was the ideal of God.

The passage in Deut.25 concerning the duty to a brother's wife uses 

the singular wife not the plural wiveS.

THE NEW TESTAMENT AGAIN

Taking a CONCORDANCE (such as STRONG'S) of the Bible we can

locate every passage in the New Testament to do with MARRIAGE -

WIFE - HUSBAND, or seeking a wife.

Paul uses the SINGULAR husband and man in his discourse of Rom.

7:1-3. The basic law, the ideal law of God in regards marriage

was one man and one woman, two singles becoming ONE, not one

single man and plural women becoming one.

Again, in Paul's instructions about marriage in I Cor.7, we note

only the singular use of wife, husband (i.e. verses 2,3,4,10,27).

Commenting on the right that a minister of God can be married,

Paul says in I Cor.9:5 that he and others did have the right to

have a WIFE. Again he uses wife, singular not wives.

We cannot find ANY passage in the New Testament where more than

ONE wife or husband at one time is CONDONED, SANCTIONED or

RECOMMENDED.

Besides that, the EXAMPLES of God-fearing MEN and WOMEN 

of the NEW TESTAMENT show that MONOGAMY —-

not POLYGAMY,  was practiced; that is——

examples such as Joseph and Mary, Zechariah and Elizabeth, 

Priscilla and Aquila and others.

From the teaching and examples of the New Testament we find a

definite SILENCE on the subject of the ideal way of life for the

man of God being polygamy. Just the opposite is the case. All

teaching and examples in the New Testament show God's original

intent, that man was to have one wife at a time.

Although we do find men of God and men not of God in the Old

Testament, having more than one wife at a time, by the time of

Jesus and what we call the New Testament age had arrived,

polygamy had clearly come to be seen for what it was, or should

we say, for what it was NOT. It had clearly come to be seen as

NOT God's ideal for a man to have more than one wife at a time.  

Some secular writings will reveal to us this truth.

WHAT OTHER SOURCES SAY

THE TRUTH OF GOD is not derived from secular works,

encyclopedias, etc. Nevertheless, the searcher for truth will be

willing to research into ALL available material on the subject

he/she is studying. So for your CONSIDERATION we shall 

quote from TWO secular works.

From the JEWISH ENCYCOLPEDIA, article "Marriage" - pages

1026,1028.

"In the Jewish teaching, marriage is the ideal human state and is

considered a basic institution established by God at the time of

creation.....

IN THE BIBLE. The purposes of marriage in the Bible are

companionship and procreation: 'It is not good that the man

should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him. Therefore

shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave

unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh' (Gen.2:18,24); and

'Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth...' (Gen.

1:28). The Biblical conception of marriage is essentially

monogamous (Gen. 2:24). Although in Biblical times polygamy 

was common among the upper classes (Judges 8:30; 2 Sam.5:13;

I Kings 11:1-8), the many references to marriage in the 'wisdom

literature' seem to take it for granted that a man had only one

wife (Ps 128; Prov. 12:4; 18:22; 19:14; 31:10-31; Ecclus. 25:1;

26). The prophets using marriage as a metaphor for God's

attachment to Israel (Isa.61:10; 62:5; Ezek.16; Hos.2:21-22, also

Song of Songs, if interpreted metaphorically) clearly have

monogamous marriage in mind, since God did not enter into such 

a special relationship with any other people......

Polygamy, while theoretically still possible, was discouraged,

and was almost unknown among talmudic rabbis."

One SECOND quotation is from the PICTORIAL BIBLE 

DICTIONARY, 1963 Edition, pages 512-13.

"The total unity of persons in marriage, comprehended in the

expression 'one flesh,' demands monogamy ..... One cannot relate

in this way to more than one person at a time. It is monogamous,

as is the relationship of Christ to His one bride - the church

..... Monogamy is represented in the prophets as symbolic of the

union of God with Israel (Hos.2:19; Jer.3:14; 31:32; Isa.54:5).

