Quote:
Originally Posted by Dora
So how do you oppose the idea of modern polygamy when polygamy is obvious "ok" in the Old Testament. How do you argue that it is wrong to have multiply wives in modern society?
From my perspective polygamy puts women in a vulnerable position and is likely to result in abuse for the wife and for the children. Must create such confusion for the children. And there is always the issue of the husband preferring one wife over the other.
Just some rambling thoughts...feel free to contribute your views on the subject.
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I think polygamy in ancient times has to be viewed in light of culture. Women were property to be stolen in war, traded, and even given as part of treaties between nations to link royal families. So it became a status symbol to have more than one wife...it expressed wealth and power. It also multiplied the number of children a man could have which was highly valued in ancient Bible culture. Marriage was primarily a contract between the man and the bride's family and not strictly between the bride and the husband. So all that a wife owned was also the husband's property...even her servants. Women had little say in how many wives a man could have...though they readily voiced their displeasure when jealous. None of this was specifically condemned by God on moral grounds...the primary concern in the Law was with kings multiplying wives with foreign women (essentially establishing too many foreign treaties) because they could turn his heart toward the gods of their native land. The Law of God required polygamy at times. For example if a man's brother were to die without having children, he was commanded to also marry his brother's widow to raise up children in his brother's name. This was a form of a social safety net because it protected the widow from exploitation, provided for her immediate needs, and insured her care in the future as her children were required to care for her into old age.
Adultery wasn't viewed so much as a moral issue as a "property" issue. If a woman were to have relations with another man, she and the man involved were stealing the conjugal rights belonging only to her husband. For example, David had more than one wife and wasn't considered an adulterer...however, when he secretly took Uriah's wife he stole from Uriah what he had no right to...and David was then an adulterer. Adultery is essentially connected to taking a woman that belongs to another man. Jesus expanded this concept by illustrating that the mere thought of taking what belongs to another man is adultery. I'd like to emphasize that Jesus isn't talking about beholding a woman's beauty....he's addressing "lust" in the context of adultery, the actual desire to peruse and take a woman that isn't one's own. Jesus isn't condemning normal attraction or interest.
Forms of marriage described in the Old Testament:
The standard nuclear family:
Genesis 2:24 describes how a man leaves his family of origin, joins with a woman, consummates the marriage and lives as a couple. There were quite a few differences between the customs and laws of contemporary North Americans and of ancient Israelites.
Polygynous marriage: A man would leave his family of origin and join with his first wife. Then, as finances allowed, he would marry as many additional women as he desired. The new wives would join the man and his other wives in an already established household.
Levirate Marriage: The name of this type of marriage is derived from the Latin word "levir," which means "brother-in-law." This involved a woman who was widowed without having borne a son. She would be required to leave her home, marry her brother-in-law, live with him, and engage in sexual relations.
Ruth 4 reveals that a man would be required to enter into a levirate marriage not only with his late brother's widow, but with a widow to whom he was the closest living relative.
A man, a woman and her property -- a female slave: As described in
Genesis 16, Sarah and Abram were infertile. Sarah owned Hagar, a female slave who apparently had been purchased earlier in Egypt. Because Hagar was Sarah's property, she could dispose of her as she wished. Sarah gave Hagar to Abram as a type of wife, so that Abram would have an heir.
A man, one or more wives, and some concubines: A man could keep numerous concubines, in addition to one or more wives. These women held an even lower status than a wife. As implied in
Genesis 21:10, a concubine could be dismissed when no longer wanted. According to Smith's Bible Dictionary, "A concubine would generally be either (1) a Hebrew girl bought...[from] her father; (2) a Gentile captive taken in war; (3) a foreign slave bought; or (4) a Canaanitish woman, bond or free." 1 They would probably be brought into an already-established household. 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: 1; Belshazzar: more than 1.
A male soldier and a female prisoner of war:
Numbers 31:1-18 describes how the army of the ancient Israelites killed every adult Midianite male in battle. Moses then ordered the slaughter of most of the captives, including all of the male children who numbered about 32,000. Only the lives of 32,000 women - all virgins -- were spared. Some of the latter were given to the priests as slaves. Most were taken by the Israeli soldiers as captives of war.
Deuteronomy 21:11-14 describes how each captive woman would shave her head, pare her nails, be left alone to mourn the loss of her families, friends, and freedom. After a full month had passed, they would be required to submit to their owners sexually, as a wife.
A male rapist and his victim:
Deuteronomy 22:28-29 requires that a female virgin who is not engaged to be married and who has been raped must marry her attacker. A man could become married by simply taking a woman that appealed to him, and paying his father-in-law 50 shekels of silver. There is one disadvantage of this approach: he was not allowed to subsequently divorce her.
A male and female slave:
Exodus 21:4 indicates that a slave owner could assign one of his female slaves to one of his male slaves as a wife. In the times of the Hebrew Scriptures, Israelite women who were sold into slavery by their fathers were slaves forever. Men, and women who became slaves by another route, were limited to serving as slaves for seven years. When a male slave left his owner, the marriage would normally be terminated; his wife would stay behind, with any children that she had. He could elect to stay a slave if he wished.
And those are the most common forms of "marriage" in the Old Testament.
The New Testament's prohibition of polygamy among church elders is radical compared to the position of the Old Testament. By mandating that elders have one wife....Paul elevates a woman to being more than just property and essentially makes her equal to her husband in regards to conjugal entitlement. Paul's admonishion for every elder to have his own wife was to help in preventing sexual immorality which was very prevalent in ancient times, especially among pagan peoples. Interestingly, Paul's admonishion that a bishop be the husband of only one wife also precludes concubinage (which was also common and allowed...consider it a legal mistress) because the Greek more literally reads "man of one woman".
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