Polygamy (multiple spouses) in scripture.
I asked my husband, Andrey, about what the scriptures say about multiple wives.
He studied it, and here is the result. (note: some parts come from the other brethrens' take on it).
I'll spoil the study and tell you the answer right now: It is NOT of God.
(Hebrews 13:8 KJV Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.)
Polygamy (multiple spouses), is indeed recorded in the KJV Bible; BUT that doesn't make it right.
The Lord only intended man to have ONE wife, it is recorded in Genesis 2:24
Gen. 2:24 KJV Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be *one* flesh.
You cannot be one flesh with two different women, "for two, saith he, shall be one flesh."
Jesus talked about two (man & woman) becoming one flesh, not three! This is recorded in Mark 10:2-9 KJV
Mark 10:2-9 KJV
[2] And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him.
[3] And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you?
[4] And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away.
[5] And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.
[6] But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.
[7] For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;
[8] And they twain* shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but *one* flesh.
[9] What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
And it says in Luke 16:18 KJV
Luke 16:18 KJV Whosoever putteth away his *wife,* and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her *husband* committeth adultery.
How much worse when you bypass this and marry a second wife! It is still adultery.
Now let's look at some Old Testament examples.
In Deuteronomy 17:17 (KJV, talking about a king) it says:
Deuteronomy 17:17 KJV *Neither* shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away....
But King Solomon did not listen to this warning.
1 Kings 11:1-3 KJV
[1] But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;
[2] Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.
[3] And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives *turned* away his heart.
But where did Solomon get his lust problem? From his father king David.
Proverbs 22:6 KJV Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
We have counted, and king David married 8 different women, that we know of; his lusting problem is recorded in 2 Samuel capture 11, where he killed Uriah because his wife conceived a child by king David.
The next example is in 1 Samuel 1:1-7 KJV
[1] ...Elkanah... [2] And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah....
[5] ...he *loved* Hannah: but the LORD had shut up her womb.
[6] And her *adversary* also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb.
[7] ...so *she* provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat.
You can see the envy with Peninnah, because Hannah was Elkanah's favorite; Peninnah was Hannah's adversary!
Now we don't know how Elkanah ended up with two wives, but nonetheless you can see the sorrow for the women; one is envious because she is not the favorite, the other is very sorrowful because the Lord shut up her womb, to where she could not bare.
If a man truly love his wife as his own body (Eph.5:28), he would not put her in such a sorrowful state.
Every time I and Andrey read through the scriptures, where it had multiple wives in it; we saw the works of the flesh.
Galatians 5:19-21 KJV
[19] Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
[20] Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
[21] Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
And the men who did these things, reaped what they had showed (Gal.6:7-8 KJV).
Example: Jacob (Israel) married four women, not only he had to deal with the strife (Gen. 30). His favorite one also died, because of her sin (Gen. 35:18-19).
David followed his lust problem again; committing adultery and murdering a man. Because of this, the son that was born of this iniquity died, but he had his new wife, Bath-sheba.
Now let's jump back to Adam and Eve.
God gave a curse in Genesis 3:16-17 to the woman and man.
Genesis 3:16-17 KJV
[16] Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in *sorrow* thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
[17] And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
As you read; the woman has a desire to her husband, and this becomes difficult to fulfill if she is competing, like a dog, with other women.
And the man has to work even harder, meaning more stress and less time to enjoy his family.
Genesis 3:16-17 is a good example of why God intended there to be ONE wife and ONE husband; as polygamy will put unnecessary strain on his first marriage.
How can you properly do your role? If a woman has multiple husbands, which one would she be subject too?
Colossians 3:18 KJV Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.
Or if a man has multiple wives, which one will be the help meet (meet=made for) for him?
Genesis 2:18 KJV And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
And what about the children that are born; which mother or father will they obey?
Proverbs 6:20 KJV My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
To have multiple wives or multiple husbands is confusion!
1 Corinthians 14:33 KJV For *God* is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
Even Christ Jesus has ONE wife (the body of Christ):
2 Corinthians 11:2 KJV For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste *virgin* to Christ.
There are more examples in scripture about this matter, but that will be for you to study
2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
I do have one more note though. In Genesis 30:15 Leah said to her sister:
Genesis 30:15 KJV And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast *taken my* husband? and wouldest thou take away my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son's mandrakes.
Now why would Leah say that? Because her husband was taken away from her, by her sister...eww 🤮
Leviticus 18:18 KJV Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time.
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Song of Solomon 8:6 KJV Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; *jealousy* is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most *vehement* flame.
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