In the New Testament the bridegroom is God in Christ Matt 9:15),

with the bride the spiritual Israel elect out of every nation (2

Cor.11:2; Eph.5:23-32; Rev.19:7).... Monogamy is consistent with

Christ's Golden Rule, for under polygamy other men were robbed

and wives degraded. Polygamy is represented in the prophets as

having its counterpart in idolatry. It made its first appearance

in the lawless line of the Cainites (Gen.4:23).... The

backslidings and calamities in the reigns of David and Solomon

are attributed to the polygamy practiced (2 Sam.5:13; I Kings

11:1-3; Deut 17:17)...

WHAT ABOUT CONCUBINES?

We read quite a lot about people in the Old Testament as not only

having more than one wife but as also having "concubines." To

many this is an enigma, the word "concubine" just means nothing

to them, and simply from guess work they think it means some kind

of a hired or live in woman very close to being a bought

prostitute. Actually nothing could be further from the truth. For

the truth on this matter I shall quote in length from THE

THEOLOGICAL WORD BOOK OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, 

Vol.2, page 724.

".. 'pilegesh' concubine. .... The Hebrew equivalent of the Greek

'pallakis' and the Latin 'pellex.' A concubine was a true wife,

though of secondary rank. This is indicated, for example, by the

references to a concubine's 'husband' (Jud.9:13), the

'father-in-law' (Jud.19:4), 'son-in-law' (Jud.19:5). Thus, the

concubine was not a kept mistress, and did not cohabit with a man

unless married to him. The institution itself is an offshoot of

polygamy.

A number of men in the OT had concubines, either one, or many 

(as a sign of wealth and status symbols). Not that many of those 

who have concubines are kings (and cf. Est.2:14, Songs 6:8,

Dan.5:3,23).

There are two famous concubines mentioned in the OT. They are (1)

Rizpah, the concubine of Saul, whose moving display of maternal

love so moved David that he had her children buried in the family

sepulchre (2 Sam.3:7 and 21:8-14); (2) the concubine of an

unnamed Levite of Gibeah whose rape and murder brought about 

the death of 25,000 members of the tribe of Benjamin, and the ban

against members of the other tribes intermarrying with them

(Jud.19,20, one-third of the use of pilegesh in the OT are in

these two chapters).

To lie with a king's concubine was tantamount to usurpation of

the throne. This explains why Adner soon fell out with the house

of Saul because he sought in marriage Rizpah, Saul's concubine 

(2 Sam.3:7). Marrying a king's widow could easily suggest designs 

on the throne (cf.2 Sam.16:21-22 and similarly the idea in 1 Kings

2:21-24)."

I think it is of helpful insight to also quote from THE NEW

UNGER'S BIBLE DICTIONARY under the article "concubine."

"CONCUBINE (Heb.'pilegesh,' derivation uncertain). A secondary 

or inferior wife....

Hebrew. Concubinage came early into general practice, for we read

(Gen.22:24) of Bethuel, the father of Rebekah, having not only

his wife Milcah, but also a concubine, Reumah, who bore him four

children .... Jacob taking first two wives and then two

concubines. Nor was the practice wholly discontinued among the

Israelites, for we see the following men had concubines, namely,

Eliphaz (Gen.36:12) David (5:13), Solomon (1 Kings 11:3),

Rehoboam (2 Chron.11:21), Abijah. Indeed, in process of time

concubmage appears to have degenerated into a regular custom

among the Jews, and the institutions of Moses were directed to

prevent excess and abuse by wholesome laws and regulations

(Ex.21:7-9, Deut.21:10-14).

The unfaithfulness of a concubine was considered criminal (2

Sam.3:7-8) and was punished with scourging (Lev.19:20)....

Sometimes, to avoid debauchery, a female slave would be given 

to the son, was then considered as one of the children of the house,

and retained her rights as concubine even after the marriage of

the son (Ex.21:9-10)...."

Ah, yes indeed, quite a different society in part back in those

Old Testament days, with God allowing men to have more than 

one wife and to have concubines, or secondary wives. This alone

causes us some mental problems as to trying to define a

"secondary wife" coming from our western cultures that do not

allow the practice of polygamy, more than one wife at a time, let

alone allowing for "secondary wives" whatever that means to us. 

