Anything in the OT that bans polygamy?

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@Gorgias you are right.

@TheButler has erred in his interpretation here, twice.

He mistakenly interprets the Hebrew parallelism of Genesis 4:23 to be referring to two people. It’s not.

He then mistakenly interprets the Prophet Ezekiel’s talking of the daughters of Sodom in a literalistic manner, not realizing the Prophet meant daughters as in other cities and towns which were influenced by the corruptions of Sodom.

Both of these errors came about via an overly literalistic biblical hermeneutic combined with an ignorance of Hebrew literary forms and devices.
 
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FatherSebastian said:
You are then attempting to read the Biblical text through
that lens. Try removing the lens first.
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I would argue that a lens trying to bring humanity together is more agreeable than no lens which divides. In fact, can you guarantee that all those scholars were completely objective and without a lens of their own? As to ‘taking a text out of the community who wrote it’, what was the community that constructed Genesis like? What was their motivation? Did they write through a lens of their own?
FatherSebastian said:
I’ll challenge you. Go to church this Sunday. Truly pray to God for
clarity and ask him to forgive you of any sins which you may have committed
or any ideas you have in your mind that are contrary to His revealed word.
Then go to confession. Spend some time praying afterward. Then receive
communion.
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I’m not Catholic. I was raised Methodist but now I prefer to contemplate the Creator only. While you might dismiss this I will tell you that the Creator told me that I would see Scripture in a way that others don’t. He said my eyes would be opened and that nothing would be the same again. That has come to pass. Before He spoke to me I saw Scripture as you do. Now I see it completely differently. I see Scripture as a means to heal the divisions in humanity. The Creator has given me the ability to use Scripture against those who would use it at the detriment of others. Of course nobody takes heed. ‘This is the correct interpretation’ comes the argument. ‘People more educated than you have determined that’. Like Cassandra I am cursed. I try to show people a better way forward but nobody listens. Rather than look for new opportunities in Scripture to create a better world, which might require a little back-peddling and humility, so many prefer to keep to the status-quo which fractures families and communities at the local level and whole nations at the global level.

The rest of Creation works pretty well with itself. Birds flock, fish shoal, bees hive. Humans on the other hand look for any reason they can to destroy or subjugate other humans, be it physically or mentally. If that is the interpretation of your ‘revealed Word of the Creator’ it certainly isn’t mine.

Blessings to you too.
 
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TheButler said:
In the Genesis quote you will see that the ‘men of the city’ come, and then ‘even the men’ come.
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Here again you’ve mistaken a Hebrew literary device and misinterpreted it due to an overly literalistic hermeneutic.

It’s not saying “men, and then even more people.” It’s simply saying “men, even the men!” It’s a literary device the ancient Hebrews used to add emphasis at a certain point.

Also, if you looked at the context of the quote from Ezekiel, it would be abundantly clear that the interpretation you proposed misses the mark by a long shot.

Ezekiel 16:44-48

‘Everyone who quotes proverbs will quote this proverb about you: “Like mother, like daughter.” 45 You are a true daughter of your mother, who despised her husband and her children; and you are a true sister of your sisters, who despised their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite. 46 Your older sister was Samaria, who lived to the north of you with her daughters; and your younger sister, who lived to the south of you with her daughters, was Sodom. 47 You not only followed their ways and copied their detestable practices, but in all your ways you soon became more depraved than they. 48 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done

The Prophet here uses another Hebrew literary device, referring to towns and cities as daughters and sisters. He is not speaking of female humans living in certain municipalities, he is anthropomorphizing cities and towns in a feminine way, which was normal for the ancient Hebrews. By referring to “daughters of Samaria,” he doesn’t speak of women living in Samaria, but rather smaller cities and towns around the Israelite capital of Samaria which are figurative daughters of Samaria.
 
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Then you should update your user profile to reflect that.

Right now it says “Religion: C of E.”
 
Oh okay, in normal parlance round these parts, “C of E” means Church of England, which is the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and also Episcopalians.

You should update that to avoid any potential confusion in the future.
 
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Spyridon said:
Here again you’ve mistaken a Hebrew literary device and misinterpreted it due to an overly literalistic hermeneutic.
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‘Hermeneutic’ from the god Hermes, the messenger and the trickster…

Thanks for the info. I know nothing of Hebrew but I do have a degree in Japanese.
 
Everyone has their strengths and expertise.

I’m a monolingual dummy. I get intimidated even looking at Japanese, let alone trying to learn it.
 
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Spyridon said:
Oh okay, in normal parlance round these parts, “C of E” means Church of England, which is the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and also Episcopalians.

You should update that to avoid any potential confusion in the future.
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I know. I am British. Does what I believe in really matter? I’ve not checked the profile of anyone here. I’m interested in their words and ideas regardless of creed. As a result I treat everyone equally. I would expect the same in return.
 
Well, yeah kinda it does.

The advice and suggestions you give a Catholic vs a Protestant in religious matters could vary quite significantly.
 
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I don’t.

I’ve studied the Bible a lot, so I’ve also studied various forms of Hebrew poetry and literary forms.
 
Yeah it’s not about discrimination or having a “us vs them” attitude at all @TheButler.

Like I said, it makes having conversation easier when you know where people are coming from.

Think about it, if you are in a room full of Japanese people it makes sense to talk in Japanese or bring up specialized subjects of Japanology.

But if you’re in a room of Americans, it makes little sense to try to start a conversation in Japanese or ask opinions about the Jingu Shinto shrine.
 
Spyridon said:
Like I said, it makes having conversation easier when you know where people are coming from.
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I always go with ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’.

Regardless of who is in the room a conversation on Hiroshima will always work.
 
But Hiroshima is not a specialized subject of Japanology, it’s just a subject of common world history.
 
TheButler said:
While you might dismiss this I will tell you that the Creator told me that I would see Scripture in a way that others don’t. He said my eyes would be opened and that nothing would be the same again. That has come to pass. Before He spoke to me I saw Scripture as you do. Now I see it completely differently. I see Scripture as a means to heal the divisions in humanity. The Creator has given me the ability to use Scripture against those who would use it at the detriment of others. Of course nobody takes heed. ‘This is the correct interpretation’ comes the argument. ‘People more educated than you have determined that’. Like Cassandra I am cursed. I try to show people a better way forward but nobody listens.
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Which of these are you fluent in: aramaic, hebrew, ancient greek?
 
stupidisasstupiddoes said:
Which of these are you fluent in: aramaic, hebrew, ancient greek?
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In @TheButler’s defense, one need not be fluent in the original Biblical languages to study the Bible.

Any reputable translation is suitable for biblical studies.

Oh and technically the Bible was not written in ancient Greek, it was written in Koine Greek, Biblical Hebrew, and Biblical Aramaic.
 
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