I recently wrote this paper/questionnaire to give to friends and family that may be skeptical of biblical polygyny. This is to provoke thought among skeptics, rather than just recite what they've always been told. If you'd like a copy, or if you have any recommended additions, feel free to comment or send me a PM.
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This paper is for the skeptics of Biblical Polygyny (man with multiple wives) who insist it is sinful, while offering scant Biblical evidence for such claims. Please answer these questions from the Bible alone as your source guide. Do not rely on YouTube videos, what the “church says”, or what “scholars say”. Be your own Berean, study your own Bible, search the scriptures, and answer the questions below, using the Bible alone as your study guide and source material.
Acts 17:10-11 10 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.
11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
If Biblical Polygyny is sin…
1. Why did God instruct men how to care for more than one wife? Can God instruct men how to sin? Exodus 21:10
2. Why did God instruct men how to treat the wives and children of multiple wives? Can God instruct men how to sin? Deut. 21:15-17
3. Why did God meet face to face with an open polygynist (Moses), and have him write His laws in the first 5 books of the Bible, while never condemning him over the practice once? Moses married Zipporah and the unnamed Ethiopian woman. Exodus 2:21, Numbers 12:1
4. Why did God condemn Aaron and Miriam, and give Miriam leprosy for speaking against Moses’ second wife, the Ethiopian woman, calling it sin to speak against Moses? Numbers 12:8-11
5. Why is not one man condemned by God in scripture, calling it sinful, for taking multiple wives even once from Genesis to Revelation?
6. Why does God not call Biblical Polygyny sin (one man with multiple wives) one time in the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation?
7. Why does God not list a man with multiple wives in His list of deviant sexual sin anywhere in scripture as He does with every other sinful sexual behavior. See Leviticus chapter 18.
8. Why are there 5 known polygynists in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews chapter 11, and only 1 known monogamist?
9. Why did God tell Abimelech that he had integrity for attempting to take a second wife (Gen. 20:6), when he already had a wife (Gen. 20:17)? God only stopped it because the woman he was seeking for a wife, Sarah, already had a husband.
10. Why did God tell Joash that he did right in the sight of the Lord by taking two wives? 2 Chron. 24:1-3
11. Why did Jehoida the priest, and a man of God who knew the law of God, give Joash two wives? 2 Chron 24:1-3
12. Why did monogamist kings such as wicked Ahab institute Baal and Ashtoreth worship, but when polygynist kings (such as Joash and Josiah) came to power, and instituted patriarchy, they served God with their whole heart and received praise from God, while tearing down the alters of Baal and groves of Ashtoreth? See examples throughout 1 and 2 Kings.
13. When Israel was sinning against God and worshipping other gods, making him angry, why did He continually send polygynist judges, such as Abdon, Gideon, Izban, and Jair to correct and restore Israel? See examples throughout the book of Judges.
14. Why did God command a man to take another wife, if his brother had died, by taking his brother’s wife and raising seed, whether or not he already had a wife (Levirate marriage)? Can God command men to sin? Deut. 25:5
15. Why did God, in the form of the Angel of the Lord, instruct Hagar to return to Abraham and Sarah and continue to live in a home that would be polygynists? Why did God not send her away if it were sinful to live in a polygynist home? Gen. 16:7-11
16. Why were the sons of Jacob from the 3 wives who were not his first wife not considered bastard sons, but legitimate sons of Israel, whom from God’s people and the Messiah came? Deut. 23:2
17. Why does the Bible say God rewarded Leah, by opening her womb, solely because she gave Jacob her handmaid as a wife? Gen 30:17-18
18. Why does God say that He gave David multiple wives, and would have given him more wives, if he had only asked, instead of committing adultery with another man’s wife, Bathsheba? Can God give men sinful things? 2 Sam. 12:7-8
19. Why does God condemn adultery in scripture as a married woman having sexual relations with someone not her husband, and not any other form of sexual activity? Lev. 20:10, Jeremiah 29:23, Lev. 18:20, Deut. 22:22
20. Why is it never called adultery one time in all the Bible, when a man, married or single, has sexual relations with a single woman who is available to him as a wife?
21. Why does the Bible picture Jesus as having 5 brides (virgins), who go into the weddings chamber with the groom in the parable of 10 virgins? Bridesmaids did not exist at the time. And, why would the “bridesmaids” care or not if they missed the weddings anyway? Matthew 25:1-11
22. Why did the 5 foolish virgins, in the parable of 10 virgins, cry out for their friend’s husband to let them in, if their friend was a bride, and why did they call the husband of another woman Lord, if they were only bridesmaids and not potential brides? Who was the bride in this parable anyways, if not the 5 wise virgins? Matthew 25:1-11
23. Why does the Holy Spirit use 2 separate and distinct Greek words in 1 Cor. 7:2 (let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband), which are both translated as own in English? The first word meaning exclusive ownership (heautou – exclusively owned), and the second meaning corporate ownership for the wife (idios – shared, or one of many). Why didn’t God just inspire the same Greek word if He wanted monogamy only?
