Is polygamy practiced in the bible?

Answer 1

Yes. Polygamy is forbidden by the Book of Mormon. Verses mentioning polygamy are:

Jacob 2:27

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.

Jacob 3:5

Behold, the Lamanites your brethren, whom ye hate because of their filthiness and the cursing which hath come upon their skins, are more righteous than you; for they have not forgotten the commandment of the Lord, which was given unto our father-that they should have save it were one wife, and concubines they should have none, and there should not be whoredoms committed among them.

Answer 2

Adultery is strongly condemned in the bible.

Well... Let's throw a bit of cold water on that idea.

Remember, the concept of what a marriage is has changed over the 4000+ years that the texts making up the modern Christian Bible have been written.

The both Testaments are fairly clear on the concept of adultery - it is explicitly forbidden, and considered a sin.

That said, both Testaments are pretty fuzzy about what a "marriage" actually is, though the New Testament is more rigidly defined marriage. What modern day Western society thinks of as a marriage is mostly based on the New Testament, where only two persons are involved.

As marriage in the Old Testament days was not a legal concept, but a social construct, who you were "married" to was rather mutable, and "divorce" wasn't really a concept as we think of it today.

For instance, if your brother died, you (as a surviving brother) were duty-bound to bring the widow into your own house and provide for her and her children. Depending on the scholarly interpretation, "provide" for her may also included sexual relations (assuming she was willing). This is NOT adultery.

Likewise, servants were part of the household, and sexual relations with them were not forbidden. Abraham (the "father" of all three major Abrahamic religions - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) explicitly had sex with Hagar (a handmaiden to his wife) to have a son, as his wife Sarah was barren.

In addition, the concept of polygamy isn't well addressed by the Old Testament, most likely because it was a rather common practice (or, more correctly, activities of the Israelites which modern day people would call polygamy were not considered as such). Islam expands on the concepts found in the Bible via the Quran, which does explicitly permit polygamy.

If we're going to be generalizing, then we can say that the New Testament recognizes monogamous marriage only, while the Old Testament doesn't have much to say on the topic at all.

In terms of sexual relations, the simple truth is that neither Testament really condemn sex outside of marriage. They condemn fornication in many places, but it's hard to call this strictly true. The reason being is that while fornication is repeatedly called out as a sin, many other places in the Bible explicitly approve of what should plainly be labeled fornication. And, of course, much of this has to do with failure to really be specific about what "marriage" actually is. In that context, while monogamous relations (not just marriages) are plainly "preferred" by the Bible, polygamous relationships are much fuzzier in their approval/prohibition.

Answer 3

Because men in the ancient Arab/Jewish societys could keep as many wives as they liked. women were powerless to do anything about it.

Answer 4

No, it is not practiced in bible. However people of biblical times practiced it.

Answer 5

No.