I must admit it is hard to figure that one, as we are born into a

culture that gives us no practical ideal as to what a "secondary

wife" would be or what it would mean in daily functional living.

Would it be that a concubine was something like a glorified

servant of the house, yet was married to the man of the house and

hence also had sexual relations with him from time to time? Well,

whatever the specific functional differences between those called

wives and those called concubines, the bottom line is that all

were thought of as legally married to the man and were all his

wives, but some were of a kind of first rank wife and the others

second rank wife.

As I say, somewhat strange and hard to figure coming from a

culture where such practices are not allowed. Our minds have a

hard time understanding a culture where wives (plural) and

concubines also plural) would be the practice of many. But such

was the practice and functional living for many for thousands of

years as related to us in the Old Testament. As we have seen, it

was not God's ideal, from the beginning it was God's intent that

marriage would be one man and one woman at a time.

POLYGAMY AND THE MEN OF GOD

ABRAHAM

Under this section we need only concern ourselves with those

individuals and their lives who are put forth by God in His word

as His followers. The individuals who practiced polygamy and are

stated as being evil or without God can be easily dismissed as

being rebellious and openly defiant against the laws of God. This

is not.possible with those who were the children of God in the

OT.

ABRAHAM is thought of as a POLYGAMIST. We see in chapter 

16:1 of Genesis that Abraham had A WIFE (singular) - SARAI, 

and she had a HANDMAID - Hagar. Because Sarai was barren, 

SHE thought up a way to help fulfil God's promises to Abraham. 

She would give him her= MAID to reproduce a child. Now in this 

Abraham, like Adam, harkened to his wife (verse 2). Even Abraham's 

faith wavered at this point in his life.

Verse three says SARAI - NOT GOD - gave the handmaid Hagar to 

be a wife to Abraham. This verse nowhere says God approved or

condoned this action.. TO BE A WIFE, but how? Why, only in the

sense of reproduction in this instance. Notice the next verse:

"And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived......." Afterwards,

when Sarai saw the END RESULT she realized she had DONE 

WRONG in suggesting such a scheme (verse 5).

Did Abraham recognize Hagar as his wife? A wife like Saria? No!

Not verse six: "But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold thy MAID......"

Hagar was still only a maid of Sarai's to him - NOT a wife. Sarai

was hard on her - and Hagar went away. The angel of the Lord

found her (verse 7). Notice how he addresses her, not as

Abraham's WIFE but as Sarai's MAID.. He tells her to return to

her MISTRESS and SUBMIT to her.

This all happened when Abraham was 86 (verse 16). The real

conversion and covenant relationship with God took place in

Abraham' s 99th year of his life chap. 17:1-14, 22-27). God would

establish His promises to Abraham THROUGH arai and a son who

would be born to her. Sarai is called by GOD Abraham's WIFE

(verse 15,19). As we read through chapters 18-23 we see repeated

again and again that SARAH is called Abraham's wife; but never 

is Hagar referred to as his wife.

If some still want to argue the point, we notice that a year

later, when Abraham was a hundred years old, ISAAC was born to

him (chap.21:5). At this point, Hagar and her son were SENT AWAY

- God said it should be so (verses 9-13). Hagar is called both by

Sarah and GOD Abraham's BONDWOMAN - not his wife (verses 

10, 12,13).

Sarah died at the age of 127 (chap.23:1-2). We can find nothing

that suggests that Abraham had any other woman but SARAH as 

his wife for all those years, yet he did have sexual relations to

produce a son, with Hagar, as we have seen.

After the death of Sarah, Abraham did remarry. He "took a wife" -

her name was KETURAH (chap.25:1). It is also recorded that

Abraham had "concubines" (verse 5). So indeed even the man of

faith, the father of the faithful as the NT calls him, did not

practice monogamy all of his life.

JACOB

No one should or can deny the plain fact that Jacob DID HAVE more

than one wife - he had TWO wives, women that were wiveS in every

sense of the word. The Scriptures make this plain in such passages as 

Gen.29:15-30, 31:1-5,22,26,41-51.

