Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | Matthew 19:5 and said, 'FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH'? |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 19:5 and said, 'FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED INSEPARABLY TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH'? [Gen 1:27; 2:24; Mark 10:7] |
Subject: Men had multiple wives in the old test. |
Bible Note: Hello rodent_tamer, Tyndale's Bible Dictionary says this about polygamy: "The idea of marriage was ordained by God in his instruction to Adam that a man should leave his father and mother, and that he and his wife should be as one flesh (Gn 2:24). Several forms of marriage are referred to in the OT, the earliest of which seems to be based on a matrilineal principle. Although there appears to be some evidence for this in the middle Bronze Age and in the early monarchy, it is difficult to be certain about the matter, despite the importance in Egypt, and perhaps elsewhere, of the role of the mother in determining descent. Despite numerous examples of polygamy cited in the OT, there is no doubt that the vast majority of the Israelites were monogamous. There are no examples given of large polygamous marriages in the families of commoners. The original instruction to Adam was that a “man … cleaves to his wife” (Gen. 2:24). Hebrew laws generally imply that a marriage with one wife is the most acceptable form of marriage (Ex. 20:17; 21:5; Lev. 18:8, 16–20; 20:10; Num. 5:12; Deut. 5:21). Although this seems to have become the norm by the time of the monarchy, a king such as Solomon did not follow Hebrew traditions in this matter. In the postexilic period marriages were predominantly monogamous, although they were being terminated increasingly by divorce. In the NT period monogamy seems to have been the rule, although persons such as Herod the Great were polygamous. Christ taught that marriage should last the lifetime of the partners, and if a man divorced his wife and married another woman during his previous spouse’s lifetime, he committed adultery (Matt 5:31–32)." Certainly, in my mind Solomon stands out as one who fell- in part- due to his "polygamous" ways. Warned by God in 1 Kings 9:6 to, "...keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them," (with the consequences given in vs. 7ff). We see the result in 1 Kings 11:3-4, "He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been." (NASB) Subsequently, I find a lack of detailed examples in the Bible showing any positive benefits (results) of polygamy! Speaking the Truth in Love, BradK |