Polygamy

Polygamy is marriage to more than one wife at a time. Marriage was made the union of a man and his wife as one flesh, the king was forbidden to multiply wives, and an overseer must be the husband of one wife; the polygamous households of patriarchs and kings are recorded along with their rivalries.

One flesh

• Genesis 2:24
  Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
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• Matthew 19:4-6
  ⁴And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,Jesus answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ ⁵And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? ⁶Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”
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• Malachi 2:15
  And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.Has not the LORD made them one, having a portion of the Spirit? And why one? Because He seeks godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.
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• 1 Corinthians 7:2
  Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.
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Warnings against many wives

• Deuteronomy 17:17
  Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.He must not take many wives for himself, lest his heart go astray. He must not accumulate for himself large amounts of silver and gold.
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• 1 Kings 11:1-4
  ¹But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh—women of Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon, as well as Hittite women. ²Of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.These women were from the nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, for surely they will turn your hearts after their gods.” Yet Solomon clung to these women in love. ³And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines—and his wives turned his heart away. ⁴For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.For when Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his God, as his father David had been.
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Husband of one wife

• 1 Timothy 3:2
  A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
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• 1 Timothy 3:12
  Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.A deacon must be the husband of but one wife, a good manager of his children and of his own household.
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• Titus 1:6
  If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, having children who are believers and who are not open to accusation of indiscretion or insubordination.
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Polygamy recorded

• Genesis 4:19
  And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.And Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah.
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• Genesis 16:1-4
  ¹Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.Now Abram’s wife Sarai had borne him no children, but she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar. ²And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.So Sarai said to Abram, “Look now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please go to my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. ³And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.So after he had lived in Canaan for ten years, his wife Sarai took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to Abram to be his wife. ⁴And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.And he slept with Hagar, and she conceived. But when Hagar realized that she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.
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• Genesis 29:28-31
  ²⁸And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.And Jacob did just that. He finished the week’s celebration, and Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife. ²⁹And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.Laban also gave his servant girl Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maidservant. ³⁰And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.Jacob slept with Rachel as well, and indeed, he loved Rachel more than Leah. So he worked for Laban another seven years. ³¹And when the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.
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• 1 Samuel 1:2-6
  ²And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.He had two wives, one named Hannah and the other Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none. ³And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there.Year after year Elkanah would go up from his city to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of Hosts at Shiloh, where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to the LORD. ⁴And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions:And whenever the day came for Elkanah to present his sacrifice, he would give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. ⁵But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the Lord had shut up her womb.But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved her even though the LORD had closed her womb. ⁶And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the Lord had shut up her womb.Because the LORD had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival would provoke her and taunt her viciously.
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• 2 Samuel 5:13
  And David took him more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem, after he was come from Hebron: and there were yet sons and daughters born to David.After he had arrived from Hebron, David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him.
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Laws concerning more than one wife

• Exodus 21:10
  If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish.If he takes another wife, he must not reduce the food, clothing, or marital rights of his first wife.
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• Leviticus 18:18
  Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time.You must not take your wife’s sister as a rival wife and have sexual relations with her while your wife is still alive.
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• Deuteronomy 21:15-17
  ¹⁵If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated:If a man has two wives, one beloved and the other unloved, and both bear him sons, but the unloved wife has the firstborn son, ¹⁶Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn:when that man assigns his inheritance to his sons he must not appoint the son of the beloved wife as the firstborn over the son of the unloved wife. ¹⁷But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.Instead, he must acknowledge the firstborn, the son of his unloved wife, by giving him a double portion of all that he has. For that son is the firstfruits of his father’s strength; the right of the firstborn belongs to him.
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See also

• Marriage
• Husbands
• Solomon
• Jacob
• Adultery

Notes

1. Verses are quoted in the translation chosen in the Translation menu at the top of the page. See Translations for sources and copyright notices.
2. Each reference links to the full chapter so the verse can be read in context.