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NASB | 1 Kings 11:3 He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 Kings 11:3 He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away [from God]. |
Bible Question: King Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Polygamy was not uncommon in Old Testament times. Did God endorse polygamy then? Does He now? |
Bible Answer: Absolutely not! :-)In the Old Testament, we read that David (1 Sam. 25:39-44) and Solomon (1 Kings 11:1-3) had many wives. However, God forbade polygamy (Lev. 18:18) when He gave the law to Moses and the Israelites. In Deut. 17:17, we read that a king 'shall not multiply wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away' which foretells Solomon's ultimate undoing (1 Kings 11:4). In the garden of Eden, God gave to Adam one wife and not several, and the one man and one woman would join together and become 'one flesh' (Gen. 2:21-25). This is a relationship that is exclusive between one man and one woman, not shared between one man and several women. So God does not look favorably on polygamy nor did He ever endorse it.In the New Testament, we read in Titus 1:6 and 1 Timothy 3:2 that a man should be the husband of but 'one wife'. So God remained steadfast against polygamy in the New Testament as He does today. Scripture does not give us room to interpret this any differently. It is clear that God intends marriage to be between one man and one woman, since marriage itself is a reflection of God's relationship to His church, whom He will rejoice over (Isaiah 62:5). Will God have many brides? Absolutely not! Scripture is clear that God will be married to His one and only bride, the church. And the church is the only bride of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2, Revelation 19:7, 22:17). In this way, we can see that polygamy is soundly denounced by Scripture and that God does not look favorably upon it. |