Where is Polygamy condemned in the Bible?

[mtwebs]

Seriously - I know it is not allowed in our culture, but I honestly can't find anyplace it is condemned in the Word.
It was never condemned in the OT; it was allowed and regulated by God (He never regulates something which is sin, just says DON'T DO IT); wives were actually given to David as a reward, etc. In the NT, again, never addressed. If it was a great sin, you would think Jesus would have talked negatively about it, but He doesn't - ever. Ditto the inspired NT authors.

Anybody got any places it is condemned?

And, No, I'm not a Mormon/LDS - just a student of the Word!

Thanks!

[Gman]

Best answered here, IMO..

Question: "Why did God allow polygamy / bigamy in the Bible?"

Answer: The question of polygamy in the Bible is an interesting one in that most people today view polygamy as immoral while the Bible nowhere explicitly condemns it. The first instance of polygamy / bigamy in the Bible was Lamech in Genesis 4:19: “Lamech married two women.” Several prominent men in the Old Testament were polygamists. Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon, and others all had multiple wives. In 2 Samuel 12:8, God, speaking through the prophet Nathan, said that if David's wives and concubines were not enough, He would have given David even more. Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines (essentially wives of a lower status), according to 1 Kings 11:3. What are we to do with these instances of polygamy in the Old Testament? There are three questions that need to be answered: (1) Why did God allow polygamy in the Old Testament? (2) How does God view polygamy today? (3) Why did it change?

(1) Why did God allow polygamy in the Old Testament? The Bible does not specifically say why God allowed polygamy. The best anyone can give is “informed” speculation. There are a few key factors to consider. First, there have always been more women in the world than men. Current statistics show that approximately 50.5% of the world population are women, with men being 49.5%. Assuming the same percentages in ancient times, and multiplied by millions of people, there would be tens of thousands more women than men. Second, warfare in ancient times was especially brutal, with an incredibly high rate of fatality. This would have resulted in an even greater percentage of women to men. Third, due to patriarchal societies, it was nearly impossible for an unmarried woman to provide for herself. Women were often uneducated and untrained. Women relied on their fathers, brothers, and husbands for provision and protection. Unmarried women were often subjected to prostitution and slavery. Fourth, the significant difference between the number of women and men would have left many, many women in an undesirable situation.

So, it seems that God allowed polygamy to protect and provide for the women who could not find a husband otherwise. A man would take multiple wives and serve as the provider and protector of all of them. While definitely not ideal, living in a polygamist household was far better than the alternatives: prostitution, slavery, starvation, etc. In addition to the protection / provision factor, polygamy enabled a much faster expansion of humanity, fulfilling God's command to “be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth” (Genesis 9:7). Men are capable of impregnating multiple women in the same time period, causing humanity to grow much faster than if each man was only able to produce one child each year.

(2) How does God view polygamy today? Even while allowing polygamy, the Bible presents monogamy as the plan which conforms most closely to God's ideal for marriage. The Bible says that God's original intention was for one man to be married to only one woman: “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife [not wives]; and they shall become one flesh [not multiple fleshes]” (Genesis 2:24). While Genesis 2:24 is describing what marriage is, rather than how many people are involved, the consistent use of the singular should be noted. In Deuteronomy 17:14-20, God says that the kings were not supposed to multiply wives (or horses or gold). While this cannot be interpreted as a command that the kings must be monogamous, it can be understood as declaring that having multiple wives causes problems. This can be clearly seen in the life of Solomon (1 Kings 11:3-4).

In the New Testament, 1 Timothy 3:2, 12 and Titus 1:6 give “the husband of one wife” in a list of qualifications for spiritual leadership. There is some debate as to what specifically this qualification means. Please read - http://www.gotquestions.org/husband-one-wife.html. The phrase could literally be translated “a one-woman man.” Whether or not this phrase is referring exclusively to polygamy, in no sense can a polygamist be considered a “one-woman man.” While these qualifications are specifically for positions of spiritual leadership, they should apply equally to all Christians. Should not all Christians be “above reproach ... temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money” (1 Timothy 3:2-4)? If we are called to be holy (1 Peter 1:16), and if these standards are holy for elders and deacons, then they are holy for all.

