What does the Bible Say about Polygamy?
In this article I reflect on the Holy Scriptures to draw conclusions on what the Bible teaches on the subject of marriage and polygamy. We shall make reflections on the Old Testament and the New Testament.
The Old Testament
The Old Testament came to us within a cultural setting that was polygamous in its view of marriage. Just like the African culture, the Jewish culture allowed men to marry more than one wife and to also have concubines. While showing that God created only one man (Adam) and only one woman (Eve) and established the marriage institution at creation (Genesis 2:24), as between one man and one woman, the Patriarchs after the Adamic generation practised polygamy.
Lamech who is a descendent of Cain is the first recorded polygamous man in the Bible (Genesis 4:19). He married Adah and Zillah. Note that Cain represents the fallen evil nature of man. Therefore, even in the Old Testament polygamy has its roots in the fallen nature of man and not in the perfect nature of God.
Generations after Noah practised polygamy as we see in Scripture. The Jewish polygamous system included multiple wives and concubines. Only men would marry many wives. The men would also take the maidservants of their wives and have children with them. In some cases the existing wife would give consent to the husband to take a second wife but in most cases no such consent was required.
Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham to bear a son for him (Genesis 16). This too was a wrong arrangement arising from human desperation, and not from YAHWEH’s perfect plan. Sometimes wives requested their husbands to take their maids and have children with them (Genesis 30). The child born to the maid for the mistress’ husband was considered the child of the mistress.
Economics
Polygamous marriages in the Old Testament were also for economic reasons and for the continuation of the lineage of the deceased relative. Marriage was one of the established systems in the Jewish nation for taking care of women, economically. The Jewish culture operated on an assumption that a man must take care of a woman.
- The lines of caring for women included:
- Husband taking care of the wife (wives).
- Fathers taking care of their unmarried daughters.
- Son(s) taking care of their widowed mother.
- Brothers taking care of their unmarried sisters.
The principal protector, provider and care giver of the woman in the Jewish nation was the husband. Therefore, polygamy in the Jewish nation was not primarily for sex but for economic and social purposes, as well as for child bearing.
Family Conflicts
The Bible also exposes different conflicts and challenges associated with polygamous marriages. There were serious conflicts sometimes even leading to death between the women married to the same man, and among the children of some of those women. Typical examples of such conflicts were the Sarah/Hagar Conflict, the Leah/Racheal Conflicts and the Hannah/Peninah conflict.
These conflicts also extended to children: for example the Joseph conflict verses his ten brothers, the Absalom/Tamar/Amon conflict and the Adonijah/Solomon conflict.
While there is no family conflict recorded about Solomon’s polygamous establishment – the Bible shows that the many wives that Solomon married led him astray and made him worship idols (1 Kings 11:1-4), causing a spiritual conflict not only between YAHWEH and Solomon, but also between YAHWEH and the nation of Israel.
The fact that Solomon’s many wives lead astray into idol worship greatly offended YAHWEH, the God of the Jews making him very angry (1 Kings 11:9 -11 and 1 Kings 11:3,4) which led to the downfall of the Kingdom diving it into two after Solomon’s reign.
Solomon’s Polygamous appetite destroyed the whole nation.
Solomon’s sin arising from his affinity to polygamy was responsible for the tearing apart of the Nation of Israel (1 Kings 11:11-13). We see in the Solomon narrative a polygamous establishment that created a divine/human conflict. Wherever there is polygamy, trouble is never absent. God had warned beforehand through Moses that the King of Israel “must *not take many wives,* or his heart will be led astray” (Deuteronmony 17:17).
The same verse also warns against accumulating huge amounts of silver and gold (too much money and wealth). The reprimand here is more against greed and putting oneself in a tempting situation that would cause one to depart from YAHWEH.
Temporary provision for polygamy
Regardless of the many challenges described in the Old Testament about polygamous marriages, the Mosaic Law provided for the polygamous marriages as follows:
The Levirate Marriage – (Deuteronomy 25:5 -10). Under this marriage the brother took over the late brother’s wife who died without a child in order to bear children for him. Ruth’s marriage to Boaz was a Levirate Marriage (Ruth 4).
