Was polygamy commanded by God in the Bible?

[chris2009]

I received a question yesterday from a post that was closed today. I thought I would open is up as a new thread here.

Quote:
Originally Posted by chris2009
I’m not sure if you realized that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Solomon and pretty much all the early Israelites all practiced pologamy by commandment from the Lord. Do you believe in all of the Bible or just part of it?

Quote from another poster:
Where was it commanded?

Although plural marriage is not a pleasant topic, the Bible shows evidence that the Lord sanctioned these things. The purposes of God are not always made known to us.

The Lord chastised David through Nathan the prophet after David sinned:

“7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord 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.” (2 Samuel 12:7-8)

Abraham, one of the greatest men to live on this earth practiced plural marriage. The Lord never condemned Abraham for this. Abraham continued to be a faithful servant of the Lord in everything he did.

"1 Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
3 And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. "

After this, Hagar ran away and an angel of the Lord told her to return. There is no condemnation from the angel that Hagar is practicing plural marriage.

Then Abraham took another wife:
“Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah.” (Gen 25:1)

We all know the story of Jacob marrying Leah and her sister Rachel. (Gen 29)

In addition, Bilhah and Zilpah were handmaids and given to Jacob as wives.
"4 And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her. "
"9 When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife. "(Gen 30:4,9)

The Lord reveals His laws of plural marriage to Moses.
“10 If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish.” (Exodus 21:10)

More laws of plural marriage from the Lord to Moses.
“15 If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated:
16 Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn:”

“21 But Abijah waxed mighty, and married fourteen wives, and begat twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters.” (2 Chronicles 13:21)

“3 And Jehoiada took for him two wives; and he begat sons and daughters.” (2 Chronicles 24:3)

Isaiah speaks of plural marriage practiced in a future day.
“1 And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.” (Isaiah 4:1)

The Book of Mormon actually condemns plural marriage.
“27 Wherefore, my brethren, hear me, and hearken to the word of the Lord: For there shall not any man among you have save it be one wife; and concubines he shall have none;
28 For I, the Lord God, delight in the chastity of women. And whoredoms are an abomination before me; thus saith the Lord of Hosts.
29 Wherefore, this people shall keep my commandments, saith the Lord of Hosts, or cursed be the land for their sakes.
30 For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things.” (Jacob 2:27-30)

The key here is the Lord says, “if I will… I will command my people, otherwise they shall” not practice plural marriage.

I have no desire whatsoever to have more than one wife. However, it is clear from the Bible that the Lord commanded it from time to time. In the case of Joseph Smith, it had nothing to do with sex as some suppose. Joseph did NOT want to impliment this practice and even delayed it as long as he could. The Lord commanded it and Joseph would have been cut off as a prophet of God had he disobeyed the Lord. This is a highly controversial and difficult doctrine. But the Lord has His purposes for everything He does.

 

[Nominefili]

lol this thread is full of win

 

[chris2009]

lol this thread is full of win

What does “full of win” mean?

 

[Reuben_J]

The answer is no. It never was.

In the beginning it was meant to be one man one wife.

**Gen 2:24 **For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

Taking another wife is never commanded because it likely means adultery.

Matthew 5:28
But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

 

[seraphime2008]

Hints of inequality in polygamy, causing distress, jealousy, hatred and fights:
Genesis 16 : 4
1 Samuel 1 : 3-7
Even though the stories show the figures of the OT displaying polygamy, it should be seen that it only brought more harm to people, bad relationships of each other. It was never told literally as something not permissible in the OT, but you can learn something from their situation.

 

[chris2009]

The answer is no. It never was.

In the beginning it was meant to be one man one wife.

**Gen 2:24 **For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

Taking another wife is never commanded because it likely means adultery.

Matthew 5:28
But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Is that all you’ve got? What about all the scriptures I provided from the Bible? With all due respect, you can’t possibly deny all that.

 

[chris2009]

Hints of inequality in polygamy, causing distress, jealousy, hatred and fights:
Genesis 16 : 4
1 Samuel 1 : 3-7
Even though the stories show the figures of the OT displaying polygamy, it should be seen that it only brought more harm to people, bad relationships of each other. It was never told literally as something not permissible in the OT, but you can learn something from their situation.

I never said polygamy was easy. I’m just stating the fact that it was practiced under the direction of God by the Israelites. I’m amazed at how many Christians either don’t know this or close their eyes and refuse to accept it.

Although polygamy was difficult, saying that it only brought more harm to people is incorrect. The prophets and many others had happy thriving families. It was completely natural to them. Only now in our modern culture do we see this as odd.

 

[Reuben_J]

Is that all you’ve got? What about all the scriptures I provided from the Bible? With all due respect, you can’t possibly deny all that.

