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Polygamy in the Bible

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Compiled by The BibleStudyTools Staff on 07/20/2023
Polygamy in the Bible

What does the Bible say about Polygamy?

What are the references to polygamy in the Bible? In biblical times it was common to find the custom of having more than one wife or husband at the same time. The truth is that the story of polygamy in the Old Testament is, well, a problem. Although monogamy was God's intent (Genesis 2:22-24), the picture blurs quickly after Adam and Eve's Genesis 3 and expulsion from the Garden. By Genesis 4, you have Cain's son Lamech taking two wives.

Moses had two wives as well. The Mosaic Law likewise accommodated the practice of marrying more than one wife, including captured prisoners from foreign conquests (Deuteronomy 21:1-17). It also made provisions for continuing the family line by marrying a brother's wife if he died without producing heirs (Deuteronomy 25:5-12). And the stories keep coming: Gideon, one of Israel's champions, had many wives; Elkanah, a presumably godly man and the father of Samuel, had two wives. (Read more from God’s Plan for Marriage: Dealing with Old Testament Polygamy by Gregory Alan Thornbury)

Top Bible Verses about Polygamy

Exodus 21:10 - If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or her marital rights.

Deuteronomy 21:15-17 - “If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved have borne him children, and if the firstborn son belongs to the unloved, then on the day when he assigns his possessions as an inheritance to his sons, he may not treat the son of the loved as the firstborn in preference to the son of the unloved, who is the firstborn, but he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the unloved, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the firstfruits of his strength. The right of the firstborn is his.

Genesis 4:19 - And Lamech took two wives. The name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.

2 Samuel 12:8 - And I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more.

Isaiah 4:1 - And seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach.”

Judges 8:30 - Now Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, for he had many wives.

2 Chronicles 11:21 - Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and concubines (he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters).

2 Chronicles 13:21 - But Abijah grew mighty. And he took fourteen wives and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.

Browse more Bible verses related to polygamy, multiple wives, and concubines in the collection of scripture quotes below:

1 Chronicles 4:5

5 Ashhur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah.
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2 Samuel 5:13

13 After he left Hebron, David took more concubines and wives in Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him.
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2 Samuel 12:8

8 I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more.
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2 Chronicles 11:21

21 Rehoboam loved Maakah daughter of Absalom more than any of his other wives and concubines. In all, he had eighteen wives and sixty concubines, twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.
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2 Chronicles 13:21

21 But Abijah grew in strength. He married fourteen wives and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.
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Exodus 21:10

10 If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights.
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Genesis 4:19

19 Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah.
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Genesis 30:4

4 So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife. Jacob slept with her,
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Genesis 30:9

9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife.
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Isaiah 4:1

1 In that day seven women will take hold of one man and say, “We will eat our own food and provide our own clothes; only let us be called by your name. Take away our disgrace!”
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Judges 8:30

30 He had seventy sons of his own, for he had many wives.
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Numbers 12:1

1 Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite.
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1 Samuel 1:1-2

1 There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.
2 He had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.
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Deuteronomy 21:15-17

15 If a man has two wives, and he loves one but not the other, and both bear him sons but the firstborn is the son of the wife he does not love,
16 when he wills his property to his sons, he must not give the rights of the firstborn to the son of the wife he loves in preference to his actual firstborn, the son of the wife he does not love.
17 He must acknowledge the son of his unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double share of all he has. That son is the first sign of his father’s strength. The right of the firstborn belongs to him.
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2 Chronicles 24:1-3

1 Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba.
2 Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the years of Jehoiada the priest.
3 Jehoiada chose two wives for him, and he had sons and daughters.
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Ezekiel 23:1-4

1 The word of the LORD came to me:
2 “Son of man, there were two women, daughters of the same mother.
3 They became prostitutes in Egypt, engaging in prostitution from their youth. In that land their breasts were fondled and their virgin bosoms caressed.
4 The older was named Oholah, and her sister was Oholibah. They were mine and gave birth to sons and daughters. Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.
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1 Corinthians 7:1-5

1 Now for the matters you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.”
2 But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband.
3 The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband.
4 The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife.
5 Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
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Deuteronomy 25:5-10

5 If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her.
6 The first son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel.
7 However, if a man does not want to marry his brother’s wife, she shall go to the elders at the town gate and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to carry on his brother’s name in Israel. He will not fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to me.”
8 Then the elders of his town shall summon him and talk to him. If he persists in saying, “I do not want to marry her,”
9 his brother’s widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, take off one of his sandals, spit in his face and say, “This is what is done to the man who will not build up his brother’s family line.”
10 That man’s line shall be known in Israel as The Family of the Unsandaled.
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1 Chronicles 3:1-9

1 These were the sons of David born to him in Hebron: The firstborn was Amnon the son of Ahinoam of Jezreel; the second, Daniel the son of Abigail of Carmel;
2 the third, Absalom the son of Maakah daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith;
3 the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; and the sixth, Ithream, by his wife Eglah.
4 These six were born to David in Hebron, where he reigned seven years and six months. David reigned in Jerusalem thirty-three years,
5 and these were the children born to him there: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan and Solomon. These four were by Bathsheba daughter of Ammiel.
6 There were also Ibhar, Elishua, Eliphelet,
7 Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia,
8 Elishama, Eliada and Eliphelet—nine in all.
9 All these were the sons of David, besides his sons by his concubines. And Tamar was their sister.
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