Here's A Thought

[Doc]

Here's a thought, and also a challenge to those who are rigidly opposed to plural marriage as from God.

Of all the marriages mentioned in the Scriptures, how many are monogamous?

:?: :?: :?:

 

[Doc]

This should be fun:

Monogamous: Adam, Cain, Noah

Plural: Lamech, Abraham, Esau, Jacob,

Unknown/Not Sure: The Sons of Noah, Isaac,


....more to come..........

 

[DrRay777]

I think one source that I saw said that David had 19+ wives. Solomon had 1,000, but he went outside Israel for some and these wives led him away from God, so most would use that to speak against poly.

I find this scripture interesting in the NLT because I it speaks of Christ...

Psalm 45:9 -


6 Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever.
Your royal power is expressed in justice.
7 You love what is right and hate what is wrong.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you,
pouring out the oil of joy on you more than on anyone else.
8 Your robes are perfumed with myrrh, aloes, and cassia.
In palaces decorated with ivory,
you are entertained by the music of harps.
9 Kings' daughters are among your concubines.
At your right side stands the queen,
wearing jewelry of finest gold from Ophir!

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1996.

Be blessed,

Ray

 

[Mark C]

Of all the marriages mentioned in the Scriptures, how many are monogamous?

A couple of other related thoughts as well, Doc. (These have been discussed even recently on other threads, but bear repeating for this specific topic.)

- The fact that only one wife is mentioned in Scripture (of even none, of course) doesn't mean there weren't others. Too many 'arguments from silence' go un-refuted.

- The old "fall-back" argument against polygyny is "well, even if it's OK -- it's not God's preferred plan -- it is always portrayed negatively." My challenge is often then to name the marriages of ANY kind that do not mention problems. (Such marriages are rare in any event; I am aware of only one such presumably monogamous marriage: Zacharias and Elisabeth, parents of John.)


[Tom Shipley's book, Man and Woman in Biblical Law, contains all of the polygynous unions in the Bible.]

 

[Doc]

Mark,

You make a VERY good point there! Even in those few instances in Scripture that only one wife is listed, it can be surmised that there may have been more. I remember in Bible college we were talking about Isaac and Rebekah, and someone in the class thought that it was a great love story. The professor (not necessarily a proponent of plural marriage) stated that it was very likely Rebekah was not his only spouse, because of the vast wealth and empire listed. The professor went on to state that Isaac likely followed his father's example in taking more than one wife. However, I would like to point our that all of that is strictly circumstantial reasoning from Scripture.

What has impressed me about this particular thread it that it seems that out of all the marriages mentioned in Scripture, the MAJORITY of them are plural....

.......Things that make you go, HMMMMMMM........

Blessings,

PS I have Shipley's book...I just never made the connection on the LACK of MONOGAMOUS unions before.....