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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: The provision known as "Levirate Law" certainly promoted it as an integral part of a solution. Deuteronomy 25:5: "When brothers live together and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the deceased shall not be married outside the family to a strange man. Her husband's brother shall go in to her and take her to himself as wife and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her." Also we would have to consider that Jehoiada the Priest was a better Hebrew Language expert than all of us. After all, it was his native tongue and he did have access to the original writing of Law in God's on finger on the two tablets in the Ark of God. 2nd Chronicles 24:2-3: "Joash did what was right in the sight of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest. Jehoiada took two wives for him, and he became the father of sons and daughters." Joash is said to do "what was right in the sight of the LORD, all the days of Jehoaiada the Priest." That's a pretty strong benediction. If Polygyny was a sin, this was a perfect opportunity to say so, such as, "he did right, except that he had more than one wife". Instead the actions of both men are proclaimed righteous. |