24. Why did God say He has two brides in Jeremiah 31:31-32, which are Israel and Judah? Did God commit sin by taking multiple wives?
25. Why did God say he divorced one of his wives, Israel, but not the other wife, Judah, in Jeremiah 3:7-8. Did God sin by taking multiple wives and divorcing one while not divorcing the other?
26. Why does God say He has two brides in Ezekiel 23:1-4, and Jeremiah 33:24. Is God sinning by having two wives, Israel and Judah?
27. Why is a large portion of the Bible written by polygynists if it was such a grave sin? Why would God allow blatant unrepentant sinners to write His word?
28. Why does God have a known polygynist (Solomon) write His book about love, about one of the author’s multiple wives, the Shulammite woman? Song of Solomon 6:13
29. Why were there an average of 27 sons in each family in Israel, able to go to war, when Moses took a census? This is taken by dividing the total number of men over 20, which was 603, 550 divided by the total number of families which had a first-born male which was 22,273. Numbers 1:46, Numbers 3:43
30. Why does God, through the Holy Spirit use the Greek word “mia” in 1 Tim. 3:2 for “one” wife, instead of using the word “heis”, which always means one? Mia is commonly translated as “first”, elsewhere in scripture, such as in Matthew 28:1, while heis means one, such as in 1 Tim. 5:9.
31. Why is a man rebuked for having sex with his “father’s wife” in 1 Cor. 5:1? Why didn’t it say “mother”? The term “father’s wife” means his father’s subsequent wives, which are not his mother, elsewhere in scripture such as in Leviticus 18:7-8
32. Why does Isaiah prophesy, from God, that we will return to a biblical polygynist society in an end times prophecy, where multiple women will seek to marry one man? This prophecy has yet to be fulfilled, but will be. Isaiah 4:1
33. Why was Abraham, whom God made a personal covenant with, and called a friend of God, and put in the Hall of Faith by God, never reprimanded by God for taking multiple wives? Was God a poor friend who overlooked the sin of his close friend? James 2:23, 2 Chron. 20:7
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This paper is for the skeptics of Biblical Polygyny (man with multiple wives) who insist it is sinful, while offering scant Biblical evidence for such claims. Please answer these questions from the Bible alone as your source guide. Do not rely on YouTube videos, what the “church says”, or what “scholars say”. Be your own Berean, study your own Bible, search the scriptures, and answer the questions below, using the Bible alone as your study guide and source material.
Acts 17:10-11 10 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.
11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
If Biblical Polygyny is sin…
1. Why did God instruct men how to care for more than one wife? Can God instruct men how to sin? Exodus 21:10
2. Why did God instruct men how to treat the wives and children of multiple wives? Can God instruct men how to sin? Deut. 21:15-17
3. Why did God meet face to face with an open polygynist (Moses), and have him write His laws in the first 5 books of the Bible, while never condemning him over the practice once? Moses married Zipporah and the unnamed Ethiopian woman. Exodus 2:21, Numbers 12:1
4. Why did God condemn Aaron and Miriam, and give Miriam leprosy for speaking against Moses’ second wife, the Ethiopian woman, calling it sin to speak against Moses? Numbers 12:8-11
5. Why is not one man condemned by God in scripture, calling it sinful, for taking multiple wives even once from Genesis to Revelation?
6. Why does God not call Biblical Polygyny sin (one man with multiple wives) one time in the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation?
7. Why does God not list a man with multiple wives in His list of deviant sexual sin anywhere in scripture as He does with every other sinful sexual behavior. See Leviticus chapter 18.
8. Why are there 5 known polygynists in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews chapter 11, and only 1 known monogamist?
9. Why did God tell Abimelech that he had integrity for attempting to take a second wife (Gen. 20:6), when he already had a wife (Gen. 20:17)? God only stopped it because the woman he was seeking for a wife, Sarah, already had a husband.
10. Why did God tell Joash that he did right in the sight of the Lord by taking two wives? 2 Chron. 24:1-3
11. Why did Jehoida the priest, and a man of God who knew the law of God, give Joash two wives? 2 Chron 24:1-3
12. Why did monogamist kings such as wicked Ahab institute Baal and Ashtoreth worship, but when polygynist kings (such as Joash and Josiah) came to power, and instituted patriarchy, they served God with their whole heart and received praise from God, while tearing down the alters of Baal and groves of Ashtoreth? See examples throughout 1 and 2 Kings.
