Polygamy In The Bible?

Q. Why are bigamy and polygamy frowned upon today when there were plenty of polygamists in the Bible?  Why the double standard?

The history of marriages recorded in the Bible reflect the complications and often confusion marriages sometimes represent even today.

God’s Standard

God was very careful to provide some basic guidelines and standards for marriage in Genesis 2: 24-25 and then Moses codified some additional standards in Deuteronomy 24:1-4 to clarify marriage and divorce standards for the nation.

Jesus validated and amplified Torah teachings in Matthew 5:31-32, Matthew 19 and Mark 10.

OK, bigamy is strongly condemned through the narrative recorded in Genesis 20. Polygamy is referenced in Gen. 2:24…”Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother, and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” The concept of ‘two becoming one’ is the emphasis.  Jesus mentions this in Matt 19 and Mark 10 and Paul references it in Ephesians 5.

So the standard is clear…no bigamy, no polygamy.  Jesus’ answer to those questioning Him about marriage issues in Matt.19:8 was, “but from the beginning it was not so.” Jesus would point people back to the original standard established in Genesis 2.

Humans’ Sin

So then why did Abraham and the patriarchs and David and Solomon ignore the standard of “oneness” of monogamy. They had their not so legitimate reasons.

Abraham had trust issues.  He was promised a great nation by God (Gen 12:2), but he and his wife were unable to conceive (Gen 15:2). So Abram’s wife Sarai (later Abraham and Sarah) came up with the plan to have Abram take her maid Hagar as a wife to provide an heir.  After Ishmael was born, tension immediately developed between the two women, and Sarah ended up treating Hagar harshly and “and she (Hagar) fled from her presence” (Gen 16:6), to actually and eventually become a separate nation!

Even though Abraham was not directly called out for this disregard for the divine and later biblical standard, the complications of this arrangement, which clearly violated Genesis 2, is inescapable. You will see the same or even a greater level of complications through the life of Jacob, Abraham’s grandson, as his sons conflicted with each other measurably.

David was commanded in Deuteronomy 17:16-17 not to multiply horses, wives, or greatly multiply gold or silver.  He had a least a half dozen wives (isn’t that what kings did…maintain harems?). The conflicts that arose between the children are legend.  One son raping his half sister.  Other sons trying to take over the throne.  The intrigue continued all the way to the coronation of Solomon.

The point is…people violated the standard for marriage…and even though it appeared that heaven remained silent…the consequences demonstrated something else. Remember, the examples of God’s people in the bible (other than Jesus, God himself) are sinners. We see real examples of their sin. Yet another reason the Bible isn’t a man made book…if it were, those godly men would have simply taken out the parts mentioning their rejection of God’s teaching.

This entry was posted on April 20, 2010 at April 20, 2010 and is filed under Christian Living. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.