Jacob not only had TWO wives who produced children to him, but

the handmaids of his wives he also had sexual relations with and

they begot children (Gen.30:1-3). Now, did God CONDONE that

action of Jacob? Was it any less an error and sin than Abraham trying 

to fulfil the promise of God "his way" - trying to work it out according 

to the flesh?

It has been argued, with some justification I believe, that Jacob

was not DEEPLY converted to God until some years later. The

account of his personal relationship with God and the subsequent

events are recorded in Genesis chapter 35.

God tells Jacob to go back to BETHEL and live there (verse 1). 

It is obvious that this revelation in the mind of Jacob caused him

to take a stand for God that he may not have had before. He told

HIS HOUSEHOLD to put away FALSE worship of false gods (verses

2-4). God then APPEARED to him - talked to him face to face

(verses 9,13). At this time God OFFICIALLY changes Jacob's name

to ISRAEL (one that prevails with God) and gives him the PROMISES

made to Abraham and Isaac (verses 10-12).

After this monumental event in Jacob's life - very shortly after,

maybe only hours, Rachel DIED in giving birth to Benjamin. She

died on the way to EPHRATH (verse 19). EPHRATH was only "a little

piece of ground" (margin reading) from BETHEL (verse 16). Jacob

was only left with LEAH as his WIFE from that point on. It would

seem he never practiced POLYGAMY again. At least nothing is ever

stated that he practiced polygamy again.

KING DAVID

Perhaps one of the greatest pracctceces of POLYGAMY was the 

man of whom it is written that he was a man after God's own heart

(Acts 13:22). How can we reconcile this with what we have already

concluded about how God looks on POLYGAMY?

We must first remember that although David knew God from a young

boy, his life was not always as close to his God as would have

been desirable. He was much like Jacob in that respect. David's

DEEP personal repentance and conversion came later in life -

after his ADULTEROUS affair with BATHSHEBA and subsequent 

killing of Uriah, her husband. For those SINS David was punished 

very severely (2 Sam.12:715). His repentance is recorded for us in Ps.

51.

Now, David did walk with God from a youth, but at times in his

life he wondered away and fell into major sins, which were

punished in no uncertain way by the Lord. God is no respecter of

persons, and that is made very clear in the life of David. Yet

God never specifically punished David for having more than one

wife at a time. God ALLOWED David to live and practice polygamy

during parts of his life time.

Some of the punishment to come to David for his sin against Uriah

and sin with Bathsheba was to involve his wives going to other

men. In 2 Sam.12:11 Nathan the prophet tells David his wives

would be given to his neighbour in sexual relations. This was

fulfilled as recorded in 2 Sam. 16:21-22. These same wives David

later did PUT AWAY and had no more relations with them, see

chapter 20:3.

In passing this verse also shows that concubines "put away" were

termed as "widows."

It was apparently some years after his repentance over the

BATHSHEBA affair that David put POLYGAMY out of his life. 

David had a right heart or attitude, as God records, but he also had

some weaknesses that he did not overcome immediately, just as

other men of God did not. And under the Old Testament God did

allow polygamy, and for what reason we shall see later. It was

allowed, though it was never God's ideal and was never His

original intent for marriage from the beginning.

SOLOMON

Here was a man who started out on the right path - asking God for

WISDOM and a discernment between good and evil. God also added

great WEALTH (I Kings 3:6-13). God used Solomon to write the

books of PROVERBS and ECCLESIASTES.

Solomon multiplied wiveS and concubines to himself as no other

man has probably done - 700 wives, and 300 concubines!

He took what God allowed and ran with it, ran the marathon race

with it, a number of marathon races I would say. You talk about

"liberty" - seeing God was allowing some, and taking as much as

you possibly could. Solomon was the greatest example in that

liberty taking, as far as God allowing the practice of polygamy.

Solomon not only took liberty to the ultimate on this account,

but he stepped over the line and did what God specifically

commanded not to be done. Solomon took wives from other

religions, pagan, false religions, women who were practicing

their false religions and who were never about to give it up to

serve the ways of the true God of Israel.

The many wives of Solomon turned away his heart after other gods.

He did NOT DO as his father David had done. He did EVIL in God's

sight (1 Kings 11:4-6).

