A Sheep Story...

[NeoPatriarch]

Is it a sin for a poor man to have a sheep?
Is it a sin for a rich man to have many sheep?
Is it a sin to covet your neighbors sheep?
Is it a sin to steal your neighbors sheep?

Read 2 Samuel 12:1-4

Nathan uses this story in direct parallel to David's own story.

Was it a sin for Uriah to have a wife?
Was it a sin for David to have many wives?
Was it a sin for David to covet Uriah's wife?
Was it a sin for David to steal Uriah's wife? (Adultery)

If one is consistent both sets of questions will be answered the same way.

The Monogamy Only Position cannot properly account for the moral lesson in Nathan's story. David does see himself in this story, and it drives him to repentance.

God explained it to David this way:
2Sa 12:7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the (rich)man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
2Sa 12:8 And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.
2Sa 12:9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah(the poor man) the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife(the sheep), and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
2Sa 12:10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.

*comments in parenthesis inserted by me.


A thought to share with your MOP friends.

 

[Scarecrow]

These verses are actually foundational for understanding that polygyny is biblical. David is probably the best example we can call on to validate our understanding of biblical marriage. Abigail, David's second wife, is probably the best place to start.

Abigail is a righteous and godly example of a woman that disobeyed her husband Nabal, yet provides a strong argument for polygyny, something she willingly participated in and practiced. David and his men essentially provided police and military protection for Nabal’s family and property. When Nabal refused to pay his “taxes” he jeopardized his entire family and his servants. Abigail, Nabal’s wife until his death, realizing the severity of Nabal’s crime, made restitution for him to David. After Nabal’s untimely death Abigail willingly became David’s second concurrent wife, and she remained his wife when he took more wives to himself. Everything Abigail did was right in the eyes of God; Abigail was indeed a godly wife to David.

 

[DiscussingTheTopic]

Thank you for posting.

This is pretty clear cut.

As I always saw it in this specific pericope he was using sheep as a metaphor for wives. One sheep in this allegory represented one wife. So two sheep would represent two wives, etc. [not everywhere in the Bible but in this specific pericope]

Normally I do not randomly create metaphors but I am fairly certain that is the metaphor here.

 

[DiscussingTheTopic]

Did he ever say it is OK to have more than one sheep?

If MOP were communist........... (not necessarily in the theoretical sense but the way it works in socialist, communist and democratic party voting countries.)

The one sheep only policy would seem to almost make sense.

Except for the elite people on top who can have as many of the lower class sheep as they want to take, in order to some day redistribute the wealth properly and justly.