I did not see any that say otherwise.

I noted Moses’ law saying about another wife, Jacob given the other sister and Abraham took his slave. None of these however, commanded by God.

So I mentioned the verse on Genesis that mentioned about husband and wife becoming one flesh and Jesus himself declaring that ‘it is impossible to have another wife’ because by doing so you have to commit adultery. And you know how they deal with adultery.

The title of the thread is, "Was polygamy commanded by God in the Bible?". And my answer to that is no.

 

[chris2009]

I did not see any that say otherwise.

I noted Moses’ law saying about another wife, Jacob given the other sister and Abraham took his slave. None of these however, commanded by God.

So I mentioned the verse on Genesis that mentioned about husband and wife becoming one flesh and Jesus himself declaring that ‘it is impossible to have another wife’ because by doing so you have to commit adultery. And you know how they deal with adultery.

The title of the thread is, "Was polygamy commanded by God in the Bible?". And my answer to that is no.

What about the prophet Nathan telling David “thus saith the Lord” “I gave thee thy master’s wives…”?

And by the way, that wasn’t Moses’ law – it was the Lord’s law. Were the 10 commandments Moses’ commandments or the Lord’s commandments? The Lord gave Moses this law regarding plurality of wives. Read the beginning of the chapter. The Lord is TELLING this to Moses. This is revelation to a prophet of God – something that is largely unknown to people today.

What about Isaiah?

Do you think Abraham, Jacob and the Isrealites just did all this against God’s will? Read it carefully… God is approving it.

 

[Reuben_J]

What about the prophet Nathan telling David “thus saith the Lord” “I gave thee thy master’s wives…”?

And by the way, that wasn’t Moses’ law – it was the Lord’s law. Were the 10 commandments Moses’ commandments or the Lord’s commandments? The Lord gave Moses this law regarding plurality of wives. Read the beginning of the chapter. The Lord is TELLING this to Moses. This is revelation to a prophet of God – something that is largely unknown to people today.

What about Isaiah?

Do you think Abraham, Jacob and the Isrealites just did all this against God’s will? Read it carefully… God is approving it.

It seems to me a want of justification on polygamy. When you try to justify something, it is the clearest indication that it is wrong. Righteousness does not need any justification; only sin.

You have to go back to Genesis and then see all the following action you mentioned are wrong.

The Ten Commandments are to be followed because it dealt with moral and sins. The rest are the administrative laws of the Israelites or Mosaic Law. You will notice that not all Israelites were able to follow the Ten Commandments. The ordinary population would engage in many transgressions and it is a fact of life. How was Moses going to deal with them? If an Israelite married two wives (and this thing happened in their society), would Moses give the inheritance to one wife only? Obviously no. He had to govern the people justly no matter how wrong they were.

The same applies to David and the rest. But Jesus did actually clarify this – Moses allowed because of ‘you’re hard of heart’. Actually it was not like that in the beginning. And what is the beginning? One has to look into Genesis.

If what I read about Abraham is true, Hagar was actually suggested by Sarah (perhaps in her desperation to bore a child even by proxy). Sarah was chastised for this.

Jacob children were a tragedy and so was David’s. Bothers against brothers, deceit and murder. How can that be blessed? The only reason why they were what they are today is because God has to be faithful to his covenant with Abraham – that he would bless his descendants.

Polygamy was more of a cultural thing rather than a commandment from God.

 

[Pawest]

You cannot quote kings and tribal leaders and then expect the same standards to be accorded to all others.

The bible’s instruction for religious leaders is that of ONE WIFE. See following:

1 Timothy 3:2 An overseer, therefore, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, self-controlled, sensible, respectable, hospitable, an able teacher,

1. 1 Timothy 3:12 Deacons must be husbands of one wife, managing their children and their own households competently.
2. Titus 1:6 someone who is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of wildness or rebellion.

 

[Reuben_J]

You cannot quote kings and tribal leaders and then expect the same standards to be accorded to all others.

The bible’s instruction for religious leaders is that of ONE WIFE. See following:

1 Timothy 3:2 An overseer, therefore, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, self-controlled, sensible, respectable, hospitable, an able teacher,

1. 1 Timothy 3:12 Deacons must be husbands of one wife, managing their children and their own households competently.
2. Titus 1:6 someone who is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of wildness or rebellion.

In a way you are right. The kings were all governed by the Law of Moses – the law for governing the people which of course was inspired by God. But they were answerable to Moses who meted out the judgment. Spiritual law like the Ten Commandments is all answerable to God who judges according to His justice in the afterlife.

They did it (polygamy) because they were hard of hearts but it was not supposed to be like that in God’s original plan. So basically it was family law for the Israelites to deal with the reality of polygamy but which not necessarily allowed by God.

