What does the Bible say about men having multiple wives?

Answer 1

The Bible does not specifically address the number of wives that a man should have.

"ONE FLESH" --- "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." Genesis 2:24, referenced in Matthew 19:5,6, Mark 10:8, 1_Corinthians 6:16, Ephesians 5:31. A man is "one flesh" with EACH woman with whom he copulates, whether in marriage (wife) or in fornication (harlot). When a married man, who is therefore already "one flesh" with his wife, copulates with another woman, that does not then negate his being "one flesh" with the wife.

"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.

That "seven women" would seek to be called by the name of "one man" is a clear evidence of polygamy (polygyny) in the Bible, even in prophecy such as this passage. Of course, though, the situation described in this prophetic verse is not all that positive.

In Matthew 19:3-9, the Lord Jesus is not speaking about polygamy. Rather, He is only answering a question about divorce. Indeed, the entire passage is about divorce, not polygamy.

"The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery." Matthew 19:3-9.

Indeed, in Matthew 19:8-9, Jesus simply repeats the Deuteronomy 24:1 "as it had been in the beginning", that God has always been against divorce of what He joined together. In Matthew 19:3, the Pharisees were asking about "every" reason for divorcing, but Jesus returned back with the only one allowed reason (the woman's "fornication / uncleanness"), as per Deuteronomy 24:1.

Polygamy is about marriage, whereas divorce is about breaking up marriage. Accordingly, Jesus was not speaking against pro-marriage polygamy in Matthew 19. He was instead addressing marriage-destruction of divorce. It was about divorce, not polygamy.

"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 12:8.

The context of the verse is that of God, speaking through a prophet (Nathan), calling out David for David's sin of taking another man's wife (Bathsheba, wife of Uriah the Hittite), which is adultery indeed, and for setting up the death of Uriah the Hittite to try to hide David's sin.

Also, at the point in time of this situation, David had already been married to at least seven known-named wives. (1_Samuel 18:27, 25:42-43, 2_Samuel 3:2-5.)

But, in this verse 12 (above), God was not condemning David for all his wives! In fact, this verse 12 shows God Himself actually saying that HE was the One Who had GIVEN David His wives.

If God was against David's polygamy, He certainly would not have said that He had GIVEN David his wives.

But the LORD did not stop there. That verse 12 shows that the Lord took it even one step further than that! The LORD God even went on further to say that if David had wanted more wives, the Lord Himself said that He would have given David even more!

It was only because David had sinned, in committing adultery by taking another man's wife, and then causing that man's death to try to hide David's sin, that the Lord was calling him out through the prophet Nathan. There was no sin in the polygamy at all.

This is later confirmed that this was the only matter by 1 Kings 15:5, which says the following:

"Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. "

1 Kings 15:5.

Two verses before that, in 1 Kings 15:3, the Bible says that David's heart was perfect with the LORD God.

Very clearly, therefore, what all this shows is that God is the One Who gives wives, even when more than one wife.

This is, of course, confirmed by 1_Corinthians 7:17.

"But as God hath distributed to every man,

as the Lord hath called every one,

so let him walk.

And so ordain I in all churches."

1 Corinthians 7:17.

Be it

NO wife,

ONE wife, or

MORE THAN ONE wife,

it is only as God calls and gives.

As such, it is clear that the Bible does, in fact, explicitly show

• "Yes, God did condone polygamy."
• "Yes, God allowed it, and He was not against polygamy."
• "Polygamy is not a man's idea, but God's".
• "Yes, God did approve of polygamy."

In 2 Samuel 12:8, He Himself said so!

Answer 2

David and Solomon had many wives and concubines.

Answer:

"And Laban said, It must not be done so in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. Fulfill her week, and we will give thee this also for the services which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years. And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also." (Gen.29:26-28)

Answer 3

The Bible didn't limit the number of wives that one may have. Accordingly, the number is unlimited.

A side informationThe Quran, Muslims holy book, set a limit to number of wives allowed for Muslims to marry to four wives and set conditions to marrying more than one wife.

Answer:

Although a number isn't stated... as a general rule in the Bible regarding those who had many wives... they were wealthy enough to be able to afford them.

Answer 4

Although polygamy was practiced by some OT personalities, monogamy was always God's ideal for humanity (Matt. 19:4-5). Adultery is a violation of the covenant inherent in marriage (Ex. 20:14), 1 Thess. 4:2-3, Heb. 13:4). So is any sexual activity that does not express the oneness of marriage (1 Cor. 6:12-20). The biblical condemnation of adultery covers such things as communal marriage, mate swapping, and the so called open marriage.

Answer 5

The bible does not justify polygamy in any place, it merely sites examples of it in some of the older stories.

Answer 6

Some religions allow having 2 wives, others on the other hand, do not.

Answer 7

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