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http://www.ecclesia.org/truth/polygamy.html

From Nathan7's link:
When we study the Old Testament law concerning polygamy, we find that when the singular "wife" is used, those laws could apply to monogamy or polygamy (Deut. 22:13, 22), and when the plural "wives" is used, those laws only apply to polygamy. (Deut. 21:15-17).
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No need to rehash if it's already been discussed but do a majority of BF people agree w/this? Can someone provide link to discussion/resource?

So much theology, so little time. :-)
 
The context makes this clear. Wife certainly applies to both as a general rule. Wives applies only to polygamy in some cases (such as that cited) and sometimes to either (e.g. 'Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church').

What made you highlight this particular statement?
 
jag,
not sure what your question is.
vs. 15 If a man have two wives, ......... cannot possibly fit a monogamous situation. it is explaining how to treat the firstborn son over the son of the other wife.

I am sure that you have a point that I am missing.
 
The Hebrew word for wife (אִשָּׁה Strong's word number H802) doesn't look like it has a singular/plural form - the surrounding words show singular/plural like in Deu 21:15 here. Is that right?
FollowingHim said:
The context makes this clear.
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Totally makes sense. Realizing all the marriage items from the OT and NT apply to more than one wife is just such a mind blow after all these years of seeing it otherwise. Sorry, I'm still just kind of shell shocked. It's ok. Its a good thing. Just makes my head swim.
 
This is a common misunderstanding about Strongs. Strongs doesn't list the actual words, just the root words those are derived from. So it doesn't separate plural and singular words, or words in different tenses, but calls them the same.

Look more closely at the BLB link you posted. This lists the Strongs words, but also prints the actual Hebrew verse. Search through the Hebrew and try to find the exact word cited by Strongs. It's not there. Rather a variation on it is present (happy hunting!). I don't know Hebrew but this variation will be the plural.
 
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