The OP spoke of Nathan chastisement of David (2 Samuel 12:7-8)
and he (OP) uses it as a justification that God commanded David’s polygamy.

This is comparative way of speaking. Sure David married the other women but his sin of killing Uriah is even worse. Jesus would explain this rather well – you are allowed (polygamy) because of your hardened of heart but it is not so in the original plan. But here it is worse – you kill (Uriah) in order to have the woman (Bathsheba).

The OP also mentioned (Isaiah 4:1) as approving polygamy while in fact it is all about curse – what will happen when God passed judgment on their arrogance.

 

[Nominefili]

One question I would ask is this: if polygamy were God-pleasing, why does God create men and women in a perfect 50/50 ratio? Wouldn’t it make sense for Him to create two or three or four women for every man if it were indeed His will that men cleave to more than one wife? Because as it stands now, every polygamist leaves at least one man without a wife…

 

[hamba2han]

Due to various reasons, men have shorter life spans than women and so in just about any society around the world, women would outnumber men.

Anyhow, the question really should be rephrased to be → Does God in the Bible allow polygamy?

And the answer is certainly ‘Yes’.

 

[Splinker]

Gen 4:19 “Lamach married two women.” This is the first instance of polygamy in the bible.

I agree that there’s no commandment in the Torah/Bible regarding polygamy. Only the fact that it was apparently acceptable.

In the Torah, we can see that there is an understanding of the way things were at the time it was written. Rather than outlaw it, it sets forth various rules to ensure justice for the wives and children (i.e., first born gets what is due the first born, even if the man hates that child or that wife. He can’t go to the first born of another wife).

The average guy (then and now) couldn’t afford to have multiple wives, so it was probably not a common practice.

 

[Splinker]

One question I would ask is this: if polygamy were God-pleasing, why does God create men and women in a perfect 50/50 ratio? Wouldn’t it make sense for Him to create two or three or four women for every man if it were indeed His will that men cleave to more than one wife? Because as it stands now, every polygamist leaves at least one man without a wife…

It isn’t a perfect 50/50 ratio. It’s about 105 male to 100 female. And those numbers can be significanlty skewed in different locals due to war, economies, abortion practices, etc.

 

[dolphinlove]

Due to various reasons, men have shorter life spans than women and so in just about any society around the world, women would outnumber men.

Anyhow, the question really should be rephrased to be → Does God in the Bible allow polygamy?

And the answer is certainly ‘Yes’.

Your personal understanding and translation of the bible will never cease to make me stop doing this:
You show me one, and more if you wish, that God of the bible says:yes i allow polygamy.
And, there is a catch, you cant take things out of context… this should be an interesting challenge for you

 

[hamba2han]

Your personal understanding and translation of the bible will never cease to make me stop doing this:
You show me one, and more if you wish, that God of the bible says:yes i allow polygamy.
And, there is a catch, you cant take things out of context… this should be an interesting challenge for you

I think that you may be reading the Bible upside-down if you say that polygamy is immoral.

Since it is clearly stated in the Bible that some of the Prophets (peace be upon them all) had more than one wife, then it is those who say that polygamy is somehow immoral who needs to show verses of the Bible (and without taking take things out of context), where God commands men to have only one wife.

 

[jakasaki]

Originally Posted by dolphinlove
Your personal understanding and translation of the bible will never cease to make me stop doing this:
You show me one, and more if you wish, that God of the bible says:yes i allow polygamy.
And, there is a catch, you cant take things out of context… this should be an interesting challenge for you

I think that you may be reading the Bible upside-down if you say that polygamy is immoral.

Since it is clearly stated in the Bible that some of the Prophets (peace be upon them all) had more than one wife, then it is those who say that polygamy is somehow immoral who needs to show verses of the Bible (and without taking take things out of context), where God commands men to have only one wife.

Dolphinlove didn’t ask for a song & dance routine from you Hamba. The user’s request is simple and clear.

**Where does God state that He allows polygamy in the Bible. **

It’s a simple inquiry. Answer the question without doing the Irish jig…

 

[hamba2han]

Dolphinlove didn’t ask for a song & dance routine from you Hamba. The user’s request is simple and clear.

**Where does God state that He allows polygamy in the Bible. **

It’s a simple inquiry. Answer the question without doing the Irish jig…

The Bible clearly states that some of the Prophets (pbut) had more than one wife and God Almighty does not reprimand them at all.

What more proof do I need to show that God in the Bible allows polygamy??

Would you respect a headmaster of a school who knowingly allows some of his teachers to commit immoral acts in front of their students?

Likewise, would you respect a Deity who allows his Prophets to commit immoral acts in public?.. And always remember that it is God Almighty alone who determines what is moral and what is not.