WHY DID THE LORD ALLOW MEN TO HAVE CONCUBINES AND/OR MORE THAN ONE WIFE?
It is Obvious From the Old Testament that Some Men Had Several Wives and Sometimes Several Concubines as Well.
Why?
Was a Man With Several Concubines Considered an Adulterer?
First of all let us consider concubinage.
We may start off by considering some comments from the Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible:
'Concubinage was practiced in many ancient cultures, especially in Mesopotamia.....where a private citizen might have one or two concubines in addition to his primary wife.....a concubine was often a slave or part of the booty of war (Judges 5:30). A man might have a concubine simply as an economical form of marriage, since no dowry or bride-price was required. A concubine could add to a man's prestige by giving him two wives and thus an increased capacity for children. Such offspring were normally delivered onto the knees of the legal wife, thus establishing their legitimacy as family members. The concubine was also another servant to add to his work force.' (Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible, 1997, Vol 1, p504).
So there we have it in a nutshell: a concubine was essentially a servant girl whose duties included sexual services to her master. She was seen as more 'low-born' than the wife although she was still allowed certain rights within the household.
It might seem odd to women of our own day why the wives did not object to this arrangement, but in fact all the evidence is that concubines were warmly welcomed by wives into the household since they mainly became the servants of the wife. The ancient world simply did not carry the modern pseudo-Christian expectation that a man would have only one marital sexual partner. Of course sometimes men had two or more wives (rather than concubines). "Wives" had greater rights but cost their husbands a lot more!
This might all seem strange today, but we sometimes don't realize how much of the 'one man-one woman' scenario developed from pseudo-Christianity which was later reinforced by the 19th century Romantic movement (just think of the novels of the Bronte sisters with their passionate concern for private 'one man-one woman' love). Indeed, we still see the acceptance of plural marriage in cultures which have not been influenced by these things including in parts of the Islamic and African world.
If we look at the period of the patriarchs, we immediately must note that concubinage etc is the not unusual (note Scriptures such as Genesis 22:24; 35:22; 36:12, also note how concubinage was welcomed by wives who were barren: Genesis 16:1-3; 25:5-6; 1 Chronicles 1:32). If a concubine provided children for a barren wife, those children could gain an inheritance and real prestige (but they would legally be considered the wife's children not the concubine's).
Some Bible commentators have suggested that the Lord allowed men to have more than one wife or several concubines during the period from the Great Flood until the Old Covenant in order to build up the world's population (which had obviously been decimated by the Flood), but from the time of Moses receiving the legal package on Mount Sinai, concubinage was banned. But this is totally incorrect for two reasons:
First, we should not forget that the Old Covenant was given to "Israel" alone (but keeping in mind how St Paul defines a [spiritual] "Jew" in Romans chapter 2 and how St John defines such (concerning "synagogues of Satan" in chapter 2 or 3 of the book of Revelation).
Secondly, the Old Covenant did make provision for a man having more than one wife. Please note the The Law (the Torah) detailing such in Deuteronomy 21:15-17.
We must also note that Moses himself took a second wife who was an Ethiopian woman (Numbers 12:1). Moses had already married Zipporah (Exodus 2:21). Aaron and Miriam criticized their brother for taking this second wife, but they were immediately punished by the Lord for their criticism, making it plain that Moses had done no wrong in His sight (Numbers 12:1-15). Of course, it is possible that Moses' first wife had died, but the text gives no indication of this.
Later on people like David continued to have wives and concubines without receiving a single reproach from the Lord! David only received punishment when he added another man's wife (the bathing exhibitionist Bathsheba) to this group thereby clearly committing adultery and suffering for it in the ways the Lord deemed appropriate at that time under those circumstances.
Often Bible teachers in Sunday School are embarrassed about people like Abraham, Gideon and David having several wives and concubines they simply don't know how to handle it! They usually react by calling David an adulterer who still had lessons to learn - but this is just not what the Bible teaches. The fact is that God did allow this practice and it was not adultery! Adultery is taking another man's wife (or another woman's husband), but if a man had two wives and two concubines he was expected to be faithful to and love them all it is clear from the Scriptures that this was not considered adultery, unpalatable though this may be for some!
