The best anyone can do is “informed” speculation. Those actions will have the greatest effect on those who are closest to us. God never approved of polygamy nor did he intend it to be the norm. There are a few key factors to consider. Why did God allow men to have concubines in the Bible?" The stories mentioned above can be heartbreaking for anyone to read. Why were some books removed from the Bible and is it a sin to read them? God didn't "allow" Solomon since the king had free will with respect to his harem. But one can imagine the relational neglect and emotional turmoil of sharing a husband with 299 other concubines and 700 wives. How can we know which way to interpret it? A concubine, by the way, is a slave who is taken as a wife. David L. Baker. When is the right time for marriage? 19:8). But since the first human chose sin over God’s good way, humanity chose more and more sin that affected these ideals God approved of and set in motion. In relation to this, I wanted to ask how should we interpret 2 Samuel 12:11-12, where we read:“This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. 2. What is the difference between a birthright and a blessing? Why did so many men in the Bible have multiple wives? A Concubine is… A concubine is a female who willingly gives herself up to enslave herself or sell herself for a man for sexual pleasure. And how gracious he was to stick with them, love them, provide for them, and give his own self as a complete sacrifice for their sin so that they could forever be with him in heaven. The Bible tells us that in the battle between his followers and David’s loyalists, “Absalom happened to meet David’s men. You will be desolate, Mount Seir, you and all of Edom.” And these words did come true; Edom was destroyed and became desolate. The master often appointed a male to stud the concubines family once the master started a family. Because the stories of David and Solomon are a compilation of folk tales about a great king and everyone wants their story told. Having a concubine did not necessarily imply that the man had multiple wives, though it did happen in many cases. These 10 women were also sexually violated by a political rival to the throne, Absolom. Due to patriarchal societies, it was nearly impossible for an unmarried woman to provide for herself. A concubine, by the way, is a slave who is taken as a wife. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”Should this be interpreted as God causing this to happen, or should this be interpreted as God permitting to happen? In the Bible, a concubine was a woman acquired by a man as a secondary wife. Why did God allow men to have concubines in the Bible?” Answer: A concubine is a female who voluntarily enslaves and sells herself to a man primarily for his sexual pleasure. Who was Abraham’s second wife, Hagar or Keturah? The Concubine of Gibeah is unnamed in the Bible. Why Did God Allow Men to Take Concubines in the Bible? 4. Answer: First Kings 11:3 states that Solomon “had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines.”. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. NIV Starting Place Study Bible, “Why Did David Have So Many Wives and Concubines?” pg. So we should take responsibility for what we do, and be very careful not to do wrong, knowing how that may cause the ones we love most to suffer. Why would you commit adultery with another mans wife? Why did God allow Solomon to have 1,000 wives and concubines?” Answer: First Kings 11:3 states that Solomon “had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines.” Obviously, God “allowed” Solomon to have these wives, but allowance is not the same as approval. The episode of the Levite's concubine is a biblical narrative in Judges 19–21. 87–101. I also do not believe, as you also pointed out, that God would cause or command anything that would violate his own law. Genesis 25:6 suggests that Keturah was Abraham’s concubine. Why did having concubines not fall under the sin of adultery? Is Polygamy a sin? God allows us to make our own choices, otherwise we would just be robots on a string, but ultimately He is in control, and our choices will either save us (forgiveness through Christ) or destroy us. Concubines were female servants won in war by conquest hence the word concubines. At the anthropological level, the promiscuous relationship leads to propagation of species. Why did God allow Solomon to have 1,000 wives and concubines? Why was only Miriam punished with leprosy when she and Aaron rebelled against Moses? Interestingly, God specifically forbade polygamy for certain individuals. Nobody knows, because God has not told us why godly men such as Abraham had multiple wives and concubines, and were not rebuked, but when we get to the New Testament, "a bishop must be blameless, the husband of one wife", and we see no examples of multiple wives in the New Testament. reply report. Is God / the Bible sexist? The Rev. The fact that female prisoners of war could be taken as wives by the Israelites does not sanction the practice so much as regulate and transform an existing evil.”