13. When Israel was sinning against God and worshipping other gods, making him angry, why did He continually send polygynist judges, such as Abdon, Gideon, Izban, and Jair to correct and restore Israel? See examples throughout the book of Judges.
14. Why did God command a man to take another wife, if his brother had died, by taking his brother’s wife and raising seed, whether or not he already had a wife (Levirate marriage)? Can God command men to sin? Deut. 25:5
15. Why did God, in the form of the Angel of the Lord, instruct Hagar to return to Abraham and Sarah and continue to live in a home that would be polygynists? Why did God not send her away if it were sinful to live in a polygynist home? Gen. 16:7-11
16. Why were the sons of Jacob from the 3 wives who were not his first wife not considered bastard sons, but legitimate sons of Israel, whom from God’s people and the Messiah came? Deut. 23:2
17. Why does the Bible say God rewarded Leah, by opening her womb, solely because she gave Jacob her handmaid as a wife? Gen 30:17-18
18. Why does God say that He gave David multiple wives, and would have given him more wives, if he had only asked, instead of committing adultery with another man’s wife, Bathsheba? Can God give men sinful things? 2 Sam. 12:7-8
19. Why does God condemn adultery in scripture as a married woman having sexual relations with someone not her husband, and not any other form of sexual activity? Lev. 20:10, Jeremiah 29:23, Lev. 18:20, Deut. 22:22
20. Why is it never called adultery one time in all the Bible, when a man, married or single, has sexual relations with a single woman who is available to him as a wife?
21. Why does the Bible picture Jesus as having 5 brides (virgins), who go into the weddings chamber with the groom in the parable of 10 virgins? Bridesmaids did not exist at the time. And, why would the “bridesmaids” care or not if they missed the weddings anyway? Matthew 25:1-11
22. Why did the 5 foolish virgins, in the parable of 10 virgins, cry out for their friend’s husband to let them in, if their friend was a bride, and why did they call the husband of another woman Lord, if they were only bridesmaids and not potential brides? Who was the bride in this parable anyways, if not the 5 wise virgins? Matthew 25:1-11
23. Why does the Holy Spirit use 2 separate and distinct Greek words in 1 Cor. 7:2 (let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband), which are both translated as own in English? The first word meaning exclusive ownership (heautou – exclusively owned), and the second meaning corporate ownership for the wife (idios – shared, or one of many). Why didn’t God just inspire the same Greek word if He wanted monogamy only?
24. Why did God say He has two brides in Jeremiah 31:31-32, which are Israel and Judah? Did God commit sin by taking multiple wives?
25. Why did God say he divorced one of his wives, Israel, but not the other wife, Judah, in Jeremiah 3:7-8. Did God sin by taking multiple wives and divorcing one while not divorcing the other?
26. Why does God say He has two brides in Ezekiel 23:1-4, and Jeremiah 33:24. Is God sinning by having two wives, Israel and Judah?
27. Why is a large portion of the Bible written by polygynists if it was such a grave sin? Why would God allow blatant unrepentant sinners to write His word?
28. Why does God have a known polygynist (Solomon) write His book about love, about one of the author’s multiple wives, the Shulammite woman? Song of Solomon 6:13
29. Why were there an average of 27 sons in each family in Israel, able to go to war, when Moses took a census? This is taken by dividing the total number of men over 20, which was 603, 550 divided by the total number of families which had a first-born male which was 22,273. Numbers 1:46, Numbers 3:43
30. Why does God, through the Holy Spirit use the Greek word “mia” in 1 Tim. 3:2 for “one” wife, instead of using the word “heis”, which always means one? Mia is commonly translated as “first”, elsewhere in scripture, such as in Matthew 28:1, while heis means one, such as in 1 Tim. 5:9.
31. Why is a man rebuked for having sex with his “father’s wife” in 1 Cor. 5:1? Why didn’t it say “mother”? The term “father’s wife” means his father’s subsequent wives, which are not his mother, elsewhere in scripture such as in Leviticus 18:7-8
32. Why does Isaiah prophesy, from God, that we will return to a biblical polygynist society in an end times prophecy, where multiple women will seek to marry one man? This prophecy has yet to be fulfilled, but will be. Isaiah 4:1
33. Why was Abraham, whom God made a personal covenant with, and called a friend of God, and put in the Hall of Faith by God, never reprimanded by God for taking multiple wives? Was God a poor friend who overlooked the sin of his close friend? James 2:23, 2 Chron. 20:7