The practice of a man having more than one wife or concubines continued into the Roman society of Jesus' day but although no single statement of Jesus or Paul (except in First Timothy chapter 2) barred this for Christians, it starts to become clear that polygamy is generally cumbersome and inconvenient for the activist Christian life. A consideration of Jesus' comments in Matthew 5-7, Matthew 19:1-9 and perhaps especially Paul's comments on marital love in 1 Corinthians 7 infer either no marriage or monogamous marriage within the Christian life, although it is true that he never specifically refers to plural marriage or concubinage at all. Others have expressed surprise that in Acts 15 when the disciples made a decision guided by the Holy Spirit as to what new gentile Christian converts most urgently needed to be warned about as being inconsistent with the Christian life, neither plural marriage nor concubinage are mentioned, although 'sexual immorality' certainly is mentioned (Check out Acts 15:27-29).
There are strong indications that during the first century AD some new Christians brought their plural marriages into the Church (in First Timothy 3:2,12 the comment is made that a man to be ordained a bishop, deacon, or elder should only have 'one wife' which (according to the precise Greek Text did NOT refer to to divorce and remarriage which would have been extremely rare in that world), but the practice because less frequent with increasing satanic persecution.
Women can be married about as early as the law permits.
Thirteen (13) years of age is allowed for marriage (including non-State-registered non-State-licensed) common-law in certain states of the USA. The younger the bride is, the better it is for her to be married to a slightly older, mature and experienced man, perhaps already with other wives.
The Bible says: whenever girl's breasts are visibly developed (not necessarily fully grown), and pubic hair can be seen, she is ready for marriage:
Ezekiel 16:6-8 "I passed by you, and saw you flailing about in your blood. As you lay in your blood, I said to you, Live!
7 and grow up like a plant of the field. You grew up and became tall and arrived at full womanhood; your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown; yet you were naked and bare.
8 I passed by you again and looked on you; you were at the age for love. I spread the edge of my cloak over you, and covered your nakedness: I pledged myself to you and entered into a covenant with you," says the Lord God, "and you became mine.
9 Then I bathed you with water and washed off the blood from you, and anointed you with oil.
10 I clothed you with embroidered cloth and with sandals of fine leather; I bound you in fine linen and covered you with rich fabric."
There is no limit to number of wives a man can have. Common men should have one wife or concubine, but wealthy and important men might have more.
Exodus 21:10 "If he take him another wife; her food, her clothing, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish."
In the Bible, we find that Lamech had 2 wives, Esau 3 wives, Jacob 2, Ashur 2, Gideon many, Elkanah 2, David many, Solomon had 700 wives of royal birth, Rehaboam 3, and Abijah 14. Jehoram, Joash, Ahab, Jeholachin and Belshazzar also had multiple wives.
Also, according to the Bible, man can also have concubines. Abraham had two concubines, Gideon at least 1, Nahor 1, Jacob 1, Eliphaz 1, Gideon 1, Caleb 2, Manassah 1, Saul 1, David at least 10, Rehoboam 60, Solomon 300, an unidentified Levite had 1, and Belshazzar, more than 1.
About Deuteronomy 17:16-17
Deuteronomy 17:16 "But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD has said to you, You all shall from now on return no more that way."
Deuteronomy 17:17 "Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold."
These verses do not prohibit polygamy in any way. The first king of Israel was prohibited from marrying too many wives. The limit is not "one wife", it is "multiply wives", perhaps three, probably more. This becomes very obvious from the previous verse. The king was certainly not limited to owning only one horse! Also, these verses are for the current king of Israel - speficially, the first king of the Promised Land. He certainly had too much to do and should not get too many wives. This did not necessarily apply to other people and not to the later kings.
Other verses prohibit priests from having more than one wife - the reason is the same, priest (rabbi) had too much obligation and no time to satisfy more than one wife. But these limitations don't apply to most people.
Concubines agree with a man to permanently become and stay in the state of marriage with one man.
A concubine is a woman living in a lawful marriage arrangement with a man, but whose status is regarded as being less than a wife. A concubine is especially recommended by the Bible if the wife is unable to have children (e.g. Sarah suggested that her husband Abraham take Hagar as a concubine i.e. Genesis 16:1-3).