Marriage as Penalty for Defiling a Virgin – under this law a man who had sex with a virgin was commanded to pay the bride price for her and marry her, specifically, if that virgin was not engaged. “If a man seduces a virgin who is not pledged to be married and sleeps with her, he must pay the bride-price, and she shall be his wife” (Exodus 22:16).
Deuteronomy 22: 28, 29 also provides for this same regulation in relation to a man who rapes a young lady. The rapist was forced to marry the young lady he had raped and commanded never to divorce her. We can see some social economic sanctions in this provision.
Marriage in the Old Testament provided for social and economic security of women.
A man who takes a second wife was instructed not deprive the first wife of food, shelter, clothes and sex (Exodus 21:10). A neglected first wife was given the freedom to leave the husband who neglects her in these three areas (Exodus 21:11).
A man who has two wives was commanded not circumvent the rights of the first son for the son of the wife he loves (Deuteronomy 21:15 -17). The son of the unloved wife was to enjoy the full first born rights. No man was to neglect the children of the woman he doesn’t love for the children of the woman he loves.
The law also commanded that a king must not have too many wives (Deuteronomy 17:17).
Although notable Old Testament figures such as Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon among others had more than one wife or at least concubines.
While exposing the challenges associated with polygamous marriages in its narratives, the Old Testament never refers to polygamy as a sin.
The New Testament
The New Testament addresses the subject of marriage on an assumption that Marriage is monogamous (between one man and one woman). Most of the New Testament does not discuss polygamy and it does not discuss marriage as polygamous.
All the writers of the New Testament apart from Paul were silent about polygamy.
Jesus’ teachings on marriage assumed that marriage is monogamous. Jesus never discussed polygamy regardless of the existence of polygamous marriages in Israel at his time. Paul’s discourse on leadership in the local church prohibits polygamous men from occupying positions of Bishop, Elder and Deacon.
Here are some Scriptures treating polygamy in the New Testament:
The Pastoral Epistles forbid polygamous men from assuming positions of Bishop, Elder and Deacon in church (1 Tim 3: 2, 12 and Titus 1: 6).
Paul’s response to the marital questions in 1 Corinthians 7:2 -7 shows that marriage is monogamous (one man must have one wife and they must meet each other’s sexual needs).
In Matthew 19: 3-9, Jesus dealing with the subject of divorce (not polygamy) made reference to Genesis 2:24 that marriage is between one man and one woman who become one flesh. No one should separate the two who are joined together in marriage. This Biblical reference does not make provision for polygamy. Both the text and context show that Jesus discussed marriage as monogamous and not polygamous in this passage.
But Paul treats every form of sexual intercourse including sex with a prostitute as causing the two persons to become one flesh (1 Corinthians 6: 16). Paul here is referring to what happens in that same moment of sin. You become one flesh in the moment and not permanently thereafter. Otherwise you are only permanently one flesh with the one you have a sexual relationship with.
In Paul’s ethics of Marriage in Ephesians 5:21-33, it is clear again that Paul assumes that his audience already understands that marriage is monogamous (one man and one woman). In his conclusion he states that “each one of you must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband” (Ephesians 5:33). It is clear here that a man must love his one and only wife as he loves himself and a woman must respect her one and only husband.
Contrary to the Old Testament where some devoted men were polygamists, all the devoted men in the New Testament were actually either monogamous or unmarried. The New Testament, provides us a perfect Biblical description and prescription for marriage. The perfect Biblical prescription for marriage going by the teachings of the New Testament is monogamous (one man, one woman).
Our conclusion is that while the New Testament is mostly silent on polygamy and never refers to it as a sin, it makes a clear reference to marriage as monogamous – between one man and one woman.
We must always be guided by a two-fold Biblical basis on this matter:
(i) The Beginning – he made them male and female (Genesis 1:26, 27) and made them one flesh in marriage (Genesis 2:24);
(ii) The superior and more clear revelation of God to man – the New Testament – the New Testament clearly discusses marriage on the premise that it is between one man and one woman.
(iii) Paul’s forbidding of polygamous men from taking top-class leadership positions in church shows that God’s perfect design for marriage is monogamy (one man, one woman);
Therefore, it is clear that even though we have no verse in the Bible that directly refers to polygamy as a sin, the clear teaching of Scripture is that marriage is between one man and one woman.
By JPC Ntuntu