. Why did God allow that? Historical Old Testament accounts should be approached and applied differently than, for example, Apostolic letters in the New Testament. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, 8. and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Return to: He has a B.A. Why did God allow this in the Old Testament period? “Polygamy and concubinage were also allowed in ancient Israel and seem to be have been quite common in the patriarchal period (age of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), but after that most marriages of commoners were monogamous.”. Learn how your comment data is processed. I believe that the answer is almost certainly no. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Current statistics show that approximately 50.5% of the world population are women, with men being 49.5%. Obviously, God “allowed” Solomon to have these wives, but allowance is not the same as approval. The word is ALLOWED. Kings were not allowed to have multiple wives. First Kings 11:3 states that Solomon “had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines.” Obviously, God “allowed” Solomon to have these wives, but allowance is not the same as approval. 2 Samuel 20:3 tells us “ And David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in ward, and fed them, but went not in … I believe that God grieved deeply with those women when they suffered this abuse. Perhaps you were brought here by a search engine or by a link to one of the posts. Concubines in the patriarchal age and beyond did not have equal status with a wife. As a matter of fact, a study of the lives of men like King David and King Solomon (who had 300 concubines; 1 Kings 11:3) reveals that many of their problems stemmed from polygamous relationships (2 Samuel 11:2-4). Answer: A concubine is a female who voluntarily enslaves and sells herself to a man primarily for his sexual pleasure. I hope you’ve found what you were looking for. A key purpose of the Law of Moses was to show the depth of sin and that no human could completely satisfy the law (Galatians 3:19, Hebrews 10:1-10). Her purpose was to provide a male heir in the case of a barren wife, to provide more children in general to enhance the family’s workforce and wealth, and to satisfy the man’s sexual desires. The Levite dismembers her corpse and presents the remains to the other tribes of Israel. Because you rejoiced when the inheritance of Israel became desolate. Just absolutely ridiculous. Her story is recorded in 2 Samuel 3:7-11. Women were often uneducated and untrained. We do know from 2 Samuel 5 and 1 Chronicles 3 that “David acquired still more wives and concubines who, in turn, bore him more children.” We know we had at least ten concubines. The Bible does not specifically say why God allowed polygamy. Should I be doing more by way of actions to prove my heart to God and display my faith to others? Crosswalk.com, “God’s Plan for Marriage: Dealing with Old Testament Polygamy.” Gregory Alan Thornbury, 2012. He allowed divorce and polygamy, too, although neither was part of His original plan for marriage. A concubine was endowed with rights and protections by Hebrew law but was not equal in status to a wife. GOD REGULATED MULTIPLE WIVES AND CONCUBINES IN THE LAW OF MOSES This we do know from the Law that God sometimes does not like a thing to happen but He allows it but with regulation. Jesus said God allowed divorce because of the hardness of men’s hearts (Matthew 19:8). These provisions in the law were meant to protect concubines from further oppression, but the Bible records a few stories about the reality concubines and wives experienced. Solomon started out well early in his life, listening to the counsel of his father, David, as … Why did God reject Saul as king for making one small mistake? He was left hanging in midair, while the mule he was riding kept on going.” So Absalom was trapped there, David’s men killed him, and that was the end of his palace coup. Obviously, God "permitted" Solomon to have these wives, but allowance is not the same as approval. A concubine could add to a man's prestige by giving him two wives and thus an increased capacity for children. The first instance of polygamy/bigamy in the Bible was that of Lamech in Genesis 4:19: “Lamech married two women.” “These provisos may not have furnished a remedy against all the wrongs of a weak, and, no doubt, an oppressed class; but they were important mitigations of the existing usages, and protected the slave-concubine to a considerable extent,” according to the Pulpit Commentary. He was riding his mule, and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak, Absalom’s hair got caught in the tree. 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