Ephesians 5:22-33 speaks of the relationship between husbands and wives. When referring to a husband (singular), it always also refers to a wife (singular). “For the husband is the head of the wife [singular] … He who loves his wife [singular] loves himself. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife [singular], and the two will become one flesh. . . . Each one of you also must love his wife [singular] as he loves himself, and the wife [singular] must respect her husband [singular].” While a somewhat parallel passage, Colossians 3:18-19, refers to husbands and wives in the plural, it is clear that Paul is addressing all the husbands and wives among the Colossian believers, not stating that a husband might have multiple wives. In contrast, Ephesians 5:22-33 is specifically describing the marital relationship. If polygamy were allowable, the entire illustration of Christ's relationship with His body (the church) and the husband-wife relationship falls apart.

(3) Why did it change? It is not as much God disallowing something He previously allowed as it is God restoring marriage to His original intent. Even going back to Adam and Eve (not Eves), polygamy was not God's original intent. God seems to have allowed polygamy to solve a problem, but it was God's desire for the problem never to have occurred. In most modern societies, there is absolutely no need for polygamy. In most cultures today, women are able to provide for and protect themselves — removing the only “positive” aspect of polygamy. Further, most modern nations outlaw polygamy. According to Romans 13:1-7, we are to obey the laws that the government establishes. The only instance in which disobeying the law is permitted by Scripture is if the law contradicts God's commands (Acts 5:29). Since God only allows for polygamy, and does not command it, a law prohibiting polygamy should be upheld.

Are there some instances in which the allowance for polygamy would still apply today? Perhaps…but it is unfathomable that there would be no other possible solution. Due to the “one flesh” aspect of marriage, the need for oneness and harmony in marriage, and the lack of any real need for polygamy, it is our firm belief that polygamy does not honor God and is not His design for marriage.

Source: http://www.gotquestions.org/polygamy.html

[cslewislover]

Gman, thanks for posting that. I'm going through Genesis now, and this issue was bugging me some. I don't mean that I doubted God's desire that one man be married to one woman, or conversely that He gladly allowed polygamy, but that I wondered (negatively ) why he blessed the patriarchs that were polygamists. And He never said anything about it. So the little essay you gave here helps in that regard. It still is like one of those "seeming contradictions" to me, but it also shows grace. It seems like it's another example of how God allows things to take place in this fallen world that aren't optimal, yet still beneficial. So many things happen that appear to be outside of His will, yet He blesses them anyway because it's the best that can be under the current circumstances.

I have an addition to your article to make, however. I'm surprised that it did not bring up the commandment to not commit adultery (Exo 20:14). This alone implies pretty strongly, doesn't it, that God does not approve of polygamy? In the NT, Paul says to not even lie with a prostitute, because there is some kind of connection made (1 Cor 6:15-16; even though there is no marriage in heaven [Mat 22:30].) He also says in Eph 5:32 that becoming "one flesh" is a profound mystery that has to do with Christ and his church, which is His bride. The analogy is made in the bible that God's people, when going after idols and other gods, commit adultery. So, besides God wanting the raising of Godly children, He also uses the "one man, one woman" marriage as a living example of one body (believers) and one God, in harmony.

[For_Narniaaa]

Also, if you notice, most of the men in the Bible who had more than one wife also had a lot of grief caused him because of it. God may not have come right out and said, "Only one wife", but the unhappiness it brought its victims is a testimony enough, IMO.

[Angellicrequiem]

Yeah, God did seem to lay more trials on the polygamists. Not only that, but there can really be no greater balance before God than a husband and a wife who are given unto each other wholly.

[tomsenske]

First of all "mtwebs", polygamy was by no means promoted, condoned, or commanded in the Bible. Polygamy is recorded in the Bible as a historical fact. So was murder, rape, and theft. Various the “heroes” of the Previous Testomony had more than one wife. However then again, numerous the “heroes” of the Outdated Testament also lied, cheated, stole, murdered, and a number of other ungodly activities. Does this mean that God commanded, and even condoned that sinful behavior too? You can see no the place within the Bible the place God commands polygamy or has anything constructive to say about it. Yes, a few of His servants practiced it, but they did so to their very own detriment. Probably the most famous instances of Abraham, Jacob, David, and Solomon give clear examples of how polygamy was a curse and an ungodly burden, and not a blessing.
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