[Aquila]

Actually in time God did add additional women to the population. And yes, men took the reigns and decided to have more than one wife. But here’s the deal…God never forbade them from taking more than one wife. I think that it’s hard to understand the ancient worldview in our modern sexualized society. We by default think that polygamy is about more sex. But in reality that was a very small part of it. Again, women were viewed as property. Having more than one wife was a sort of status symbol (today we judge people by their homes or automobiles). Having many children was considered a blessing and ensured the family dynasty. Many children provided many additional workers and hands to tend crops and lands. Children were also a form of “social security”, the children cared for their aging parents. So the more children the more prosperous one’s old age would be and the less of a burden aging parents would be on their children. It also provided care and for the needs of women. A single woman couldn’t just go out and get a career and support herself. A single woman was most likely going to end up being sold into slavery or prostitution (and sadly for women there wasn’t much of a difference). I imagine that one could argue that polygamy developed out of social necessity. Today the only real “benefit” (I speak as a man of flesh and blood) that it would provide is multiple partners with which to fulfill one’s desires. I predict that if there were a massive war in which the entire world system was devastated and an agrarian clan like society developed in the ruins of our modern world we’d see a resurgence of polygamy based on necessity and survival.

God doesn’t condemn polygamy. In the Scriptures marriage wasn’t a “static institution” in ancient times. Marriage was viewed more like a contractual agreement between nations, families, and couples. The husband was to provide for necessities and protection and the woman was to provide him with conjugal rights and children. The stipulations of that contract were primarily determined by the individuals involved. For example Sarah gives her servant Hagar to Abraham. That was agreed upon by them both, therefore it wasn’t “adultery” in that it didn’t violate the marriage contract, nor did it attempt to take from another man what was his. That’s why Abraham wasn’t condemned as an adulterer. David had wives and concubines; however David is only condemned for adultery when he secretly takes Uriah’s wife; again taking property that wasn’t his. God’s concern appears to be with maintaining the marriage contract (covenant), not necessarily the forms it might take. Even concubinage was primarily viewed as a contract with limited entitlements, rights, and obligations. The stipulations of the marriage contract were determined primarily by the husband (sometimes with the participation of first wife). We have to understand how marriage was viewed, what it provided, and how it was observed in ancient times to fully understand the development and practice of polygamy in the Bible.