It is also recommended to thwart and stifle with propagation of satanic feminist sexism, especially of arrogant-twit women who use sexual deprivation as a means of competition or adversarial (perhaps financial) control over a single or multiple men.
It is useful for the highly-sexed man who cannot endure virtual or excessive sexual impotence of a significantly sickly woman, one confined to her father's or mother's elderly care, or one who has the monthly menstrual prohibition against intercourse.
Genuine Christians have a simpler quicker marriage initiation procedures for adding concubines to his marital flock.
The concubine is expected to be equally chaste, submissive, and loyal to the man as any true wife, and is a wife of secondary rank. There are various laws recorded providing for their protection (Ex. 21:7; Deut. 21:10-14), and setting limits to the relation they sustained to the household to which they belonged (Gen. 21:14; 25:6). They had limited authority in the family.
There are no passages whatever within the Bible that condemn concubines. God was displeased with Solomon's approximately 1,000 wives and concubines. But it was not because of the polygamous arrangement. God was concerned that many of the women were foreigners, and worshiped foreign Gods. They eventually lead Solomon to stray from worshipping Yahweh. (1 King 11:1-6).
Ezra (in Ezra 10:6-14) convinced his people to "put away" their "foreign wives" (not relating to polygamy per se, but - like in the case of King Solomon becoming spiritually defiled and dragged down by disbelievers - separating from idolaters who even St Paul in First Corinthians chapter 7 would allow believers to become separated from).
There is no indication that Jesus indicated disapproval of any other forms of marriage. He never criticized polygamous marriages, levirate marriages, or any of the other marriage types mentioned in The Bible.
John the Baptist criticized Herod's adulterous marriage to Herodias. (Matthew 14:3). But the criticism was based on the inappropriate choice of Heodias, since she was the wife of his brother Philip. John did not criticize the fact that it was a marriage.
Some interpret Jesus' comments on divorce in (Mark 10:2 & Matthew 19:3) as proof that Jesus supported only the usual "one man, one woman" type of marriage. But his response "So they are no longer two but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate" was in answer to a specific question from the Pharisees: whether "a man" was allowed to divorce "his wife." (Matthew 19:3). Jesus' response, which discouraged a man from divorcing his chaste wife revealed that Jesus acknowledged the nuclear, one-man-one-woman marriage as the general condition. But it does not exclude support for the other types of family structure listed above.
It has always been natural for a husband's harem (be it comprised of wives alone or wives with concubines) to cooperate with each other, especially when their mutually-shared husband was away.
Pleasure of appropriate and legitimate sex can be enjoyed only in marriage, and so there's nothing wrong in getting the most of it. This is obvious, since the Bible tells us that the most important and wealthy men also had concubines - to increase their pleasure!
Ecclesiastes 2:8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces; I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, mans delight.
Whatever happens in a lawful marriage between a husband and his wives is never lesbianism or homosexuality! True Christian marriage NEVER includes the vile SIN of homosexuality.
Christian wives (or concubines) can be chastised by her husband if [they are] disobedient. Here we should note that so-called "sado-masochism" is a horrible sin! But when a man disciplines his wife, wives, or concubines, there's nothing wrong if he gains pleasure when their bare bodies glisten with sweat, obediently writhe in feigned discomfort when spanked, erotically moan in sensuous agitation, and shudder perhaps violently with perhaps-scary outbursts of ecstasy during orgasm. That should NOT at all be called "sado-masochism."
Chastise binding the feet and/or wrists, or gently beating the back or buttocks. Striking a wife/concubine on the head or face or breasts (particularly with hard objects) can cause physical and emotional harm, and obviously anything which causes delay of urination or defection, unnatural bruises or bleeding, suffocation, etc. is clearly NOT allowable.
Cunnilingus and/or fellatio is not only legitimate, but generally expected, anticipated, and greatly appreciated within heterosexual marriage, and certainly NOT considered any type of "sodomy" whatsoever!
Ephesians 5:22-24 "Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands, as 0to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and He is the Saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in EVERYTHING."
Colossians 3:18 "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fitting in the Lord."