Polygamy in the Old Testament

Polygamy in the Old Testament

The church today does not allow the polygamy, while the Old Testament seems to allow polygamy. It is very important to understand God’s original plan for marriage in the Old Testament and God’s view of polygamy. Polygamy is marriage to two or more wives. The first recorded polygamist was Lamech who took unto himself two wives. (Genesis 4:19 “Lamech married two women.”) Furthermore, several prominent men in the Old Testament were polygamists such as Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon.

But God never allowed polygamy when He created humans or in the Old Testament times. Genesis teaches us that God made ONE wife for Adam (Gen 1-2). There is no evidence that Adam ever had another wife. This original marriage relationship powerfully exposes God's intent for mankind's marriage relationships.

If we recall the great men in Old Testament, we can easily find they have only one wife. For example, Noah was the only family head who was spared during the destruction of the Great Flood. He had but one wife. Also Moses is regarded as the greatest of the Old Testament prophets. Moses was the closest to God. He spoke to God face to face as a man speaks with his friend (Exodus 33:11). According to Exodus 2:21, Moses had only one wife, Zipporah.

Meanwhile, the Old Testament also records a great deal of polygamy in a great portion.

First of all, according to Genesis 18:11, Abraham and Sarah were very old when God promised to give them a son. Since Sarah was barren, they decided to have an illegitimate son by Hagar, and they named him Ishmael. Later on, God blessed a son through Sarah named Isaac. Abraham’s marriage was unhappy and caused endless trouble, controversy, and suffering because of the two women.

Secondly, David had to repent of polygamy. David had several wives. He even took Bathsheba and murdered her husband. After this tremendous sin David repented, in real heart-rending repentance. And he never repeated the sin. Psalm 51 is the record of his repentance.

Furthermore, Solomon finished his life in polygamy. Deut. 17:14-20 is God's warning against the polygamist practices of Solomon. In Deut 17:17, Moses even says, "He must not take many wives". God punished Solomon, by taking away the kingdom from his son, Rehoboam.

As an example of a person of Old Testament who was not a polygamist, Isaac had only

one wife. The Bible does not record a wife for Isaac other than Rebekah, She like her mother-in-law, Sarah, was barren. But Isaac did not have children by her handmaids, or by concubines. Instead of using human reason, taking things into his own hands, Isaac trusted God. Gen. 25:21 records that " Isaac entreated the Eternal for his wife, because she was barren: and the Eternal was entreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived."

In sum, there was polygamy in ancient Israel. But it was sin. God did not sanction polygamy in Old Testament times. God forbade it – and punished polygamist for it. 1 Corinthians 7:2 teaches us in the New Testament that marriage is one man and one woman:"each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband."