Your partnership makes all we do possible. Would you prayerfully consider a gift of support today? Cookie Notice: Our website uses cookies to store user preferences. By proceeding, you consent to our cookie usage. Clear Advanced Options. DBY Darby Translation. WEB Webster's Bible. RVR60 Reina-Valera VUL Latin Vulgate. TR Textus Receptus. Search Bible Search. Line-By-Line Order:. Separate Line. Verse Only.
Reference Only. No Number. No Delimiter — Square — [15]. Parens — Abbreviate Books. Use SBL Abbrev. En dash Hyphen. None — Jhn KJV. Square — [Jhn KJV]. Parens — Jhn KJV. Quotes Around Verses. Remove Square Brackets. Sort Canonically. Free Bible Courses Visit. Help Quick Nav Advanced Options. Cite Share Print. Search Results in Other Versions. BLB Searches. Search the Bible. LexiConc [? Advanced Options Exact Match. Theological FAQs [?
Multi-Verse Retrieval x. En dash not Hyphen. Let's Connect x. Subscribe to our Newsletter. Daily Devotionals x. Daily Bible Reading Plans x. Recently Popular Pages x. Recently Popular Media x. Cain's children multiplied outside of the knowledge of God. In the story of one of his descendants-Lamech-we have the first example in Scripture of the practice of marrying more than one wife-polygamy.
Then Lamech took for himself two wives: the name of one was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah Genesis He was the father of all those who play the harp and flute. And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah. For I have killed a man for wounding me, Even a young man for hurting me.
If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold. Before the Flood, we have a clear distortion of what God had intended for marriage.
The Flood was brought upon the earth to judge the sinfulness of mankind, including the sins committed by Lamech. After the Flood, there are many mentions of polygamous relationships—including among the patriarchs of Israel. Abraham, Jacob, David, and Solomon all had multiple wives. Just because the Bible records polygamous relationships does not mean that God approves of such things.
It is also interesting to note that polygamous relationships seem to be regulated in the commands Moses gave to the nation of Israel. Leviticus instructs that a man should not marry sisters, and Deuteronomy talks of assigning an heir to a man with two wives. Many commentators suggest that the passages do not endorse polygamy but rather prohibit it. The sisters in Leviticus are understood by some to be any Israelite women.
Moving to the New Testament, there are several passages that can be understood to speak against polygamous relationships. The first to come to the mind of many would be the qualifications for leaders in the church given by the Apostle Paul to Timothy and Titus. In 1 Corinthians —16 Paul answered questions that the Corinthian church had about marriage.
In this passage Paul used the singular form of wife and husband throughout the passage. In fact, this is true of the New Testament writers in general. Scripture compares the relationship of husband and wife to that of Christ and the church. In Ephesians —33 Paul explained this relationship and referred back to Genesis Other religions have promoted polygamy.
For example, according to Sura of the Koran, Islamic men are allowed to take up to four wives under certain circumstances. Muhammad was granted the privilege of many wives in Sura 33 and had many wives. Modern Muslims practice polygamy in various ways according to their cultural context. Initially, the Book of Mormon decried polygamy. Jacob —28 and —8 denounce the practice of polygamy as an abomination before God.
Polygamy, more accurately polygyny, was practiced secretly by some Latter-day Saints from the s until the s, when the church admitted to the teaching after many previous denials. Eventually, they were pressured into denouncing polygamy after it was vigorously prosecuted by the federal government. From the s on, many LDS leaders encouraged rebellion against the laws, but in , LDS president Wilford Woodruff encouraged members to obey the laws. Some secretly practiced polygamy while others abstained.
This short chapter cannot exhaustively cover all of the issues related to polygamy, but we can look to the Bible as the standard for understanding the world we live in. And the Bible often records what happened, not necessarily what should happen.
Now, I think this is true, but I believe that God tolerated polygamy, but never condoned it. And the same could be said of divorce.
God never intended married couples to divorce, but He tolerated it. In fact, Jesus even says in Matthew that divorce was permitted because of the hardness of the hearts of men. And yet He also clearly reminds the pharisees that divorce was never intended by God from the beginning. This, by the way, would often occur during the Old Testament era.
0コメント