SOLOMON'S salvation stands in question!

POLYGAMY ALLOWED FOR WHAT REASON?

Another scripture that troubles some is found in 2 Sam 12:8. God

through Nathan tells David He gave him his masters WIVES.

Now would not that prove God sanctions POLYGAMY?

We shall answer that by asking another question: Did God 

SANCTION DIVORCE under the Old Covenant?

Jesus' reply was, "Moses because of the HARDNESS of your hearts

suffered you to put away your wives, but that from the BEGINNING

it was NOT so" (Matthew 19:8).

Most of Israel under Moses did not have the Spirit even "with"

them, some did (Num.11), and Moses wished it could have been all.

But it was not so. They did not have a heart that would fear and

keep the commandments of the Lord (Deut.5:29). So most in Israel

were camal and hence the desires of the flesh prevailed. Even

those that did have the Spirit with them, did not have it as a

"begettal" deeply united with the mind, for it is written that

Jesus was the "first begotten" of the Father. He was the first of

the first fruits of humans to actually have the Spirit as a

"begettal." Those before who had the Spirit, had it as working

with then but not as a begettal "in" and united with the spirit

of the mind.

God allowed for this in certain areas of life, and one was in the

laws of divorce and remarriage. Under Moses it was allowed by 

God that divorce could be for just about anything. It was relatively

easy to divorce in ancient Israel. So when Christ was bringing in

a tightening up of that law the Pharisees asked him why Moses

then allowed for it on a wide scale. Jesus told them why. God

allowed the loose divorce law because of the "hardness of the

heart" but as He went on to say "from the beginning it was not

so." God's original intent was not at all what He later allowed

under Moses.

So it was also with POLYGAMY. Even among some of God's 

people, it was TOLERATED - ALLOWED - SUFFERED for a 

while by God. He allowed the practice of polygamy and concubinage 

because of the weakness and hardness of the human heart. Gad 

permitted that practice. He sanctioned it in the sense of allowing it. 

It was never God's ideal for marriage but He did allow it, and in 

allowing the practice it was then NOT sin. In that sense, God could 

say to David He gave him his master's wives.

The Lord tolerated polygamy and concubinage, when it was done,

but as it was not His ideal or "from the beginning" intent he

gave enough teaching, and examples in His word to show His ideal

intent for marriage that He hoped people would see it and stay

away from the practice of polygamy. As we have seen from Jewish

historical writings, by the first century A.D. the practice of

polygamy was hard to find in Israel, even among the rabbis.

Under the Old Covenant God knew that the people's hearts would be

HARD - generally not receptive to His laws. He knew that some

would have and WANT more than one wife. He would tolerate and

allow POLYGAMY as He did DIVORCE on a somewhat loose basis, 

but ALLOWING is not the same as APPROVING OF, or saying it was 

a law given with His full blessing, and that it was an ideal way of

having marriages.

But because of the hardness of people's hearts polygamy was

allowed, and as God was going to allow it, then it was right and

proper that He therefore set down laws to govern the man with

more than one wife (Ex.21:10, Deut.21:15-17 etc.).

Under the New Testament those loose laws of divorce for just

about any reason and the allowing of the practice of polygamy,

were put aside by Christ and taken back to "but it was not so

from the beginning." Polygamy as we have already seen is not

taught or allowed under the New Covenant age. It may have taken 

a generation before polygamy was finally put to one side (the Jews

had in the vast main already put it to one side, but possibly

some Gentile nations had not). Our western nations came to see

many years ago that the practice of polygamy in marriages is not

in the overall workings of peoples and nations a good thing at

all. Hence it is outlawed in the laws of the nations of the western 

world.

Polygamy as well as having concubines was once allowed by the

Eternal God because of the hardness of the heart. That age of such 

an allowance came to an end when Jesus Christ came preaching

the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and the New Covenant, when He

came to MAGNIFY the law and to make it honorable.

When Jesus came to restore many laws to the intent as they were

from the beginning, then the allowance of polygamy and the laws

governing it under Moses, came to an end.

                             .................

Written first in 1981. Re-written and revised in February 2000